Euro Trip Notes Pt. 1

OK, I am not actually IN Europe as of yet but since I am getting ready to go I thought it would be as good of a time as any to catch up on my blog and start posting about the trip.

As any of you reading this can tell, I am not the best at keeping up with my blog site. Mainly because I just don't have time and am so completely drained at the end of the day the last thing I want to do is make any effort to activate more cerebral thought processes.

All of that aside, I am taking a trip to Europe next month on a bike (motorcycle). I'm going by myself, but will be hooking up with a tour group when I get over there. It's disappointing that none of my friends can go with me, but if I keep waiting I'll be 50 and still saying "Yeah, I plan on going to Europe on the bike." No time like the present! Besides, I really need a vacation....

The tour company is called Edelweiss Bike Travel. I have never done this before but some of the bike rags I read have commented on their tours on several occasions. If I like it, I'll try to do one every other year. Here is the link for the company and the tour I am taking: http://www.edelweissbike.com/tours/E/CONTINENTS/EUROPE/Best-of-Europe

It will cover Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and France!!! I picked out a BMW R 1200 ST, which I figured is about as close to my bike I could get with a BMW. For another $500 I could have rode the new BMW 'Busa Hunter (K 1200 S), but my trip expenditures are adding up rapidly and I needed to cut costs.

Which made this week particularly rough and expensive! First off, I had to come home from Montana and try to juggle work and prepping for Europe. That was a bit of a nightmare and very stressful due to work B.S. I bought a new RS Taichi leather riding / track-day suit. Think of the Power Rangers. It's an all-leather, perforated, two-piece suit that is full of armor. It's made for riding on the track and doesn't have any pockets. But, because it's a two-piece, I can wear just the pants with one of my other jackets that has pockets. By the time I got that, plus an inner wind-stopper liner (perforated, remember?), and some do-dads for my helmet I was in for another $1000 stroke. Ick.

Then, of course, I had to get a new digital camera. Fortunately, my folks are helping me out on that one for my B-Day, which was a while back. I ended up going with a Canon SD600. The thing that really impressed me about this camera was how fast it is to focus and take a picture. It's also very light and compact. Of course, that meant buying more stuff - like an ultra-fast 1gig memory card and an extra battery.

Let's also not forget that to power all this stuff I had to buy a new power converter for all my stuff (laptop, camera, etc.). But now, I think I just about have everything. A little extra medical insurance for my trip is the last thing on my list and then I am ready to go.

I will try to post updates daily while I am in Europe, but that will depend on:
a) how tired I am at the end of a daily bike flog
b) if I can get online
and
c) how good the women and beer are over there

More to Come!