My Favorite Travel Memory-Exploring by Motorbike
My Favorite Travel Memory
Today on World Travel for Couples, we launch a new series entitled My Favorite Travel Memory. Every Thursday you will see a new guest post written by another traveling couple. I only asked one simple question: “What has been your favorite travel memory that you were happy to be able to share with your traveling partner?”
The inaugural post is from one of our favorites, Gillian, of One Giant Step. Gillian believes that we are all only One Giant Step from making our dreams come true. She, and her partner Jason, travelled around the world for a year in 2009/2010. She writes about the preparations, the journey, and the returning at her blog One-Giant-Step.com
Her post is a collection of memories from their RTW Trip, where they explored much of the world via motorbike, a popular and fun way to see more of the countryside in different places.
Exploring the World on a Motorbike
We’re in the middle of a throbbing, humming, moving mass. There appears to be no rules; save for those that come naturally in such a crowd. I look around me and see smiling faces; Vietnamese locals who seem pleased that we would join in.
Hanoi Scooter Traffic
Out in countryside of Laos smiles are harder to come by but as we get closer, and I wave and shout ‘hello’, the kids come running waving and smiling and giggling and shouting back. We reach the end of the road and see nothing but water. Uh-oh. And then spot the ferry chugging it’s way back across the river to pick us up.
River Ferry, Near Vientiane, Laos
From the black sand beaches, through fields of grapevines, with blue roofed churches atop every hill; the sun is on our backs and the sea glints in the distance as we happen upon a taverna far out of town. The Greek owner welcomes us warmly with ‘Kalispera’ (good evening), pours us some ouzo and offers us the best local menu that this island has to offer.
It’s almost impossible not to get lost on Bali. The roads criss cross the island and no map is complete; we learn that Balinese don’t use maps as they either know the area or they stop to ask someone. There certainly is no lack of help as every time we stop three or four others also stop to offer assistance. We soon feel like locals though as the rain starts and we, like everyone else, pull over to haul out our rain ponchos before continuing on.
Where Are We...Bali Road Trip
Weaving in and out of the red clay ‘fairy chimneys’, over and beyond the rolling hills and the harvest-ready melon fields we reach the underground city of Derinkuyu (in Turkey) and descend down 8 stories into the earth. The dank, dark and narrow passageways make us wonder what it must have been like to live here 1000 years ago. We are relieved to surface again and feel the crisp, cool, fall air.
The scenery is spectacular and the road challenging as we make our way to the Thai/Burma border in northern Thailand. I hear reports a few days later of motorcyclists being stopped by armed guards; but we encounter almost no-one. We reach the small village that is our destination, have some lunch, and turn around; this time it was all about the journey.
Around Mae Hong Son
My favorite travel memory spans six countries.
From the time we first learned how to manage ourselves on a scooter in Greece in 2004 to the last one we returned on the island of Bali last May, hanging on the back of a scooter while Jason winds us through villages and countryside, urban centers and far flung coasts is my absolute favorite travel memory.
We feel like we’re part of the landscape; as if we’re just a little bit ‘local’. We can get off the usual tourist trail and experience a place just a little bit more. We’re free; to explore up and around that corner; to see the view from a different perspective; to take our time. We’re often lost, have run out of gas, and almost got stuck more than once but I love all of it.
The times I have felt most like I am really ‘out there’ experiencing travel have been when I’m on the back of the scooter hanging onto Jason and feeling the wind in my face.
Be sure to check out Gillian’s site, One Giant Step, and find her on these social media outlets:
Thanks Gillian! If you’re a traveling couple and want to be featured in this series, please contact me for more information!