While July 1, 2016, was my official launch of my round the world motorcycle adventure, I still had two more important goodbyes to make. The first was saying goodbye to my youngest son Nick in Abbotsford.
Then onto Osoyoos to meet my daughter Carllee and say good bye to her. Wasn’t my original plan to ride there. But then again, my plan is to have no plan. So it worked out perfectly :-).
Ok … I know … a stupid picture with me and my helmet on.
Vacation vs. Lifestyle
After a tough day of saying goodbyes to two people I love dearly in my weird way, and still not into a routine or feeling comfortable traveling, I wanted to stay in a hotel for the night to regroup and prepare for what would be the real start of the trip. What I didn’t realize that it was next to impossible to find a vacant hotel during the Canada Day long weekend in the holiday capital of BC, the Okanagan valley without a reservation. Of course I had no plan ha ha. That met a long day of riding before I reached Kamloops at 8 p.m. and a hotel.
When I finally found a vacant hotel room I about freaked out at the price – $109 plus tax! Now this is fine for a riding vacation but not for a riding life.
People often confuse what I am doing for a vacation. One of the biggest differences is the budget. In a vacation most save up through the year and blow it all on a two or three week trip, going to exotic locations, staying at nice places, eating well, and doing fun things. Even adventure vacations can cost a lot.
But a riding life is not a vacation you save for. It is everyday living. Take my hotel, $109 a night x 30 nights in a month = $3,270 a month for accommodation! Simply unaffordable for my budget now or when I was working. This is not a vacation budget.
Anyways … I was tired and relented. I paid the price this time. Part of my regrouping was to not do this again. Time to toughen up and get into the adventure motorcycling mode as I start to make my way north.
Today’s Stats
