by Travis Gill
In a short while we leave the USA to fly to Germany so we can start full-time motorcycle traveling. This is something Chantil and I have saved and prepared for over the last four years and it is finally coming a reality. So why am I not elated to the level where I’m nearly peeing my pants?
It started a few days ago when a family member asked “Are you excited for your trip?”
I replied, with a less than convincing, “Yeah.” In my head I was wondering “Why am I not super jazzed about the idea of riding an adventure motorcycle around Europe over the next year?”
Perhaps it’s the idea of traveling on a commercial plane and traveling through five different airports over the next 24 hours. Boise to Seattle to Los Angeles to London to Düsseldorf. TSA agents, airport terminals, overcrowded planes with uncomfortable seats; not my idea of fun and exciting.
Perhaps it’s the things we need to accomplish once we arrive in Germany. The motorcycles need to be removed from storage, the batteries connected, and packed for living on the road. The LED headlight of my motorcycle burned out a day before it was put into storage so I have a new one waiting for me to install.
Perhaps it’s the idea of traveling for an entire year or longer. It feels a bit overwhelming to imagine that we’ll be living on whatever we can carry on our motorcycles.
Perhaps it’s just anxiety of the dream not matching the reality of full-time motorcycle travel. We’ve been following numerous motorcycle travelers over the past three years though interviews, podcasts, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Every single one of them has stated that the reality far surpassed their imagination. What if they were all wrong?
It’s during this moment that I flip though some of our past blogs and look though the beautiful pictures and wonderful people we met along the way and I realize that I’m just being a bit overwhelmed by all the responsibility and I’m forgetting all the wonderful memories.
The truth is, that once I’m behind the handlebars of my motorcycle, taking in the incredible scenery around me, I won’t even remember all the preparation and airport TSA lines – I’ll be pinching myself wondering how I have been so blessed to be riding a motorcycle through the countrysides of Europe! Here’s to a year full of travel and adventure!! It’s going to be epic!
🗓: 25 Feb 2020 | ✏️: Travis Gill
