Oaati is a framework for connecting with yourself in a world built to distract you. It started with a bike trip — you carry only what you need, move under your own power, in whatever direction you choose, and for a few days your mind isn't consuming any media or outside opinions. Here I document my routes so others can do their own.
I started the summer after the pandemic, low on cash, with a craving to be outside and none left for listening to anyone else.
I saw a film of a girl on a bike trip, moving through countries alone, and thought: how powerful, to carry only what you need and move under your own power. I'd already done backpacking, but a bike is different — it's real independence, measured in pedal strokes.
It's not just a trip. It's a week a year to reconnect with your body and stop listening to everything the world says you should want.
I think women are, historically, pretty tuned into their intuition — and we lose a bit of that competing in a world that doesn't always leave room to feel. I love meditating, but movement is another way to build awareness of your breath — and for anyone who sitting meditation just doesn't click for, this can be the way in.
The three ingredients for an Oaati:
Minimum two full days, 48 hours. Less than that, and you don't really drop in.
At least 2.5 hours of movement a day — biking's my pick, but anything works. No music, just you and your body.
Social media, work, entertainment: off. Family only proactively. No scrolling, no consuming.
The O is a loop — a vuelta. "Ati" is a ti, to you.
Oaati: a return to yourself.
Solo bike trips have been a yearly ritual since 2021 — Lofoten is the 2026 chapter, and the first one documented here.
Ferry to Moskenes, six days pedaling between fjords and fishing villages, nights in hostels so you don't have to worry about the rain, and Henningsvær as the star stop.
Older routes, still waiting to be written up.