r. Steve L. Chaplin, a 64-year-old Honolulu psychiatrist, has seen the world from a unique perspective. He has ridden his bicycle through South America, Asia and Europe, cycled through 39 countries, including Morocco, Myanmar, India, Chile and Vietnam, and most recently, biked through Iceland and Greenland.
What inspired him to see the world this way? Dr. Chaplin’s father taught him to ride at age 6, but initial lessons didn’t include how to stop by using his brakes, which caused him some scrapes. His interest in bicycling blossomed while biking with a friend in San Francisco. The bicycling bug really took hold of him as he navigated the city’s highly textured topography. By then, of course, he had learned how to brake.
Today, adhering to the hypothesis “safety in numbers,” his excursions always include a friend or a group. He says he has never experienced a bad bike trip. To the contrary, friendly foreigners often approach him, asking about the details of and reasons for his international bicycle trek. He says that riding a bicycle has proven to be an easy way to make friends in a foreign country, as natives are always eager to give him advice and share information about their country.
Dr. Chaplin says that the most interesting country he visited was Vietnam in 1995. The Vietnamese were very welcoming, saying, “America number one.” And, of course, Dr. Chaplin fit naturally into the culture, as most Vietnamese rode bicycles as their primary transportation.
Riding his bicycle in a foreign country also gave Dr. Chaplin an opportunity to appreciate the culture and natural beauty at a pace that could not be accomplished in motorized travel mode, yielding time and space for contemplation and reflection, in addition to social interaction.
Dr. Chaplin says, “Somehow, foreign residents and I succeed in communicating. English seems to be an international language and there is always someone who can speak it to some extent. In the remote parts of a country, where English is barely spoken, we use hand motions and somehow we manage. We smile, we laugh and catch on to what each is saying.
“For example, when a foreign resident points at my bicycle, I know from experience that they are asking me why I am traveling in their country on a bicycle, especially in a far-off region. Traveling to a foreign country is always an experience. It depends on your attitude of why you are there. So I tell them that riding a bicycle abroad is a priceless experience if your aim is to learn, have fun and meet the people. The bottom line is to be pleasant and patient.”
Dr. Chaplin believes in exercise and encourages his patients to do so, because studies have shown that such activity promotes mental alertness, stamina and positive interactions. Such being the case, bicycling in a foreign country with his interest focused on a new environment stimulates his mind and memories of people and places.
Studies have shown that a human on a bicycle is more efficient than a swimming salmon or flying seagull and jet plane. Dr. Chaplin concurs that it reduces global warming and conserves natural resources as well as introduces the bicyclist to different cultures, cuisine, history and people—up close and personal. “There is no doubt that bicycling is good for the health, for the preservation of our Earth and if you travel to a foreign country, I like to believe that in some ways it leads to international understanding, friendship and world peace.”
His philosophy of life is simple—“enjoy the moment. Enjoy the ride.”
