Journizer Episode 2: Getting A German Motorcycle License, And Things To Think About When Planning A Major Trip

When we planned our first motorcycle trip together as 2 riders rather than a rider and pillion, we were ignoring one vital detail. On the one hand we had traveled together before through South America and an Eastern European trip, so we knew we were on the low end of the likelihood to kill each other.

 

Side Note: If you think this is us being melodramatic then you absolutely must do a trail run before committing to long term travel with anyone, let alone your romantic partner. Go on a long weekend trip first, if you both come out with all your limbs and you still like each other, try a longer trip! If one of you is missing vital organs due to lack of shower/fire/food/wild animal that you fed your travel partner to rather than listen to them wine over the lack of fire/smoke from fire/the cold/the dampness/lack of available supplies to maintain sex appeal/or just because of their unwillingness to maintain sex appeal while camping, then you might want to reconsider your travel plans.

So we knew that so long as Sherrie had something to eat everyone in the vicinity would get to keep their eyeballs and the hateful comments would be kept to a minimum. (Hence our emergency chocolate stash, for those times when you are in the middle of nowhere and nothing is to be found or when so it is closed).

We had two motorcycles, two riders, experience traveling together, everything more or less, except one vital detail, Sherrie's drivers license.

And so began the hellish experience of the German motorcycle license, with the additional pressure that if I failed, our trip was delayed by 2 weeks.

And THAT hopefully explains the shrieking like a banshee.

Hopefully.........

Or it could just be genetic....

Enjoy!

 

 

Posted via email from Unleash Your Adventure

Journizer Episode 2: Getting A German Motorcycle License, And Things To Think About When Planning A Major Trip

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When we planned our first motorcycle trip together as 2 riders rather than a rider and pillion, we were ignoring one vital detail. On the one hand we had traveled together before through South America and an Eastern European trip, so we knew we were on the low end of the likelihood to kill each other.

Side Note: If you think this is us being melodramatic then you absolutely must do a trail run before committing to long term travel with anyone, let alone your romantic partner. Go on a long weekend trip first, if you both come out with all your limbs and you still like each other, try a longer trip! If one of you is missing vital organs due to lack of shower/fire/food/wild animal that you fed your travel partner to rather than listen to them wine over the lack of fire/smoke from fire/the cold/the dampness/lack of available supplies to maintain sex appeal/or just because of their unwillingness to maintain sex appeal while camping, then you might want to reconsider your travel plans.

So we knew that so long as Sherrie had something to eat everyone in the vicinity would get to keep their eyeballs and the hateful comments would be kept to a minimum. (Hence our emergency chocolate stash, for those times when you are in the middle of nowhere and nothing is to be found or when so it is closed).

We had two motorcycles, two riders, experience traveling together, everything more or less, except one vital detail, Sherrie's drivers license.

And so began the hellish experience of the German motorcycle license, with the additional pressure that if I failed, our trip was delayed by 2 weeks.

And THAT hopefully explains the shrieking like a banshee.

Hopefully.........

Or it could just be genetic....

Enjoy!

Posted via email from Unleash Your Adventure

Why Honda Sucks & BMW Rocks

(And this is not sponsored in any way by BMW, although we would gladly and unashamedly accept their money).

 

Back in the 1980's the Western world was living a life of unmitigated excess. Michael Jackson sold millions AND was still cool, the A Team blew shit up on your TV screen, and big hair and big shoulders were a sign of just how awesome you were.

 

And yet amid this time of luxury and yuppies the German car industry, traditionally a symbol of class coupled with dependability, was challenged and by the end of the decade shattered. In its place the Japanese car industry established itself as a leader in dependable and affordable cars. The time of excess was ending, And amid all of this in a period of extremes the ultimate travel bike was born.....

 

Born out of a desire to have a Paris-Dakar competition bike it came with 2 cylinders, 650 cc, 220 kg, 60 horse powers, excellent offroad qualities while still being street friendly, reliable, and the dream of overland travelers for the next decade. At the time the tough traditionalists claimed it was too much technology with it 6-valve, four spark plug, liquid-cooled engine, it has since evolved to be accepted as the overland travel bike.

Bring it forward to 2010, the first decade of the second millennium is coming to a close, and the glory years of the 1980's have been crushed and buried under the events of the past 20 years. Michael Jackson had to die to become cool again, the A Team is still blowing shit up only this time on the big screen, big hair is seen as unfortunate and shoulder pads can get you shot (or at the very least as the subject of open scorn and mockery as the unsuspecting victim of a fashion reality TV show), and while Toyota stumbles from one scandal to the next, Mercedes and Audi are once again the reigning symbols of luxury and class in the car industry.

 

And a new star has risen amongst the overland motorcycle travelers.

 

It has 2 cylinders,798cc, 207 kg, 90 horse powers, excellent offroad qualities while still being street friendly, reliable, and with it's ABS it is pure, unadulterated bliss to ride. Although tough traditionalists claim it is unsuitable for long time travel as it comes with too much technology such as on-board fuel computer, alarm, sat-nav, heated grips, ABS and a fuel pump, it will advance to be THE travel bike.

 

But this bike no longer bears Honda's wings.

 

In its place stands Bavaria's propeller, BMW amid the white and blue.

Honda, what have you done? The new Transalp was castrated into a street bike, and we have no words for your fat Varadero so we won't even try, and the Africa Twin, the once proud object of overland travelers desire, is not even chopped and sucked into a street machine, but rather has been abandoned, neglected and sacrificed to allow BMW to completely dominate the overland travel motorcycle market. Which is why Honda sucks, and BMW rocks.

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Book Review: Vagabonding By Rolf Potts

For those of you with little time but the desire to know what we said here is the condensed version:

If you are a first time traveler buy this book!  It is inspirational and packed with web resources.  If however you are already a seasoned traveler and looking for ideas on how to travel longer or better, give it a skip!

Now for slightly more detail:

Here on Unleash Your Adventure we focus on motorcycle travel because motorcycle traveling is our preferred way of travel, however we want our site to be aimed towards travelers period. Particularly backpackers and campers, because as we said, it is not that anyone is not welcome, but rather if you want to stay at the Ritz we doubt our experience tenting on a salt lake in Argentina is of much interest, as you would rather stay in a hotel.  So with this in mind we decided our first book review (which we hope to make a monthly event) would be a general travel book.  And to that end we choose Vagabonding by Rolf Potts, himself a world traveler of the shoestring style.

What we loved about the book:  Potts is writing from his own experience, and he is honest about the joys and hardships (but much more the joys) of travel.  And like so many others who have chosen to take time off for long term travel he argues that it is not only possible to do so, but gives applicable advice on how to do so.  The chapters are short, packed with inspirational quotes that will have you packing your bags and booked on the next plane, train or bus out, and each chapter comes with 2 - 3 pages of web sites you can consult to help you plan your trip, or aid you on the trip.

What we didn't like about the book:  Anyone who has already taught English or saved money and took the plunge to travel for a period of months to a year will not find anything new here.  The chapters are short and inspirational, but if you have already taken the trip you find yourself nodding along and saying "yes, yes, oh yes, absolutely, I agree" and in the end you close the book and say, "very nice, he is absolutely right, but I already knew that."  Because once you have done it you know how easy it is in fact to do.  If you were looking for how to sustain yourself a little longer on the road you may instead want to look into something like Timothy Ferriss's The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=busmrimo-20&l=as2&o=15&a=0307353133" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, which I felt I took more away from.  (But not the subject of this, but rather a future review!). 

Or if you are more experienced you may want to buy a fellow traveler's book that is a less a know how and more a story of their experiences.

 

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