The final post…
The final post: some facts about our trip around the world So – looks like we’re done. It’s simply not possible to summarize the trip in one last post, so we’ll just throw out some random facts. Days on the road: 339 Total kilometers traveled: 118’394 (73’566 miles) Countries visited: 25 countries on 4 continents Different modes of transportation: Car, bus, train, bicycle, motorbike, quad, camel, elephant, plane, boat, tuktuk, jeepney, and many things without names. Oh, and feet. Lots of feet. Most polluted day: A full day of...
read moreThe last miles
Crossing back into the US and feeling strange that miles actually seemed more normal than kilometers, we crossed Washington State in no time and quickly ended up in Portland, Oregon, which is famous for being a hipster town and hence featuring many good coffee shops. That quickly convinced us to set up tent there. Well – it’s true. There’s great coffee, in great many places. One of the most memorable of which was the Pearl district: An impressive mix of kinda-old looking brick stone houses, surrounded by small gardens and...
read moreWe made it to Canada!
We crossed the border in Porthill, Idaho and switched our motorcycles from miles to kilometres. Following the route along the border to Vancouver, we passed mountains, forests and small villages where anything but cash seems unknown (some say BC stands for “bring cash” instead of British Columbia). And we discovered that the visible border zone between the US and Canada actually exists. Whether there is a forest, or a meadow or whatever, the border is clearly visible as a bare strip of land of about 30 feet width all along...
read moreThe midwest
After spending a night in a nice little place called Torrey, Utah, we took on another long (and pretty boring) ride through the desert to cross into Colorado. As soon as we got there, the ride drastically improved: The Rocky Mountains hadn’t over-promised. We enjoyed the nice, long curves, but were always on our toes due to the weather: It was just…weird. It repeatedly changed from blue skies to pitch black, to windy and once to a proper downpour. Coming into Colorado Springs, the sky looked as if the big spaceship from...
read moreThe Canyonlands
After a bit of an overdose of fake entertainment in Las Vegas, we were ready for some real nature out west. After a pretty boring first few hours getting away through the desert, we were rewarded what proved to be a real gem in spite of being kind of overshadowed by its uber-famous comrades: Zion National Park. While I can’t attest to the hiking quality of that park, riding the bikes through was a dream. Perfect curves in between reddish astounding rock formations – this went right up there to the list of most memorable rides of...
read moreVegas, baby, Vegas!
Everyone knows Las Vegas, right? But wait… what and where is it actually? You’ll probably get the best overview by watching this video. Riding through the desert of Nevada felt like sitting in front of a huge hot air fan and getting the protective motorcycle gear melted off my body. The only way that led to Las Vegas within reasonable time was the freeway, so nothing interesting on the way but desert, racing cars and trucks. We were happy when we finally arrived in the city of gambling. We checked in to our room in the once fancy...
read moreCalifornia
When we finally managed to leave the Bay area, we attacked the rest of the state the Beach Boys like the girls from. Going up the coast until Fort Bragg and then heading inland, crossing some hills, we were highly confused by the changes in climate: We arrived at the home of our couchsurfing-hosts half frozen, and literally needed a good half hour under a hot shower to feel alive again. Even in summer, average temperature at this (otherwise rather nice place) hovers around 50-65 degrees Fahrenheit (15-25 Celsius), and we definitely caught a...
read moreStuck in San Francisco
Well – this one is special. Within a few days, our plans went belly up, and we ended up staying in San Francisco much longer than planned. We met up with old friends, made some new ones, and all in all had a blast. Toad got a bit neclected, yes, but it was worth it. If you want to know what exactly we were up to – well, just ask. We kept pretty busy, so busy in fact we didn’t see much of San Francisco until almost the day we left. What we saw we liked, though. From what we can tell, the city lives up to its reputation, even...
read moreHighway 1
Ever since we enjoyed The Mother of all Roads down under, we’ve been looking forward to doing its sister: Highway 1, going along the coast of California. Having taken care of business in LA, we started with a great Coffee in Santa Monica. What followed was… beautiful. And very, very cold. Even though “California 1” does not go all the way along the coast anymore (there are parts where you have to take the freeway), the long stretches where it does make it worth your while. The first day took us to Lompoc, a place...
read more1 big city and 2 big bikes
While most of us may be used to some sort of change in time zone due to travel, this one still managed to throw us off a bit: Crossing the date line in the Pacific Ocean is…weird. The 15-hour time difference backwards between Hong Kong and Los Angeles means that you would in theory be able to land in LA before you take off in Hong Kong. On the same day. Well, we didn’t quite pull this one off, due to a stopover in Tokyo, but still: Arriving only 50 minutes after you’ve taken off is not bad, for a 15-hour flight. With Asia...
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