It's time to hit the Road again !

In my mind there is one very big difference between those who travel and those who don’t. Travellers can always come up with a million reasons why they should go; non-travellers can always find another million why they shouldn't. It doesn't matter where the destination is; to a traveller it’s always just around the corner because they think only of the next day’s journey, whereas to a non-traveller the destination is always, oh so far away. I've always liked the motto of my local motorbike club (in fact it’s about the only thing I like about it!) “There are no such things as strangers, only friends we have yet to meet” and that really is true when you are on the road

Almost exactly a year later than originally planned, I'm finally off to Canada. It's planned to be my longest trip by far (so far!) covering something around 15,000 miles over the next 5 months or so. If all goes to plan, after landing in Halifax Nova Scotia I will head firstly north to the St Lawrence Seaway, then south-west along the Canadian-US border to Niagara Falls. Crossing to the other side of the border I'll be  heading for the windy city; Chicago and the start of the Mother Road, Route 66 following in the tracks of Peter Fonda, Denis Hopper and Billy Connelly to name but a few. In the words of the song "It winds from Chicago to LA, more than 2000 miles all the way", well, hopefully I too will get my kicks on Route 66. 

I have a few detours in mind on the way South, both scenic and cultural, but you'll have to ride with me to discover the secrets of my little journey !

My 20 year old BMW R100GSPD "The Beast" after countless hours of minor fettling and fiddling is all loaded on it's little trailer attached to the back of my 25 year old motorhome ready to trundle down to the docks at Southampton tomorrow and will leave for Halifax on the 4th May. Since it's last little excursion across Europe I have totally rebuilt the bike and it now also sports a nice new paint job designed in memory of my late son Sam, so spiritually he will be travelling with me! I'm hoping that my mechanical work proves to be as good as the bike now looks. My bags are virtually packed with just a few last minute odds and sods to cram in and I'll soon be "Leaving on a Jet Plane".

As anyone who knows me might well expect I've acquired one or two more bits of tech over the winter months including a nice new Garmin Virb Elite Helmet camera which will probably end up being mounted everywhere except on my helmet. I simply don't keep my head in one place long enough to get any decent footage. I find it works out far better attached to the front or rear of the bike, so will be trying out a few ideas along the way. I also have a little MyFi gizmo that will hopefully enable me to stay in contact when there is no WiFi available, although I'm not sure how expensive that will work out so will have to wait and see. 

Lots more to tell you but dinner is calling and the temperature here in Wales is dropping sharply so the fire needs to be lit ! I'll try to do an update once the bike has been dropped.... no, make that off-loaded, at Southampton Docks.