About Solo Riding ! My Vespa Tour – My Adventure – My Peronal Growth

December 30, 2021
December 30, 2021 DonCalvo_1976

About Solo Riding!

My Vespa Tour – My Adventure – My Personal Growth

Yesterday I visited a friend and over coffee and a meal I shared a few of my experiences from my trips. I told her about obstacles and lucky moments when she asked:
And how many were you? Did you have a team?
I smiled and said: “No. I am not Ewan McGregor!”
I was planning my trip for over 3 years – all alone.
I was preparing my scooters and placing them in Utrecht and San Diego – alone.
I was injured, sick and wet and cold and happy and sweating and crying and laughing. But nearly all of the time – alone.
No camera crew, no support vehicle, no pillion or second rider, no logistical aid – Alone!
She was a bit shocked and said she nearly had to cry when she imagined that, but I explained to her:

My Responsibility – My Problem – My Decisions

In many situations, it is more difficult alone, but as well on many occasions, I was glad to not have the burden to watch out for other people’s safety or babysit a camera team.
I am not like others riding in a team where one motivates the other and takes care of things when one is injured or sick.
I take all the hard decisions by myself and that also means when I fuck up it is my responsibility. When I ride into the night on one of the most dangerous roads of the world down a mountain with hundreds of curves and 50 dark tunnels in a thunderstorm.
My responsibility.
If I decide to not see a doctor after I crashed and I hired my collar bone in Siberia and ride on pain killers for 3 weeks. My problem.
If I want a good picture and I stand alone in the deserts I have to first set up a tripod and a remote and place everything the right way. And I sometimes have to take the picture 3 or 5 or 7 times till it looks the way that I show it to you here because I don’t have a photographer or a videographer with me.
If I have a breakdown or a flat tire I better motivate myself or spend the night in a forest with bears or a desert or behind a gas station somewhere. No nice van to put my scooter in and ride to the next garage to get it fixed.

I was a lot faster and sometimes safer

But it is safer for me and it was faster because you do not have to take risky decisions together. Many times on my 80 days a second rider or a team or a van would have slowed me down and I would not have managed. Many times I continued riding into the night or storms to make a few more km towards my goal relying on my instincts. That would not have been possible with a team. As a single rider, you can cross borders swiftly and under the radar and get hardly ever stopped by police whereas a team or a convoy would attract much attention and hassle.

My Vespa Tour – My Adventure – My Personal Growth

There are a handful of other Vespa adventure riders that operate this way – alone.
That is a completely different story from having a nice Roadtrip.
Holidays somewhere with some friends with a team in the back.
Then it is easy to have perfect pictures and videos and a book and pretend it was an adventure.
But the real adventure is different:
  • Adventure is a challenge.
  • Adventure is overcoming fears and obstacles.
  • Adventure is personal growth.
  • Adventure is not a holiday marketing trip with friends and espresso and hotels and great food along the French Riviera.
  • Adventure means leaving your comfort zone.
  • Real Adventure also means the possibility to get injured or killed.
  • Adventure is not a holiday tour.
It is not an excursion along the Italian Coastline for a marketing video. It is not crossing America with a support van and a photo team for a book. That is fun but it is not a challenge or a risk that makes you grow.
You come home another person after months alone out there.
Do you think 1 or 2 or 4 weeks’ holiday does that? Well – No!
Have a great end of the year and a happy new year!
I hope we see each other safe and sound and with loads of adventure next year again!
Love
Markus

Thanks for stopping by!
Feel free to write me!

I welcome you to contact me for more information
about any of my adventures.