The Joy of Movement.
The early stages of depression, loneliness kick in as I wake up alone.
Why am I doing this? I question myself. What for?
There is a hollowness within me. I gather my things. Pack my bags.
I say goodbye to my temporary friends.
I briefly survey my route and check over my bike. I swing my leg over. Excitement rising.
I kick it over and the bike erupts into life. I twist the throttle. The wind blows on my face.
I’m off again. Past feelings melted away. I ride off full of excitement. What does this day hold? Where will I stay? Who will I meet? The clouds and mountains drift by. I see a bird flying over head. The clouds.
I am full of the joy of life. I am alive.
I met some great people. We share stories and laugh.
The next day I wake up, the early stages of loneliness kick in. I gather my things. I pack my bags. I say goodbye to my temporary friends. I question myself.
The lack of meaningful conversation with friends, meaningful human interaction takes its toll a little. Your conversation is repeated day in day out.
This is only off set by motion.
Being on the move excites me. The next challenge. These are your milestones, your sense of achievement. Without a sense of achievement there is little to motivate me. Sure there are beautiful things to see and do and I do these too, but there is little in this for me.
Adventure lies out there on the road.
The road is calling me.
Happy journey
Very nice to read your adventure, I’m preparing a trip next year around Europe and North-Africa, but I’m still undecided about the vehicle, a Honda Cub or a Piaggo Ape. Id’like to know how you handle the security of your Honda? It’s small and easy to steal, I’m afraid of theft in bigger cities. The ape is less likely to be stolen and you’re able to lock stuff inside (even to sleep), but on the other hand it’s more difficult to work on (parts aren’t a problem). What do you do to protect your Honda?
I wish you a good and safe ride! Grtz from France!
Hey Man.. thanks for the email.
I would let security of you bike be the deciding factor. You will always find a place willing to allow you to bring it inside. Bring a lock obviously. Your things i guess are another matter. So far i have not had a problem with people interferring with my bags. I have a small chain type lock that loops through my bags and around the rack frame so they simply cant be lifted from the bike, i have small locks on the zippers.
There is not much more i can so with out building a wire frame around them, but i havent felt the need to. Maybe you will go for hard cases.. not as versatile though.
I carry a bicycle lock to lock the bike up, i rarely leave it on the street, but sometimes have to. I had a large motorcycle lock… couldnt justify the additional weight so i gave it away and bought a bike lock. Its not left in high risk areas for long.
The honda cub is far simpler in my opinion to work on .. as you pointed out. very little has gone wrong with my bike. Lost of people do this without knowing anything about bikes, they get by fine too, they just ask for help! you wont feel alone while riding, for some reason before i left i thought, thats it i will be alone and it will be difficult to find help .. not the case
I worried about all these things before i set off, then i realsied it is very easy to manage these things while on the road, there are plenty of shops, mechanics, plenty of opportunities for tweaking your packing and luggage on the way. Though getting some quality gear at the start will pay later on!
good luck man.. send me your blog address if you get one up and running!!!!
thanks for the email!!
SEan
Thanks Sean for the fast reply! Nice to hear I won’t have to worry much about my stuff being stolen
As for the cub vs ape, the cub is indeed a lot easier to work on, and less risk to break down, and it’s a lot cheaper… guess it will be a simple choice 
I’ve joined your Facebook-page so you’ll hear more from me in the future.
I like backpacking around so I know how important quality and weight are, and how they tend to make my wallet much lighter
Have a safe trip!
haha.. well i didnt say you wont have to worry about your stuff being stolen!!
Its kinda down to luck i think, and not leaving it exposed for too long.. off course you could also be just held up… hopefully that will never ha
tru about the lightweight kit alright, but probably more is gained by trying to figure out what you can do without!!! i do that all the time.
ill try post a present pack list soon
i put stuff regularly on Facebook.. if you have not joined in!
take care
Sean
Brilliant…..!