TOMORROW may never exist.
That might sound like a pessimistic way to look at the world, but for Leonie Katekar, it is a mantra that encourages positive thoughts about living each day to the fullest and valuing and loving each day we are given.
Tragedy struck at the heart of Leonie's family when Leonie was 15; her sister Ann was killed in a terrible car accident the first night she went out by herself after getting her licence.
Ann was just 17 years old and Leonie's parents never forgave themselves.
As if the loss of one of child/sibling was not enough, almost 10 years to the day, Leonie's younger brother John was also killed in a car accident.
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Their mother did not cope and soon the family lost her as well.
"Everyone has tragedies in their lives which are invisible to people that you meet," Leonie said.
"Even some of your friends don’t find out some of these deeply hidden things for a long time.
"Losing my siblings were two of my most significant tragedies and I felt that life was uncertain - tomorrow may never exist; each day needed to be valued and loved."
Since those dark days, Leonie has called almost every state of Australia home: born in South Australia, attending university in New South Wales, working and living in Tasmania and the Northern Territory and now calling Victoria home.
"My children were born in Tassie and grew up in Darwin, when they moved to Melbourne for university I moved to Melbourne too, but I don’t like the big cities," Leonie said.
"As a family, we decided that the North East of Victoria region was the best for holidaying together so we bought a one acre property in Wandiligong however, when I came up to get the keys, I loved it so much that myself and my Jack Russell, Osada, haven’t left.
"The longer I am here the more I love the landscape and also the people.
"I love the peacefulness, the stars in the sky at night, the birds in the mornings, the dew on the grass; I feel so ‘wandiful’ here."
Leonie found fulfilment through her work in rural health care and then indigenous health where she could help those who were even less fortunate than herself.
She struggled with marriage, but brought up four wonderful children.
"Then somehow, I got lost," Leonie said.
"I didn’t know what I valued in life anymore; I was going through the motions of being happy and successful but I had lost my internal compass, lost my ‘mojo’.
"My children were grown up – motherhood was over - so what did I want from life now?"
Leonie could have let the emotional dissonance continue, but waiting it out went against what she had learnt from losing her siblings and mother - it was important for her to act.
She decided to get right out of her comfort zone and take on a cycling adventure where her entire physical and emotional self would be challenged.
"Doing something on my own meant that I had to concentrate only on myself," Leonie said.
"Going on a bike meant that I couldn't take with me all the comforts I was accustomed to - my 'comforts' had to fit into five panniers so I could only carry what was essential."
Throughout her life, Leonie had always ridden wherever she needed to go - whether needing to get from A to B as a child or to work later on.
She had also done some bike-packing trips in Europe with friends when she was in her early 20s, so knew what bike-packing was about.
"I was originally going to try and ride from Alaska to Antarctica but time constraints meant I couldn’t do all of that so I decided to go from A to U - Antigua to Ushuaia.
"Central America had always fascinated me from an historical perspective and there was the draw of the Andes in South America so that's where I ended up."
Leonie needed to find herself again emotionally and travelling by bike meant she broke ties with her current way of living, which provided the opportunity to evaluate her life and what she valued.
"It was like a reset – so I was ready to enter into the next chapter of my life," Leonie explained.
Leonie began blogging her adventures online as she travelled and raised more than $20,000 for the Fight Cancer Foundation who provide families with long-term accommodation in cities while their children are receiving treatment for cancer.
Her followers were intrigued by what had led her to that point in her life and the adventure itself and encouraged her to put it all into a book.
Leonie sought professional assistance to shape her anecdotes and her adventures can now be found in her book When We're Not Afraid.
"There’s something in the book for the adventure cyclist including practical stuff about how to get through the extraordinary places I cycled and an itinerary," Leonie said.
"For everyone else, I hope my new way of thinking about how to live the rest of my life inspires them to live their lives with real joy and without fear."
You can order a personally signed copy of the book at leoniekatekar.com and if you're lucky, Leonie might even deliver it in person while she's out training for her next adventure on the Silk Route in the Middle East.
