Ricardo Fité: “Our greatest responsibility is our happiness"

Ricardo Fité is 46 years old and lives in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona. Although this is just his place of residence because he finds his home in each of the destinations he travels to on his motorcycle. In fact, his passion for travel has led him to leave his job as a physical education teacher to dedicate himself, as he says, to what is his greatest responsibility: the pursuit of his happiness. And to find it, he only needs two things: his motorcycle and a destination, even without a fixed course.

Hoy charlamos en Seventy Barcelona con el autor de No le digas a la mama que me he ido a Mongolia en moto y Cinco Veranos en Moto, para conocer de primera mano la historia de un motero en busca de la libertad.

When did this irrational love for motorcycles and traveling arise in you?

My love for motorcycles stems from the need to have one. I was studying in Lleida and had to get to the faculty from the city. The bus combination was terrible, so I got a scooter and saw the freedom it gave me: I could leave home whenever I wanted, arrive at places whenever I wanted, traffic jams didn't matter... When I returned to Barcelona, I took the scooter, went for a ride, and when I was in Granollers I noticed that the scooter wasn't pulling anymore and that I needed something better, with gears. That's when I bought my first two and a half, with which I could go to the Pyrenees, a place where I discovered how beautiful it is to travel by motorcycle.

So, was that trip to the Pyrenees the moment when you discovered that the motorcycle could be used to travel anywhere in the world?

Yes. I had already read in magazines about people who moved around and had their adventures on motorcycles, who would go on trips with just the clothes on their back. I started to wonder if I would enjoy it as much as they did or if I would suffer, because I also really liked the mountains and read about great mountaineers, but when I went to the mountains I was scared of the height and stopped trying to do what they did. With the motorcycle, I tried it and liked it. So I made my first trip to Morocco, to see how I would feel on longer trips, with just the clothes on my back, sleeping in the homes of the locals... It was a very beautiful experience, and since then I haven't been able to stop.

What is the best thing about traveling by motorcycle? What does it bring to you?

It's not just one thing, it's a thousand sensations. There are many things that give you a sense of well-being, one of them is the freedom that riding a motorcycle gives you. Freedom in the sense of: today I am here and, if I want, in a moment I can pack my things on the bike and go somewhere else, to visit another city. I don't care about traffic jams, I don't care about anything, the feeling of constantly moving makes me feel very good. Feeling the wind on your chest, or on the helmet... that's like when we were kids and we opened the car window and were told 'close it, close it' but we wanted to breathe that air and feel it hit our faces, an incredible sensation. Also, the pleasure of balance in motion. In short, it's a collection of things that make you smile every time you ride your motorcycle.

Why do you travel alone?

I would travel with someone if I found a person with whom I had great complicity, with whom I felt very comfortable. My friends with whom I feel this way either can't or don't want to leave the life they have here in Barcelona, with children, families, stable jobs... they can't leave that. And with the people I've met in the world of motorcycling, I haven't yet achieved this complicity. Traveling alone is boring, but one must allow oneself to be bored, to understand that not everything can be interesting. The person you travel with should also understand that. Some say that going to Siberia on a motorcycle is boring, but it doesn't seem that way to me, there are only fields on the sides, but since I don't expect to be constantly impressed, I'm comfortable.

How do you plan your travel route?

It depends on the trip. For example, if I had to go to North Cape - which is a fairly typical tourist destination - I would make my first stop in Chamonix, because I know there's a campsite there that's very nice and also offers a view of Mont Blanc. If it also turns out that I have a friend in Bordeaux, I'll stop there and stay for a night. That is to say, each day and night is planned around something. You have to go with the flow, it's one of the joys. Moreover, if everything is too planned, when something doesn't go right, the nerves start. Being overly planned doesn't allow you to be open to changes and let the trip itself teach you as you go. The best thing is to have a general goal and from there, see what happens and achieve things until you reach it.

Tourist trips that focus on visiting the most characteristic features of places are very common. What do you think about this travel concept?

In that regard, I believe it's best to relax, because we will never finish getting to know a place. We have been living in Barcelona all our lives and we barely know anything about it. There are amazing places or things that we haven't seen, while a tourist might have. I think that traveling should be about being aware of what's happening, being open, so that if someone invites you to discover something, you accept the invitation, because that's how experiences are lived. The concept of traveling should be linked to the part where you let yourself be influenced by everything from the outside.

We were talking about living together with the local people, is that what you seek in your travels?

It's something I've been trying to learn to do for years and it's been very difficult for me. To let things happen, not to intervene so much. For example, last year I took a motorcycle and rode it to Angola. I bought that motorcycle so I could leave it there and stay for a while, but when the locals invited me to certain events, I felt the need to decline and keep moving on, I wasn't letting myself be influenced. In that sense, I'm still too closed off. Now I accept all the invitations I can, because that way I never stop learning. Also, I need to feel freer.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned from your travels so far?

I have learned that our greatest responsibility is our happiness, and that we often give it up with our own excuses, a waste of time. I have learned to, instead of prioritizing what have been responsibilities up to now, prioritize my happiness. I am learning to turn this concept of responsibility around, because my greatest responsibility is my happiness and my field of pleasure.

And after so many kilometers on the motorcycle, is there any anecdote that has stayed etched in your memory forever?

Those of us who travel at this level constantly have anecdotes. I remember that in Mongolia there was a day when I was riding my motorcycle and since I didn't know how to ride off-road, due to the speed, I fell. I wasn't hurt, but the motorcycle was damaged and wouldn't work. As I was trying to fix it, an 11-year-old shepherd boy appeared and took me to a nearby house. The people in that house wanted to help me fix the motorcycle at all costs, but it was late and I tried to explain that I wanted to sleep and do it the next day. We couldn't understand each other in any language until someone from the family came with a Mongolian – English dictionary. I looked up the word 'tomorrow' and showed it to them, with the bad luck that the example sentence in the dictionary was: 'tomorrow is my birthday.' Suddenly, the whole family started singing Happy Birthday to me, at 8 in the evening, in the Mongolian desert.

And in the end, what happened to the motorcycle?

In the end we understood each other, and we managed to fix it the next day.

I imagine that sometimes you go through places where there is no one, you are alone. Do you carry any kind of special technology to be located?

No. I don't like the idea of being so tracked, I don't know why, but it stresses me out. Besides, I've never felt lost and alone because I don't go cross-country. In the end, anywhere, within 3 or 4 hours a car always passes by. And if there's a problem, people always help you. If there's a trail, sooner or later someone will come along.

Which of the places you have visited would you choose to stay in and why?

I am very comfortable in the countries of the Soviet Union because I speak a little Russian, because I am very amused by their idiosyncrasies, and because it is my fetish, just as others may have a fetish for China or Africa. Everything Soviet makes me feel comfortable.

What is for you the best moment of the trip? When does your journey start and when does it end?

The journey begins the moment you think “I'm going to do it” and start planning. From there, you decide the destination and spend all day thinking about it. The worst moment is the return home. We are invaded by a kind of post-vacation depression multiplied by a lot. You follow a routine for one or two months doing what you like the most, which is riding a motorcycle, sleeping in different places, meeting people and seeing different places… and suddenly you find yourself back in the routine, in a place where you already know absolutely everything, and the last thing you want is to go back to your usual life. That's where a kind of disaster begins that gradually calms down, until you start thinking about what the next destination will be and you begin to get excited again.

How do you manage these crises?

To make it clear, you leave at social development stage 8 and return at social development stage 3. Because you left with a stable job, a partner, a house, savings... and when you come back you no longer have some of those things and you might even be sick. So it's hard to pick up the habits and the life you had again.

How long does this process of readjusting to reality take you?

Well, like a love sickness, if the relationship was very long then it lasts longer, and if the relationship was shorter then it lasts less. I also don't give it much importance.

How do you think tourism is affecting the city of Barcelona?

Tourism in cities is a problem because it stresses the locals. The floods of tourists sweep away the culture and local traditions. All attractive cities turn into a kind of Walt Disney and lose interest because you can't catch anything. Going to Rome now is not the same as it was 50 years ago. There are so many people that you can't relax, you don't feel at home. If you want to see the real Russia, you have to get out of Saint Petersburg or Moscow. There comes a time when tourism saturates me so much that I don't care what city I'm in, it all seems the same to me, because the magic of the cities has been lost.

For example, I played the tourist in Saint Petersburg while they fixed my motorcycle, and I saw the most famous sights, the ones that appear in guidebooks. That's the standard, the traditional. But, if you're adventurous, there's so much more to see. I got it into my head that I wanted to see the Russian motorcycle factory - which is in the middle of Siberia - so I decided to ditch the guides and go there. I was able to get in and it was the most satisfying experience.

In this regard, have you ever felt like you were being led where they wanted you to go?

It happened to me in Saint Petersburg, I ended up overwhelmed by being a tourist. It's genuinely stressful, this whole thing of entering a place, taking a picture, and then goodbye, especially with people everywhere.

When you return to Barcelona, what do you think of it?

Barcelona sigue igual, y eso reafirma mi idea de que ha sido buena idea salir y que el tiempo aquí parece que avanza y la gente sigue su vida y todos envejecemos con un mismo final. Aun así, siempre echo de menos la complicidad de la gente de aquí y estar en mi casa de Esplugues. Eso me da ganas de volver.

Having lived in cities like Stockholm, what does Barcelona offer you as a city to live in that is different from others?

The complicity of the people. Moreover, Barcelona is a beautiful city, which I know and where I feel at home. Everything I've done here has led to lasting friendships, friends that you don't have when you're abroad and you feel a bit lonely.

What are your next destinations and trips?

We are working with Benelli to make a first trip around the world, we are trying to reach the budget and looking for sponsors. If we don't reach the budget, what will happen is that I won't have a home when I return and at this point in my life I don't want to close more houses, I want to come back and have my things waiting for me. I also want to be able to write what would be my fourth book. Right now I have an interview with a helmet brand and it's very hard for me to convince the marketing departments that what I offer is good content for them to take great advantage of.

And with the trip around the world, do you have the route mapped out?

I started thinking about it yesterday. Initially, I wanted to go through China to visit the Benelli motorcycle factory there, but with all this coronavirus situation, the idea is becoming shaky. It would be better then to make the trip vertical instead of horizontal, starting with Africa, South America, and Canada until returning to Europe from the north. The vertical route will take us a year.

Do you consider yourself brave?

Yes, in the sense that I have not only embraced this lifestyle, but I continue to strive to solidify the concept that my ultimate responsibility is my happiness and the entire realm of pleasure. This clashes with what I have believed for 40 years.