Social Media - Inspiration for Adventure

In the months leading up to retirement, I was starting to think about some adventures that Frank and I could get into. Inspiration is easy to find on social media these days, and so I want to share some of my favourite adventurers and their stories and blogsites.

 Because we have a Safari Condo camping van, on Instagram I would sometimes follow other Safari Condo owners and check out their travels and photos. 

 I happened on a very interesting account called "300 Days South" about a Calgary family who planned to travel from Chile back to Calgary in their van. They have a blog as well which makes for great reading and armchair travelling. Check it out here. What I especially like about this blog is their honesty. It's not all plain sailing on this adventure. It's no big surprise that with four people travelling and living in a very small space for ten months, with two quite young kids, that there would be tantrums and tears along the way. And they tell it how it really is. 



Speaking of trans-continental travel, I've been following another very interesting guy, also on Instagram. A Dutch cyclist named Martjin Doolard has traveled from Amsterdam to Singapore on his two wheels and made a book and a movie about his journey, both called "One Year on a Bike". I've watched his movie on Vimeo - it's good. You can find the trailer here. To see the movie in Vimeo costs $7, and if you don't already have a Vimeo account, you do have to sign up first.

 But now he is riding from Vancouver to Chile. At the moment he is in Guatamala. I really enjoy his travelogue because he is a professional photographer and designer, so his images are beautiful, plus he is a good writer, and again very open and honest. He had his bike stolen in Mexico City, so I can relate to how devastating that was. His situation would have been far worse than mine, given that was his only mode of transportation as well as his "occupation" in a way.


His blog and Instagram page are called "Espiritu Libre".

 "Crazy Guy on a Bike" is a great website I stumbled on several months ago. It started as an online journal and resource page for other cyclists, by a guy named Neil Gunton in 2000. He was riding across America at the time. It has since exploded and grown into a very popular platform for all kinds of bicycle tourists to post their trip journals and participate in forums. There are trip journals from all over the world, tons of photos and stories, and a load of info on itineraries and logistics info for cycle tours. Another great place for adventurous armchair travel!

 I believe it was on this website that I learned about Euro Velo routes. This is a network of cycle routes crisscrossing Europe, many of which are very well established and sign-posted. They often use pathways or quiet roads. One route follows the Danube River. I got very excited when I read about these - I would definitely love to cycle one of these routes!
A friend told me about an American couple who live in their van and who also do long cycle tours like this, among other things. "Traipsing About" is the name of their blog. Their cycle tours in Europe are very inspiring to me. Check out this entry on riding in Europe as an example.

 So now the big question is - was any of this inspiring enough to make Frank and me want to get out and do our own kind of adventure? Well maybe it was! Because we do have something planned and upcoming! Just stay tuned.........









Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 31, 2018 at 11:48 AM

    Sounds like you're gearing up for some awesome times in your retirement. Have all the fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DaphneSeptember 10, 2018 at 1:35 AM

    Thank you Dakota. Exciting times for us for sure.

    ReplyDelete

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