It is time to start planning… Although I tend to agree with those who say “no plan is a good plan” I still feel I was lazy these last weeks. Okay. Not quite. I figured out the route and distances by now but there are still some details to be clarified and it disturbs me.
Usually I wouldn’t care as I travel alone. I just plan roughly the route I would take and look up the sights and best roads but always make decisions on the spot. That’s what I like about it. No commitments 🙂 Anyways. When you plan something you can be sure things will not turn out exactly as you wanted – in business or in personal life.
But this time it is a bit different. I have a very close friend who’ll travel with me. I had to arrange a bike for him and this is his first long-distance trip. On top of that my wife will probably join us for 3-4 days so I had to plan around some specific days to make sure she catches the flights.
On the other hand the good news is that I actually got some great help. It has to be said that I am a community member of Horizons Unlimited – a motorcycle traveller community and website where you supposedly get help and advice from fellow travellers or community members. This is how I met a couple of long haul bikers that rode through Hungary. Even though I tried to provide all the help each time someone contacted me I had little luck so far when asking for advice from member is other countries. This changed big time! 🙂
As I am short of holidays this time I had to squeeze the trip in two weeks. The destination is Istanbul. The current route would take me through the Balkans and then Greece. Originally I planned to ferry to Turkey and come back via Istanbul but unfortunately our Turkish friends were not very helpful. From 3 contacts 2 didn’t even respond and the third one just dropped a line asking “where did you get my name?”. Well, smart ass you listed yourself as a contact on HUBB… No comment.
On the other hand everyone else I contacted was just wonderful. I received at least one reply from all others providing info on the best routes, sights, accommodation, local habits, etc. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet some of these guys.
So now I have the route but somehow I’ll have to make sure my friend’s needs are also taken into consideration. And throughout the whole trip I’ll have to look out for him. Make sure he can maintain the pace and that he enjoys himself as much as I will… But that’s no real news. I usually have to do that every time I ride with the others. They just can’t plan a route and usually can’t even order food or book an accommodation as they hardly speak any other languages…
So that’s it for now. I’ll have to get on with the things so have a nice evening 🙂
