It’s that time of the year in 2022! I’m hitting a groove, back to work, back to traveling. I think many people feel the same and love having things to do. When the world stops but your brain doesn’t, not being able to pursue your interests can take its toll. I think we’ve all had glimpse of what its like to be incarcerated. Hopefully never again in my lifetime we have to go through that again.

All that being said I’m back in Ericeira, Portugal to get the bike. The flight back was a breeze and this time I’m heading back to Brno, Czech! I have about 2 1/2 weeks to get there. The route is lightly planned and I’m ready to hit some countries I’ve never been to.

The whole plane ride, I kept trying to remind myself of all the things I need to remember. The packing, the bike prep, the route, the cities and attractions that I want to hit. As well as the things that still need to be done back at home. Upon arrival I kept reminding myself not to lose anything either. Including my $150 Rayban’s. I love the glasses but always lose them, but this time I was determined not to. WELL!!! That didn’t last long, as soon as I was dropped off at the hotel in Ericeira I ended up leaving them in the uber. What a sucker I am. To be so forgetful can really be a hindrance I tell you!

Either way I had to move on!!! First things first, I met with Armando to see how he was doing and how it went storing my bike.

We discussed how things went with the pandemic and how he was able to continue to stay open. Things were tough but he managed it the best he could and was excited to get his hotel going again.

The motorcycle was in great shape and the battery fully charged thanks to Armando. He increased my rent for the bike slightly, which I didn’t expect, but overall it was a little over $1000 for over 2 years of storing it. This was the first time I had to pay for storage and I can say it hurt financially a little considering I thought I’d be back in about 5 months. But, Whatia gonna do!!!?

I had a slight issue trying to figure out if the gas was still good in the tank, but opted to air on the risky side. I started the bike and found a shop in a near by town (Mafra, Portugal) to give it a basic service. It was a Kawasaki dealer but beggars can’t be choosers. The next town would have been Lisbon and I didn’t want to ride it that far without a proper service.

While the bike was in the shop, I toured Ericeira! I said it before, but I loved the way this surf towns feels…..

It’s funny when you travel alone. You have alot of time to think and be by yourself. I started to think I have two choices, keep to yourself or create opportunities to meet people. I wasn’t quite sure which person would overtake this trip. I can go between being introverted and extroverted at any given time.

Once the bike was finished I stared at the map for the umpteenth time. Trying to figure out where I wanted to stay along the coast. The Portuguese coast is some of the most remote places I’ve been to. Although there are popular beaches equally you can enjoy serene isolated ones too.

As soon as I picked up the Camel at the shop I still didn’t have a destination, but I packed up and found a spot choosing the campsite as close to the beach as possible. I left at lunch time so I didn’t want to travel far.

So first stop was a place called Porto Covo! A short 2 1/2 hour ride that should put me there by sundown. I packed up the bike like I’ve done many times before, but every time I come back to the Camel and do it again it always feels like the first time. You just never know how things will sit on the bike.

I’m riding to my next unknown and excited to get moving, I took off without a care in the world. Riding through Portugal’s version of the golden gate bridge and into the motorways was as freeing as it always feels. The sun was shining, the weather was hot, but manageable when the wind whistles and blasts you going 70 mph on the bike, it felt like nothing could stop me now.

Until…..a man started to wave me down on the motorway, yelling, screaming, and waving his arms in a crazy manner. All I could hear was Back! Back! Bag!?!? I had no idea really what he was saying, either way I pulled off in a hurry and realize there was smoke on the back of the bike. As a matter of fact not just smoke, but fire!!!!

(A screenshot from Polarsteps of the spot that caught fire)

The gentlemen had grabbed some water from his car and doused it as much as possible, I also was drinking from my camel back and spitting on it before finally putting it out. The damage was done though, quite a few of my clothes were burnt. I wasn’t sure how many but it didn’t look good. After we somewhat sharing a good laugh, the guy took off and I stood there contemplating how it happened. It turns out my tie downs were too tight, it pushed up against my pipes.

I’ve had this happen before back in 2016 through Colorado backcountry and the smell of burnt plastic permeated the air and my bag. It’s not an ideal smell to keep smelling. It made me gag periodically!

This stopped me in my tracks and I had to remind myself to check shit twice or even three times. Especially when you just start your initial take off you want to make sure things are in working order for a long ride. Yep it smelt like plastic as I continued to ride (insert face palm)

On the plus side when I arrived I found a campsite within walking distance to the beach.

After all the traveling and prepping to get the bike ready all I wanted to do is post up for a bit. But when you have travel ADD I simultaneously wanted to get ‘back’ on the bike again! So one night was all I booked at Porto Covo campground. It seemed as if the camp site was also a long term vacation spot which had quite a few retired folks. It’s not where I felt like spending my time. Although I feel like I could of met some really interesting people. So on to the next……

The goal Portimao!!!!

I have mutual friends through my friend Mikko in Vegas, his friends moved to Portimao from Vegas so I told them that I’d be heading there way. Katherine and Allen made the bold move and were kind enough to invite me to check out their new home.

Its only a 2 1/2 hour ride from Porto Covo Campground but along some of the most beautiful coastlines. It reminded me of our coastline beauty in northern California, except, the sun shined brighter here. 🙂

When every turn is a scenery book its hard not to stop, and of course if there is one thing I like more than scenery’s, its history. This was the remnant’s of an old islamic fisherman village from the 12th and 13th century.

Along this stunning back drop….

As I continued to ride there were some picturesqe small towns like this one. Odeceixe, Portugal.

Tucked into the mountains I had to stop for a cup of coffee, and a little breakfast.

Lagos, Portugal did not disappoint on the history or its beaches.

Each beach and town along the southern coast deserved more time to explore. But I will tell you that these small towns in between felt desolate and abandoned. Maybe thats why they offer expats fast ways to become citizens. They need bodies in those towns.

After what seemed like a short ride I finally arrived in Portimao. Meeting up with Allen and Katherine.

Portimao seemed to me to be more of an expat town, where I could find everything from your prototypical irish bar to big movie theater and huge electronic stores. A nightlife that rivals some of the biggest little cities I’ve seen in a while. There is a long boardwalk with many places to drink and tons of shops with every trinket you can imagine. Honestly it felt more like an American town than a Portuguese one. Although to be fair I was hanging out with some new resident expats. As well as many other Folks from different countries as well. Friends from Italy, France, I think, and others.

After a nice 2 night stop seeing how Katherine and Allen are settling in as expats in Portugal, it was time to move on. They’ve settled in nicely purchasing an apartment and are now trying to find their way through the charming, casual lifestyle that Portugal offers.

The goal is Czech, the route?! Still to be determined.

I took off trying to stay along the coast, but I wanted to get back into Spain and possibly try to get to Gibraltar. Which is almost a 5 hour ride. Doable but I also like to stop. However the heat was almost unbearable. Still I took the Main highway and made a lunch time stop at a gas station in Almonte, Spain. Nothing but salad for this guy after having mostly American style cuisine in Portimao.

I continued along until I hit Seville, Spain which when I did it was 108 degrees. I could only truly feel the heat when ever I stopped at a stop light. But Holy SH%$%T!!!! Nothing made me want to stay in this town, and i’m sure I’m missing a whole lot. On the plus side It did look like a beautiful city, but the cooler coast was calling.

This shade was my only savior in Seville as I took a break at the entrance to this local university.

As I got back on the motorway, the next stretch was nothing but mostly flat land and nothing to see. I was reminded right then the importance of choosing the long route instead of the fastest.

It was a boring ride, until, I was waved down again! Some lady was pointing at my bike and waving and I thought, “oh shit, not again!!” As I looked back for fire on my bike and tried to smell burning plastic, I pulled off to the side of the road to check. This time there was nothing and I couldn’t figure it out!

I hesitantly took off, looking back at my bike and shaking my head in confusion. Once I got on a roll, I finally stopped at a gas station to go over everything. Still nothing, I went into the gas station to pay for the gas ahead of time, since there was no card machine, reached into my jacket and pants for my wallet, but it was nowhere to be found. I instantly panicked!!! Where the hell was my wallet?! After going through my jacket, pants and tearing up my bikes storage, I realized what she was waving me down for. I must of lost my wallet on the motorway!!

True Panic set in because the only other money I had was USD cash stored in my bike. No Credit cards just the US currency!!! The gas station wouldn’t take the cash and I was low on gas. The only thing I thought of was to retrace my steps and head back to where I thought the lady was waving me down.

I did find some change in my side bags and was able to put a few euros in the bike. But it certainly was not enough to get to Gibraltar. As I headed back you can see by this app tracking me I went back and forth trying to find the spot.

With no luck I was finally running out of gas. So I found a small town near by to figure out my bearings.

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA

I thought maybe I could find a bank to exchange my money. But this was not a tourist town. It was not pulling up on my map. Just regular banks, that were closed.

The first step was to see If I could find a place to stay the night. I asked about 3 hotels if they would take my US money for the night. All of them said no!

Finally after walking around some more I found a hotel, although closed. The gentleman inside asked me, if I have apple wallet though they can take that. I said, Apple what!!??? OF COURSE!!! How could I have forgotten. I looked on my phone and sure enough I had a card on there. Although this speciifc hotel was closed, I could now use it for another hotel, food and gas. WOW!!! So lucky. Thanks guy I cant remember.

So I found a hotel

An older colonial style hotel but it gave me a chance to regroup out of the heat and de-stress, as well as make some phone calls. In Europe you can use your cards and apple wallet. But cash was still wildly used outside the big cities. So the goal was to get a replacement check card so I can withdraw cash.

I called my bank to ask if they could send it, but they advised against it and said you can you get a friend to come pick one up and send it. I said absolutely! I called my friend Eduardo to see if he could help since he was in Petaluma and also had redwood credit union.

Sure enough he made it happen. However the fastest they could get it to me was a week and the best place ROME! (Insert surprised look here) ROME!??? I’m at the most southern part of Spain!!!

Looks like I have new plan!!!! Time for a beer!

I woke up the next morning and asked the hotel if they knew of a bank that would possibly exchange the money. They suggested one, the BBVA, and I like how he insisted on drawing directions on a map. 🙂

I arrived and no such luck, they said Gibraltar is your best bet. Well I’m heading there anyway.

Thank god for Apple Wallet. At the very least I could get where I needed to go and have access to just about anything, anywhere! SO….off to Gibraltar! Did you know it’s a separate country from a Spain? ” A British territory. Who knew I’d be heading back to Britain so soon 🙂

I was going to spend sometime in Gibraltar but now I figured out that I have to get to Barcelona to reach the Ferry to Italy, and only 2 days to get there. Otherwise I have to wait another 5 days in Spain to take the next one.

This is where my choices of either covering some distance now or risk having to speed up towards the end of the ride come into play. Again I’ve allotted 2 1/2 weeks to get there. The last countries towards Czech I’ve never seen so I didn’t want to cut them short. So I decided the best course of option was to haul ass to Barcelona. (Over 700 miles)

So passing Gibraltar was a bummer, my dad said it was a unique city to explore.

I arrived in a town that had a cash exchange just outside of Gibraltar. (Estepona, Spain)

If there is another business that seems profitable it’s the cash exchange. I think I got charged $100 and lost about $200 in the exchange. Ultimately I had about $500 in Euro’s for an emergency.

I had a beach side lunch in Estepona …..and contemplated where I was going to stay!

It was pretty early so I decided to go as far as I could and found a campsite on the beach about 280 miles from where I was, so it was time to hit the road.

Money in my pocket, a full belly, and full tank of gas. I don’t like having to be rushed but this is the game I’m playing. A race against the clock and I’m heading back to Barcelona. A town i’ve now been to twice….so let’s ride!!!! *NOTE TO SELF, CHECK YOUR TIE DOWNS AND KEEP YOUR WALLET ZIPPED UP!