The outside of a motorbike engine seen up close near the exhaust

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Finding Adventure

Blog Date - 28 January 2017

Sharon and I went to France in 2013, 2 up on my Fazer 600 (France 2013) and then in 2016 we took our 125cc motorcycles around The Netherlands (The Netherlands 2016). We recently started planning to go to The Pyrenees then we discovered a problem. 

2 motorcycles and a tent on a campsite in The Netherlands
We made it to Makkum in The Netherlands, can we make it to the Pyrenees?

Sharon and to some degree myself are limited in the amount of time we can take off work, as are most regular folks. We don't really like to ride 400 miles a day. We prefer to take our time, look around and enjoy our holidays rather than putting ourselves through an endurance test of sore bottoms, stiff joints and motorway services.

Riding to and from The Pyrenees in a 2 week break would mean covering 2,000 miles overland, approximately 140 miles per day calculated over 14 days. This of course would mean when we got to The Pyrenees we'd have to turn right around a go right back. Let's say we spend 4 days in The Pyrenees then 2,000 miles over 10 days means 200 miles per day. 

This is do-able and many many motorcyclists have done this trip without a thought. This is not how WE want to travel. When we were in The Netherlands we found for us 100 - 150 miles a day is just fine and we also relished staying in one place for a couple of days, giving us time to look around and explore the locality rather than just pass through it.

Sharon, 2 bicycles and a monument in a national parkStaying put allows us to explore all sorts of places in all kind of ways.

So the idea of overlanding to The Pyrenees is possible but it would not be a trip filled with exploration, pleasure and fabulous experiences for us. It would merely be a test of our stamina. 

What about taking the ferry from Plymouth to Santander? We could endure 1 big ride to Plymouth followed by a relaxing 23 hour ferry crossing. Then 300 miles spread over 2 easy days to reach the heart of the Pyrenees passing through beautiful Spain. Sharon and I concur this would be a most agreeable way of getting to The Pyrenees and still give us time to explore. There is a catch. 2 motorcycles, 2 passengers and 1 cabin would cost around £550 for the return ferry crossing alone.

The queue of motorcyclists getting ready to board the ferry to Santander
I caught the Plymouth - Santander ferry in 2005, it wasn't cheap then either.

We are not poor people, neither are we wealthy. We *can* afford such a trip though it would curtail all our other adventures to pay for it. What we'd spend on the ferry alone would pay for 3 to 4 UK adventures or 2 weeks touring Northern France. For ourselves it's just not worth the cost. These problems are common problems faced by countless other would be adventurers. We're trapped by mortgages and jobs and families and finances as are most people. Our kids are mature at least so that's one less thing. Our everyday lives, our finances and our desire to travel slowly all place a limit on how far away from home we can get. 

We read about and even meet people who have taken the giant leap and disappeared over the horizon only to return months or years later. We look on with envy. Maybe they are in a better financial situation. Maybe they are much braver than we are. Maybe they've got nothing to lose. Maybe they just don't care. Maybe they're retired. Maybe they've no commitments. Well done to these folks and long may they continue exploring the world but for ourselves it seems our options must remain limited for now.

Does this mean we ought to give up and give in? Just accept that we don't have what it takes be that courage or money or drive and determination? Naaaaaaaaah. It just means we have to find our adventures in other ways. While not everyone can make "The Big Trip" most of us can afford to go and explore even if it means catching a bus to a part of town we've never been to. In that sense Sharon and I are really lucky that we have our motorcycles to transport us and one or two spare days a week to do this.

A montage of tgeh 4 bikes Ren and sharon own between themI mean it's not like we don't have any transport is it.

There are streets and lanes even I haven't seen before within 20 miles of my abode and believe me I've done a LOT of miles around here. Admittedly most of the streets I haven't yet seen I have no desire to explore however I hope you understand what I'm getting at. Indeed Sharon and I have talked about moving simply because we have been to all the places we want to go to in our locality. Moving is an expensive and traumatic event so in the meantime we'll have to cast our net a little further for our days trips. 

Several canal boats along a spur of canal in ManchersterEven Manchester has the occasional place with a hint of curious beauty.

As I've explained because of time limits and our desire to travel slowly the range of our longer trips is curtailed. Mongolia or Mauritania may be out of reach so it looks like France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland are our options. Oh dear, poor us, ain't life just awful. If we can't find interesting places and beautiful countryside in these and our own country then we really really should give up immediately.

So maybe our future will lead us to Mongolia and Mauritania, maybe it won't. Our circumstances today are actually pretty good and the limits placed on ourselves by ourselves doesn't preclude exploration, adventure and fun. Maybe we won't be half way around the world but if we're happy who cares. This isn't a competition to see who's been to the most countries or the most remote place.

Reader's Comments

Pocketpete said :-
Take a map of Europe and draw a circle on the map showing the maximum distance against time available. Then once you have the search area. You can pick a suitable spit to travel to.

Imagine it as an escape from prison search road block area.

Or simply move lol
30/01/2017 01:14:28 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Well Pocketpete when Bikes And Travels is a rip roaring success then we could move anywhere! The advantage of the internet is as long as I have good internet access I can work almost anywhere. The only problem is I don't quite know how to make this website a rip roaring success yet...DOH!

If anyone reading would like to kindly sponsor Sharon and I large sums of money do let us know. I promise we'll use it well by having lots and lots of fun travels and writing it all up on here. In the meantime I guess I'd better get some real work done.
30/01/2017 11:24:37 UTC

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