Motorcycle trips and some other trips
Traveling, an introduction
The best thing when owning a bike is riding it, so that's what I do as often
as I can. Sometimes I drive alone, sometimes with friends but most of the time,
I carry my camera.
The best way to travel new or familiar places is ofcourse by motorcycle. From a car,
bus, train or plane, it's like watching TV but when you are driving a motorcycle
through the curves and on the straights and smell the forrest, or the cornfields or
even the polution in the industrialised area's, and you feel the wind in your face, then
you know you're there and you not only see but feel the scenery your traveling.
With a Harley in South Africa
There is one exception on that and that is an oldfasioned 4x4 car. I've been to
Albania with a Hyundai Galloper II and liked that very much and my own "playcar"
was a Suzuki Samurai Rhino for a few years.
I do like the Landrover Defender very much and maybe, some day, .....
The Galloper II in Albania
Although I prefer to travel on my motorcycle, I do sometimes travel without.
Even without a motorcycle, getting to know new people, making
new friends and seeing other cultures and countries is making my life
much richer and broadens my view on the world and on life in general. In
general, it is pleasant to be traveling anyway.
Going places
After a trip with my Benelli T50 moped to Luxembourg in 1975, I got my motorcycle
driverslicense and I bought a real motorcycle. In 1976 I made my first
serious motorcycle trip.
From my home in the Netherlands I went through
Belgium and Luxembourg to Kassel in West-Germany on the border with
East-Germany and after a few days I went back to Luxembourg where I stayed
in Larochette for a few days before I went home.
My Yamaha RD350 and my little tent in Larochette
Because I am retired now, I am limited in the money to spend on bike trips so
most of my trips are to neighbouring countries like Belgium, Friesland and the
North of France and germany. In May 1999 I made my first trip to another
continent, a beautifull trip on a rented BMW R100RT in South Africa.
Visiting Paris
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Five years later I returned to South Africa to make a very nice trip on a Harley
Lowrider.
Another very memorable trip was when I had to make a business trip
to Anaheim, California in 2002. After the business part in the first week, I had
a week holiday.
I rented a BMW R850 to drive to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon and a part of Route
66 in Arizona.
Also an interesting trip was in 2005. Together with my brother in law, I drove in a day
to Paris and back.
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One trip I finaly managed to do is the trip to Gibraltar. For a long time I wanted to make
the trip from the North Cape in Scandinavia to Gibraltar, the small British rock in the
South of Spain.
In July 2006, I did the first part of this trip, to the North Cape and it was even better
then I expected. In May and June 2013, I went to Gibraltar and even made a detour to Morocco.
Places I have been on a motorcycle
A map with the countries (or states in the USA)
in red, where I have been riding a motorcycle.
My future travel plans
Some of the trips I want to do in the (near) future are;
- A trip to Athens in Greece. less distance from my home as Gibraltar but it should be interesting.
- In Great Britain, I want to visit Stonehenge, Land's End, John o'Groats, the Ace Cafe,
The Falkirk Wheel and a lot more interesting places. Maybe visit some castles too.
- A trip through Thailand on a rented motorcycle.
- One of my dreams is to ride a Honda GoldWing or Valkyrie or a Harley in the USA, from San
Francisco to Los Angeles and from Los Angeles on route 66 to Chicago. From Chicago to
Toronto in Canada and then to New York and finaly to Boston.
- A trip I also want to make very much, is to go to South Africa again and finish the trip
I planned to make in 2004, to Namibia and to Cape Town.
And now I just need the money to do it......
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