Vespa Travel is Full of Ups and Downs
Nobody tells you about the garbage containers. They only show you the sunsets.
I have had many days on the road that were total emotional rollercoasters. Not the Instagram kind where everything resolves neatly in the golden hour. The real kind — where you go from singing to swearing in thirty minutes flat.
Here are a few.
⬆ UP — Camargue, France, 2016
You ride through the beautiful French region of the Camargue and watch the famous white horses standing in the marshlands. Flamingos in the background. Your heart is singing with joy. The road is flat and wide and the light is doing something extraordinary.
⬇ DOWN — Half an Hour Later
A popping sound. The engine stops. Middle of nowhere. I camp three nights on a French parking lot with a holed piston and repair the scooter at night. The flamingos are not helping.
⬇ DOWN — Liguria, Italy, 2014
A strong thunderstorm on a coastal road. The next moment my rear wheel slides 30 metres across a roundabout — oil, sand and sun had turned the road into soap. I survive with a few scratches on the scooter, a bruised ego and a ripped rain jacket.
⬆ UP — Four Hours Later
Picnic on the French Côte d'Azur. Turquoise Mediterranean sea. The ripped rain jacket drying on a rock.
⬇ DOWN — Danish Campsite, 2014
Soft seize on arrival at a Danish campsite. I open the engine on the gravel path between the caravans. Campers look at me like I have moved in permanently.
⬆ UP — Next Day, Copenhagen
Copenhagen. A mini scooter museum. An invitation to a barbecue in the harbour. And then: sleeping on the beautiful sailing yacht Good Enough with a view of the opera house, getting to know its fascinating owner. The name of the yacht alone was worth the breakdown.
⬇ DOWN — Leaving Biograd, Croatia, 2015
Sunny breakfast with friends in beautiful Biograd na Moru. I start riding to reach an event in Tomelloso, Spain — five days, entirely doable. After 100 km: catastrophic seizure. I am towed on the back of a highway cleaner truck to a petrol station. I spend the whole day repairing piston and cylinder with sandpaper donated by a Slovenian truck driver. I sleep the night next to garbage containers behind the truck stop.
⬆ UP — Tomelloso, Spain, Four Days Later
After four days of riding 600 km daily through heat, strong winds, rain and hail — I reach Tomelloso. The local Vespisti receive me like a hero. Press is there. The food is extraordinary. The wine is cold. There is a private tour of the city museum. And I make friends I still have today.
⬆ UP — Kansas, USA, 2018
Gas station somewhere in Kansas. A Harley rider buys me a coffee. By coincidence I notice on his phone that several tornadoes are merging a hundred miles south — but moving away. I feel lucky.
⬇ DOWN — Two Hours Later
In the middle of nowhere, corn fields in every direction, nowhere to hide: one of those tornadoes has decided to come my way. It gets my full attention.
⬆ UP — Thirty Minutes Later
It dissolves a few miles away. But the surrounding storm and rain force me down to 30 km/h and my lights fail. A pickup driver saves my life by following me for the next 30 km — blocking my back, lighting my way with his roof lights — until I reach a motel and safety.
The Pattern
Every single one of these downs was followed by something I would not have experienced otherwise. The breakdown in Denmark led to the yacht in Copenhagen. The garbage containers in Croatia led to Tomelloso. The tornado in Kansas led to the pickup driver who followed me through the dark.
I am not saying suffer more to live better. I am saying: the road has a logic of its own, and it rarely ends where you expect.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is long distance Vespa travel dangerous? It has its moments. A roundabout in Liguria. A tornado in Kansas. Mostly the danger is manageable — and the people who appear when things go wrong are consistently extraordinary.
How do you deal with breakdowns in the middle of nowhere? Sandpaper, patience, and the occasional Slovenian truck driver. Seriously: classic Vespas are simple enough to repair roadside with basic tools. The knowledge is the most important spare part.
Is it worth it? Ask me after the garbage containers. Then ask me after Tomelloso.
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