Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey. ~Tad WilliamsMany people are showing an interest in this trip and asking questions such as, 'What route are you taking?' Well, here's the plan so far....er....er....the trouble is, apart from being busier than a one armed man pitching a tent in a storm, we aren't accustomed to choosing specific destinations. We choose a direction. It's often said 'Never ask a motorcyclist for directions' because we will always choose the most pleasurable route, often the longest. With the exception of Geoff, when he's trying to scrape a living in London, but if you asked him how to get to the Lake district for example, it definitely wouldn't be up the M6! We have made a general route, which will hopefully pan out as we go, depending on what we see, who we meet, where we find to stay etc. We hope to leave St. Teresa's Hospice in Darlington on 23rd April, St. George's day, then meander our way across Scotland, down to Eskdale in the lakes, The Boot Inn for pie, and Wast Water which was voted 'Britains favorite view' and was until the view has since been blocked by tourists! Snowdonia, across Wales then Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford. Incidentally, did you know there is only one lake in the Lake district? Bassenthwaite Lake, all the others are Meres, Waters or Tarns, and one reservoir. Finally, after a send-off from the Ace Cafe http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/ we'll be taking a ferry to Calais on 1st May, courtesy of the kind people at P&O who offered to take us free of charge! www.poferries.com/ or more likely our friends had a whip-round to ensure we leave the country....
Europe is by far the most expensive part of the trip, so we hope to cross it fairly quick via France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, along the Adriatic coast, Albania, Greece, possibly Turkey if we can get away with a Carnet, otherwise it's up through Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine to our first port of call in Russia, Volgograd. Mainly because we have been reliably informed Volgograd is home to some of Russia's most beautiful women! This of course all depending on if and when our Russian visas allow us to enter. If not, then it's plan B. Despite Vladimir Putin recently flexing his political muscles, this doesn't seem to affect the tourist trade as Russia doesn't want a bad name. Then it's a simple task of following the River Volga north until we find the road heading east to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world. Again depending on visas, a view to entering Kazakstan and Mongolia on the way. From Irkutsk along the new 'Amur Highway' around the top of China to Vladivostok. China would make a fantastic shortcut but unfortunately is a logistical nightmare for motorcycle travellers of our ilk.
All that's left is to sally forth, infiltrate a place of conveyance for two bikes and riders to Anchorage. Vladivostok air should be flying direct to Anchorage by the time we arrive if not, then it's via Japan, which we may choose to do so anyway thanks to Austin Vince's recommendation! After a casual jaunt across Alaska and British Columbia, pay a visit to Geoff's brother Alan in Boonville CA. down to Mexico and back across to New York. Our budget doesn't exactly cover our way home from N.Y. but we are both good swimmers and Geoff does look rather fetching in his orange armbands. The fact that they match his orange bike is not a coincidence!
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