General
- Always check your passport!!
- Learn the road signs of the country you are traveling in
- It is safer to ride on the correct side of the road
- You really don’t need many clothes or much else to be honest
- Travel lighter. Books – use a kindle instead (I have read 10 pages of my books so far and they are not small)
- Either have a satnav and a phone or a phone and camera, not just a phone – stopping to take photos when your phone is in the tank bag viewing pouch thing is a pain (satnav + phone probably best imo)
- If possible position your satnav so you can see it without moving too much
- In helmet speakers/headphones would be a brilliant addition I imagine (satnav instructions, music)
- Being “vegetariano” in Spain and Portugal is like being one in the UK 40 years ago. They also confuse it with being a vegan too (some assume you won’t eat eggs and dairy)
- A 110V travel kettle and lots of uht milk sachets wouldn’t have been a bad idea (with tea bags obviously)
- Anything that you cannot leave securely on your bike make sure you can carry it along with everything else – A top box is a must in my opinion
- Writing a blog is time consuming, but worth it (primarily this is blog is for me, my journal. If others read it and benefit then great)
- The police in the UK are generally much friendlier and more helpful than in EU countries – appreciate that fact (they have a tough job. Say thank you, buy them a coffee if they are in the queue at Starbucks for instance)
- You can never have enough fridge magnets
Wellness
- Don’t rush. Take breaks – stretch your legs, give your head time.
- Don’t do too much
- Stay fed and hydrated
- Try and sleep as much as possible
- Relax and enjoy the moment (Constantly remind myself to relax when riding; drop the shoulders and chill)
- Don’t stay couped up in a hotel room. Walk. Look around
- Focus, zone out of anything that is not the job in hand – riding is mediation
- Disconnect as much as possible. News, social media, email.
- Let loved ones know you are ok. They worry
- Never underestimate the kindness of strangers
- Be a kind stranger
- If riding into a small town doing the stated 30kph, navigating speed humps etc. whilst locals gawp at you, makes you feel like a Clint Eastwood character in a Western, riding into town, brilliant, that was exactly where my head was at 😁
- The Gallagher brothers should have bought motorbikes or looked further than the local off license (work it out)
National/Cultural differences
- Black tea should never be drank with hot milk, ask for frio leche
- Learn some of the language, 10 words can help a lot (hello, goodbye, thank you, please, cold milk etc.)
- Have a loose understaning of road signs, speed limits, road etiquette etc.
Google maps
- Time estimation is just a wild guess
- It does not differentiate in road types. Single width dirt tracks are perfectly adequate routes it believes
- I would have been lost without it
Lone Rider 