We had these grand visions before we left of how we'd cruise around Europe, blog along the way, post photos in all our social channels, and just make it all happen. Well, it turns out that isn't quite reality and we haven't been posting as much as we had hoped with so much to see and do everyday. However, after a week and a half, I think we might actually be getting into a rhythm. We had an excuse the first few days and nights, when we were frankly plagued by jetlag which meant we'd land at our hotel and pretty much pass out and muddle through the next day. But after that, you might be wondering, "What's all the fuss then?" They've been on road trips before why is this so hard? Let me count the ways...
First of all, we wanted to be connected digitally as we traveled so we could do research and post about our travels. So we require power and charging EVERY night. All told we have 1 laptop computer, 3 phones, a Samsung Gear 360, GoPro Hero 5, 4 SENA bluetooth helmet communications headsets, and 2 backup battery packs that all need to be powered every night. That's Jason's job. He powers up the 6 USB power charger, or the "octopus" as we call it, and gets everything plugged in. With that done, we can all go to sleep. Phew. No one wants to wake up, see a cow walking across the Austrian Alps and not be able to photograph it, right?
Secondly, we need to figure out where we are headed every day and, more importantly, where we will be staying. I definitely don't want to land in a town after dinner with grumpy kids and no place to sleep. Typically, when we are on a one or two week vacations I have our trips planned out and we don't have to think twice about where we will be sleeping. But with this adventure we purposely didn't want to have a plan. I know, crazy! This was a total leap of faith for me. So, every few days we have to pick a general direction and approximate end location. On a whim I bought these Lonely Planet Best Trip travel books focused on drives by countries and they've proven to be an excellent place to start mapping out our general direction. I then check Airbnb, Booking.com and other travel sites for guest houses, farm stays, and hotel options. This was overwhelming for me in the beginning until I realized that it was becoming a huge time sink and I didn't want to spend hours scouring for the "perfect" place every night. I pick a place now from 2-3 options in our budget and we just go for it. I try to find interesting places that will enhance our experience, such as alpine guest houses with goats and sheep up windy roads. So far, so good on that front!
Third, we need to load and unload our luggage every day, including all the various motorcycle and travel gear, such as a cooler. It starts to feel like we brought everything and the kitchen sink. But now, after a week of multiple trips from the bike to the evening's guest house and back, I was amazed when yesterday we actually carried it all in to the guest house and out the next morning in one go. Bravo family! Somehow we have collectively figured out how to use our heads, backs, shoulders and arms to carry everything. Also, Jason and I now have a verbal system of checks and balances to ensure one of us has made a final sweep of the room after having lost a few small things in those first few nights when we weren't coordinating who was doing what. Live and learn! Not as tight as NASA but we found a method that works for us.
Lastly, we packed relatively light given our mode of transport and many folks have asked how we can bring enough for five weeks. My answer: sink laundry every evening. Generally we can get everything dry overnight if we get it washed right after dinner, particularly all the synthetic shirts and pants. The key is to lay out all your wet laundry on a towel and roll it and further wring out moisture--a handy trick I learned from my mom when we went on longer camping road trips. I am happy to report, that to date, we've had no wet underwear hanging off the Goldwing to dry during the ride the next day.
And so, now that we have mastered some of these daily activities, I am hopeful we will have more time to write and post interesting stories. We'll see!
