Knackered. I’m absolutely exhausted, freshly returned from this year’s Adventure Travel Film Festival, a three day event curated by Lois Pryce and Austin Vince to showcase the best independent adventure film-making in the world today. Why so tired? That’s where the festival part comes in …
I need a break, and the new bike needs a proper run, so the both of us head across the water for a spot of mindless self-indulgence. Swapping campsites for cheap hotels and minimal luggage I’m going to spend a week going where the wheels take me, recording the usual irreverent observations and mediocre photos here for posterity. This is cruft, mere content, so I’m not going to bother with separate posts. Read at your own peril.
Easter weekend finds us visiting relatives on a tiny speck of rock halfway between England and Ireland. Home to the world’s oldest democratically elected parliament and proudly independent of the European Union, the Isle of Man is a haven for business and for…
The former holiday retreat of East Germany’s great granddaddy and the man who built the Berlin Wall lies in ruins just meters from a famous winter sports track, yet it’s history is far from benign, testament that when it comes to greed, corruption, misappropriation of public funds and even murder, capitalism has plenty of competition from the East. What better way to break up the drive through Winter Wonderland?
I’m not sure exactly where I found my mojo today, but something happened between sneaking out of Sue’s place and pausing for air in the middle of Death Valley, something that turned the world right-ways round again. It may be down…
House of The Rising Sun plays on the radio while I’m sitting in Eat, a down-to-earth yet trendy cafe in downtown North Vegas, wondering what to make of their signature dish: Shrimp and Grits. I ordered it because I have no…
The day begins much like those before it with jet lagged cursing at the is-it-morning-yet alarm clock. Jump out of bed, throw things in bag, throw bag in car, throw car at at pre-dawn San Francisco. Get my bearings as…
10:50 on a Sunday morning and I’m not out enjoying my new bike on the first dry day since I took delivery nearly two weeks ago. I’m at the airport. Not in the shiny A380 I first thought was waiting…
Out with the old, in with the new. Sad times as I leave behind my most faithful companion over many a European mile, glad times in the form of a brand new R1200GS TE in Alpine White. And a weekend in Wales to get to know each other.
If there’s a better way to spend a Sunday than rodeo-riding a bucking trail bike up wet chalky ruts covered in leaves, I don’t want to know about it. Whether blasting through muddy puddles or trickling along lonely, rocky lanes, multi-coloured trees linking branches over your head and showering you in organic autumn confetti, a trail ride through Surrey’s last few legal lanes is a tonic for the soul and a workout for the body. Let’s get dirty!