Five weeks ago today I left San Francisco. Although the first week back in the UK was a hell of an adjustment, I can’t believe how much I’ve achieved since then. I’m on a roll and loving it!

The best part about returning from my sabbatical was most certainly finding out that I still had 25 days leave left until the end of June 2016 – I was accruing leave while I was effectively on leave. Result!

In order to make the most of my leave, and maintain a balanced level of ‘me/down time’, I sat down and thought what I’d like to achieve in terms of my travels over the next year. My second consideration was realistically how long I will be able to keep Trinity since I have nowhere to store her.

With these two factors in mind the following plan was born and discussed with my office:

January/February 2016: 2 weeks touring the east coast of South Africa

June 2016: 2 weeks touring central Western Europe (Belgium/France/Switzerland/Italy/Austria/Germany/Netherlands)

September 2016: 2 weeks touring Spain/Portugal/France

The South African trip will be on a hire bike rather than on Trinity – it’s not economically viable to ship her for a two week trip. The two other trips will however give me the opportunity to ‘stretch her legs a bit’ or maybe rather mine!

I have no fixed plan as yet except that I want to see the best of the countryside that each region has to offer, so if anyone has suggestions please let me know.

Update to follow in due course!

P.S. Thanks for the Kruger photos dad. A day trip into the park (in a vehicle of course) may well be on the cards.

I wanted to wrap up my trip, summarise my highlights/least favourite moment, and the things I figured out for myself on this trip, so here goes.

I arrived home on Thursday having had no sleep on the flight. I was curious to see how I would feel when I got home. I was so excited! I dropped off my bags; gave my folks a quick call each; and then grabbed my hiking boots to hit Wimbledon Common. I managed to get up to the Common and felt nauseous from lack of sleep, so I admitted defeat, and went home to sleep. My sleeping pattern has been nuts (hence the 01:30 post). Hopefully I won’t be nodding off at my desk tomorrow (it’s first day back in the office).

The last 5 days in the Napa/Sonoma wine region, and San Fransisco were fantastic! It was wonderful to have some of my friends join me in Napa and we certainly celebrated my (near completion of my) trip in style. My hangover the next day was testament to that.

The landscape around San Fransisco and its wine region reminds me so much of the Cape (South Africa) in terms of weather, scenery and vibe (it’s just not quite as pretty as the Cape and three times the price), that I felt right at home. It made me miss Cape Town. I can’t wait to go back there. It’s still my favourite place in the world! Of course, I am South African so I may be a bit biased.

The pinnacle moment, when I crossed Golden Gate Bridge to complete my journey, occurred around 15:51 at Sunday, 20 September. It was a bitter sweet feeling completing my trip. On one hand I was so proud of what I had achieved but on the other sad it was over. In the end I wracked up around 11,450 miles on my (virgin) ride.

The moment was captured by Nicola and Gail who were in a car behind me. Thanks ladies!

Below are the highlights of my trip and some of my favourite things. I haven’t included photos of these but you could search for these on my Facebook page or foe the relevant posts on my website.

The scenic highlights of my trip:

1) The northern rim of the Grand Canyon at Yellowstone National Park
2) The magnificence that is Crater Lake
3) Mt Rainier (and its phenomenal night sky)
4) The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde
5) The whole of British Columbia (it’s too gorgeous to separate)
6) Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe
7) Bryce Canyon
8) Grand Canyon
9) Highway 101 between Big Sur and Monterey
10) Highway 1 in California

(To be honest it’s incredibly difficult to make this list)

My personal highlights:

1) Sharing sections of my trip with Grant, Nicola and my cousins
2) Meeting the amazing people that I have met on my journey
3) Meeting and walking with Charlie at Crater Lake (the guy walking the Pacific Crest Trail)
4) Having my friends Nicola, Paul, Amyn and Gail with me in Napa
5) Sharing in Aira’s 1st and Bee’s 100th birthday celebrations

And of course, crossing Golden Gate Bridge!

My favourite things:

Major city: Vancouver (BC)
U.S. Major city: San Fransisco (CA)
Smaller cities/towns: Nelson (BC), Banff (BC), Park City (UT), Jackson (WY), Sante Fe (NM), Aspen (CO), Hood River (OR), Canon Beach (OR), Lake Tahoe (CA), Mendocino (CA)
Meal: Redds (Yountville, CA)
Beer: Harvest Moon Organic Hemp Ale (Nelson, BC)
Latte: Moore Coffee (Seattle, WA)
Stays: Lake Tahoe (CA) and Mendocino (CA)
Sunrise: On the plane home
Sunset: Chandler (AZ)

My least favourite things:

1) Riding through a horrific thunderstorm in Utah
2) Riding over independence pass at night and in the rain
3) The heavy winds at times that through me all over the road
4) The excessively hot temperatures in Arizona
5) Being ‘cheated’ out of $10 at Monument Valley
6) My one lock on my pannier being damaged in Arcata (CA)
7) A flat front tyre in Bend
8) Getting stung in the neck by a wasp in Napa
9) The AirBnB I stayed at in Astoria (I don’t want to see labels on everything)
10) Loosing three things along the way – 2 wall chargers and my favourite flip flops

Having come home I realised that I love what I have, although I may need to take more sunny breaks throughout the year. I also love travelling on my own (this trip was the first time I’d ever done that). This of course means that this trip was only the beginning. My next adventure awaits (although I have to wait 6-7 weeks for Trinity to arrive back from the U.S.).

Watch this space!

I am so happy!!

It feels like everything has fallen into place having crossed into California. The weather has improved dramatically from our drive down the Oregon coast, which although gorgeous and dramatic, was rather treacherous.

Northern California (well at least the coastline) is amazing! Our first stop in California was Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which much to my surprise was free to enter. That’s a first.

The Redwoods are gorgeous! It’s so amazing to walk amongst trees that, like Big Tree (the largest of them), are 1,500 years old. The thought of that alone is astounding. It truly is a humbling experience and I feel so blessed to have had so many of these moments during my trip. The photo and video below will hopefully give you a taster of what there is to find in this region.

That evening we stayed in Arcata. It’s a cute little town with an eclectic mix of people. Our hotel was on the town square which has a very different feel on the northern side to the southern side. We had chosen a hotel on the southern side. Oops!

I do love the Californian hippie culture but there is a fine line between hippie and bum. The town square straddles that line for sure.

The towns we stopped in south of Arcata have been fantastic though. I absolutely loved Mendocino and the cabins where we stayed last night, The Andiron. I would stay there again any day!

Nicola and I had adjoining rooms called ‘Here’ and ‘There’. I choose the latter as it had a huge wall map of the U.S. which felt like I was at home again (I currently have one on my one wall at home). The rooms were just brilliant! Each has its own character, very tastefully decorated, and direct access onto a patio looking out towards the sea (over some trees).

The cabins provided us with charcoal so that we could have a BBQ (a braai for us South Africans); firewood for the fire pits; and marshmallows to toast. Woohoo! I am very happy to report that I can still make one mean fire (I made sure it was dead and buried before I went to bed). The meat wasn’t too bad either.

Below is a very happy (and even slightly tanned) me.

What a perfect evening!

I woke up today in a brilliant mood and it only got better throughout the day. The scenery was breathtaking; the weather was perfect for riding; and my smile kept growing every time I saw a sign for San Francisco.

I could feel a real sense of pride growing inside of me today thinking about what I have experienced over the last 3 months and what I have achieved. It was also wonderful to feel excited about going home and seeing what the future holds.

I have found the peace and happiness I was looking for on this trip!

Below are a few photos and a video of the coastline I’d like to share with you before I end my post. I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought me. Enjoy!

After a lovely day touring around Lassen Volcanic National Park with Robb (a fellow BMW rider from Long Beach, California), I headed to Redding where I would be staying in an AirBnB for the night. I really didn’t think my day could get any better until I was greeted at the door by two smiley faces that belonged to Ruth and 20 month old Isaac. Hubby Aaron arrived a little while later after doing some shopping.

I absolutely loved my stay with Ruth, Aaron and Isaac. What a wonderful, warm and happy family. It’s difficult not to feed off their amazing energy. To top it all they provided me with two of my favourite things, food and beer. Woohoo!! Thanks for everything guys!!

I discussed my route plans for the next day with the couple and on Aaron’s advice decided to visit Burney Falls. I’m so glad I did. The falls are amazing! I have included a photo below. There is a short video on my Facebook page is you’re interested to see that.

The ride from Burney Falls via McCloud to Mt Shasta, along Highway 89, was beautiful. I had lunch at Mt Shasta and then headed onto Klamath Falls on Highway 97, passing through a town called Weed. I could not resist stopping and taking a photo when I came across ‘The Weed Store’ in Weed. The photo is below.

I was so happy as I was driving towards Klamath Falls as I realised I was about to cross from California into Oregon. After 2 month, 2 days and 9,000 miles, Trinity and I (and Sam of course) had covered 11 western U.S. States and 2 Canadian provinces. I could not stop smiling! The next 3.5 weeks is thus like completing the home stretch of a race. A ‘race’ which it appears will end up being closer to 12,000 miles in total rather than the 10,000 miles I was expecting. I clearly got the bonus pack!

To top off the day I arrived at the AirBnB where I was staying and realised that this would be my view for two days. How amazing!

The view was complimented by spending the evening chatting to my host Jim, who was incredibly informative about a host of subjects, which left me with a lot to think about. I liked that!

I decided to take today really easy because, frankly, I’m pretty knackered. The physical impact of my trip is definitely kicking in and I still have a lot of mileage to go. This gave me time to enjoy a leisurely morning and Skype my sister and mom (dad – I hope I can catch you in the morning) before heading off to the Lava Bed National Monument.

This place is fascinating but sadly I was not prepared for it at all. The ‘park’ allows visitors to explore a series of caves, which are the lava tubes of extinct volcanos. Well, I certainly hope they are extinct.

There is only one cave that is paved and lit inside. All the other caves are in their ‘raw state’, with some providing steps to get you into the caves. This is not what I was expecting and certainly not what I was going to be able to do (or wanted to do) on my own in all my biking gear. I therefore explored the paved cave and the entrance to two more caves and then had to admit that I would be biting off more than I could chew (safely), so I went home. I did manage to get a few photos (most of which are on Facebook).

I guess the lesson in this is, “Fail to plan and you plan to fail”. Sometimes we just have to learn the hard way!

What an awesome last few days!

On my way out of Lake Tahoe on Wednesday I could not resist a visit Emerald Bay. This time though I planned to hike down to the beach.

Emerald Bay is so idyllic! All I could think was, what a perfect place for a beach wedding.

I sat on the beach with my feet in the sand observing my surroundings. There were a group of guys jumping off the pier into the water; some other people in kayaks crossing the bay; and a few families with young children playing on the waters edge. It was so beautiful to watch.

Of course, the water was calling me and I had to listen. Fortunately the water on the edge of the bay is warmer than Lake Tahoe’s base temperature of 38 degree Fahrenheit, so it was very pleasant standing ankle deep in the water and watching all this amazing ‘life’ around me. It was perfect!

I staying on the beach for about 45 min and then hiked back up the hill. I had intended to ride up Highway 89 to a town called Westwood but I missed my turnoff and ended up going to Reno. I could have turned back but it didn’t really matter how I got to Westwood, I just wanted to get there before dark.

I had a vision of having a nice salad for lunch in Reno but I drove around the streets for about 10-15 min and decided this was not at all what I had pictured in my mind, so I filled up with fuel, ate a protein bar which I remembered I had with me, and hit the road again.

I was saying in an AirBnB in Westwood, a small town about 50 min south-west of Lassen Volcanic National Park. It is pretty evident that the recession hit this area in a bad way but it certainly didn’t impact the spirit of my host, David, who was full of life.

David and I sat chatting for a while and were later joined by his other two guests, Becky and David, who were in the area celebrating their 32 wedding anniversary. Congratulations again you guys! We spoke about all sorts of things until I had to excuse myself to do what I do every night – figure out where I’m going to sleep the next night.

It’s amazing how simple my life has become. I find a place to sleep; sleep until I wake up; explore the route I planned to take (sometimes this changes on the day); stop when I want to see something/eat/go to the loo/need petrol; and go to sleep when I’m tired. In between all this I get to meet people most days and have the time to enjoy their company. How simple. How amazing!

I had a giggle in the morning when I woke up to discover that I had worn a hole through my jeans. It appears my boney ass can cut through anything!

I was chatting to David about this over breakfast and it turns out he had a iron on patch, so I used it to mend the hole and future proof my jeans for the month to come. There’s a photo of my handy work on my Facebook page. It may not be sexy but it works!

Thanks for taking such good care of me David!!

Lassen Volcanic National Park is fantastic! But then again I do have a thing for volcanoes. It is one of the only places on earth to have all four types of volcanoes. They even have a Table Mountain (a shield volcano)!

The photos I have included below have some descriptive text about the various places so I won’t repeat it in my blog, but I hope you enjoy the photos. As always, if you want to see more photos please visit my Mel & Trinity Facebook page.

One of the other highlights of my day was meeting Rob. He was parked up next to me at the Visitors Centre so we got talking and the next thing we ended up sending the day exploring the park together. What a lovely (and welcome) surprise that was.

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better, it did. More about that in my next post though!

I absolutely love Lake Tahoe!

It’s the third deepest lake in North America, reaching a depth of 1,600 feet. The water is so clear that objects can be seen up to 67 feet in the water. It is spectacular!

I am so glad I made the decision to skip Yosemite and spend two nights in Lake Tahoe. I was unsure about what to do and then Dave said to me that I will most likely come back to San Francisco one day and I could do Yosemite then. This made sense to me. I also didn’t want to visit Yosemite during this current drought in California. I think it would have spoilt my experience of the park. The decision was therefore made.

Everything related to my stay in Lake Tahoe has been perfect! I got a great deal on a hotel in South Tahoe which is a 5 minute walk to the beach; my room is fantastic; and I love the jet bath!

My last two evenings have been so mellow. I walked down to the beach; watched the sunset; and had dinner in a Greek restaurant called Artemis. I loved the food, view and vibe. Below are a few photos of the beach and sunset.

Outside of the sunset, my favourite view of the day was most certainly Emerald Bay. The bay is spectacular! I could not come close to capturing its beauty. It is definitely something you have to experience for yourself. Below is a photo overlooking the bay.

As I was riding around the lake something dawned on me. I had been feeling a little ‘flat’ lately and I was starting to get concerned that the fatigue of the 8,500 miles I have completed was starting to get to me. However, today I wasn’t tired. It wasn’t tiredness that was getting to me but the lack of natural beauty. U.S. cities are not beautiful, they are functional and largely uninspiring. The contrast between my energy levels within the cities and the amazing natural beauty that the U.S. has to offer is quite remarkable! It was a very interesting observation.

As I was thinking the above, the following quote this came to mind, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away”.

I am certainly getting a feel for how I want to live the rest of my life.

My heart is so happy again! I was starting to have serious doubts that I was going to find anything that I loved in California, outside of the Sequoia trees, but on Saturday morning I made the decision to head to the coast and travel along the Pacific Coast Highway 1 between Cambria and Monterey. I hadn’t planned beyond that. What a great decision!

Highway 1 along this section is stunning. The middle reaches remind me a lot of the Cape (South Africa), party because of vegetation and partly as the scenery is quite similar to Chapman’s Peak Drive. Like most things in the U.S. though, it’s just super sized!

I have included a few photos below of various sections of my ride along Highway 1.

I had initially considered camping but my right hip and lower back have been quite sore the last week or so, so I decided that would probably not be a good idea. I booked into a place in Monterey on the beach as I was hoping to see the sun set and rise over the beach. Unfortunately the weather didn’t plan along with my plan. It was overcast when I arrived and left the next morning but at least I managed to have an early morning stroll along the beach. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed feeling the sand beneath my feet.

It took a while for me to decide to head into San Fransisco. My whole trip was planned around me finishing in San Fransisco, so this felt like cheating. However, I eventually convinced myself that it was a good thing as Border Control informed me that I needed to leave the U.S. a day earlier than I had planned, so this visit would allow me to see the things I would miss otherwise. I was therefore happy to do the sights on the outskirts of San Fransisco. The city centre was however a no-go area until my friends, Nicola and Gale, are with me.

I am so glad I made this decision, as not only did I get to see Golden Gate Bridge from a number of different angles, I also got to visit Point Reyes and its lighthouse (it reminds me of Cape Point), Lands End and best of all I got to spend time with Elaine and Dave again. I met the (Scottish) couple, who live in the Bay Area, on a hike in Bryce Canyon and we immediately hit it off.

I had contacted Elaine to find out if I could leave my hiking gear with them for the next few weeks as I wasn’t using it. It would be great to not have to lug the excess baggage about! Elaine had no issue with that and invited me to spend a couple of nights with them, which I am so glad I did. What an amazing couple! I have also fallen in love with their two Whippets, Chester and Spencer.

Below are some of the photo of the sights described above, as well as photos of Elaine, Dave and the boys.

As San Fransisco reminds me so much of Cape Town, albeit much bigger and more commercialised, it seems fitting that I end me trip here. After all, Cape Town still remains being my favourite city in the world. I can’t wait to get back there! I am so going to hire a Harley and ride it along Chapman’s Peak. Woohoo!!

The drive from LA to Visalia along I-5 can only be described as long, boring and full of trucks. I can normally find beauty in most things but there is very little that is beautiful about this drive. It did however raise a question for me. What is the tax in California being used for? Fuel is 20-25% more expensive in California but the roads are in the worst condition of any State I have been through (granted the roads are much bigger).

I decided to stay in a city called Visalia as it was about an hour’s drive to get to Sequoia National Park from there. Having looked at my accommodation options I thought that I would take a chance at camping in Sequoia so that I could just enjoy the park and then drive through Kings Canyon National Park the next day which is right next door to it.

The AirBnB where I was staying was in a gated community. It’s the first time outside of living in South Africa that I have seen one of these. I found it quite interesting. All I could think was, ‘Is it really that unsafe here’?

The other thing I found interesting is how the houses are built. There are a lot of new houses being built in this estates so I walked through a number of partially built homes. Part of this is because I love looking at houses! I love seeing what works and what doesn’t and imaging how you can turn the house into a home.

The houses are completely built with a timber frame and sheets of wood that look like chipboard. This on top of a concrete floor. The South African in me was thinking, where are the bricks? I’ve included a photo below of one of the houses (I thought my dad would love this).

For the first time in days I saw some ‘green’ on my ride, which was at Lake Kaweah. I was so happy to see some life and I could feel my spirit lifting as a result. It was a great way to enter Sequoia National Park. Unfortunately I hadn’t appreciated that Kings Canyon National Park, which is directly both of Sequoia was on fire and the smoke was covering the area.

Fortunately, Sequoia was still open to the public so I was able to drive through it but I was advised by the Rangers that Kings Canyon was closed past the visitors centre. Camping in Sequoia was not looking like a healthy option. I was rather gutted at this!

I’ve included a few photos of Sequoia National Park and the amazing trees below. They are so impressive! Unfortunately the smoke obscured most of the beautiful scenery so I cannot share that with you. As always, there are more photos on my Facebook page for you to enjoy if you are interested.

The fires above, and plague at Yosemite National Park which has already claimed two lives, has made me rethink my journey over the next for days. I think it’s time my journey took a different path. I think it’s time to see the ocean!

I arrived in LA on Monday at lunchtime and joined two of my colleagues in our LA office for lunch, which was great. I never made it to our Denver office so I was happy to made it to the LA office.

The AirBnB where I have been staying is only about 10 miles from our LA office which was rather lucky as the traffic in LA is mental! It’s worse than London, and that’s saying something, only most of the roads are between 3-5 lanes in either direction. Luckily for me it is a lot cooler here i.e. 29 degrees opposed to the 40+ degrees I had over the weekend. I was very grateful about that!

My colleague, Craig, suggested that I drive up to Griffith Observatory to watch the sun set, so that’s what I did, after ‘checking into’ the AirBnB and taking the panniers off my bike. I knew that would make things easier in the city. What a great decision that was!

The view from the observatory is lovely! The pollution is however quite noticeable from up there so you need to ignore that bit. I was up there for quite some time enjoying an ice cream and watching the sun set over the Hollywood Hills with the Hollywood sign in clear sight. I’ve included a photo below but there are a lot more on my Mel & Trinity Facebook page.

There were two main reasons I decided to stop off in LA. The first was to see our LA office and the second was to join a group called the East Side Moto Babes for their Wednesday night sunset ride, which started at 7pm. As such, I had the day free to explore LA. As I did all the main sights when I was here with my bestie, Angela, about 6 years ago, I was interested in a nice scenic ride. I decided to head over to the coast and see how far north I could go in the afternoon so that I could be back in town for 7pm.

It turns out that you don’t go that far in LA in 5 hours. I got as far as Ventura, having come in from Mulholland Drive (I just had to do that) and then onto the Pacific Coast Highway 1 towards Santa Barbara. I stopped off at Starbucks in Malibu because I needed caffeine. Boy did I get it!

I had such a head rush from the caffeine that I was singing and giggling all the way up Highway 1 (I’ve included a photo of the highway below). Part of it as the caffeine and part of it was trying to get over the woman that was sitting next to me in Starbucks. She was unreal. Witnessing her dealing with the ladies behind the counter and then dealing with someone on the phone had me in shock. The worst thing is that I don’t think she realises how obnoxious she is. I couldn’t but laugh (in slight horror) at the whole situation.

There was a nice little surprise when I was approaching Ventura (yes I was thinking Ace Ventura which made me giggle one more), as I came across a missile park just outside of the Point Mugu Naval Air Station.

My first thought was pure excitement but as I walked around a slightly sad feeling came over me. All I could think was what a waste that all this energy and resources went into destroying lives. What could we have achieved if we were trying to build lives instead? That would be energy and resources worth spending.

The drive back to where I was staying took 3 hours from Malibu. It’s a 35 mile ride. I therefore had a lot of time to think during my ride.

I had woken up in such a good mood yet something about the day just wasn’t working for me. I was feeling unsettled. This feeling was echoed in the evening when I joined the East Side Moto Babes for their sunset ride. They were having fun and whizzing in and out of the traffic and all I was thinking was, ‘This isn’t what I want’. I therefore headed home early.

After a lot more thinking last night I realised that there is nothing wrong with LA, the issue is that my experience of LA is not the story I want to tell, and I’ll explain what I mean by this below.

My journey really started on the 9th of December 2013 I met someone who would change my world forever.

I fell in love with the most beautiful human being I have ever met. For the first time in my life I looked into the eyes of someone and knew I wanted a family. I later realised that I had always wanted a family but I had been too scared I’d mess things up. I wasn’t scared anymore. I couldn’t wait for the rest of my life to start.

As fate would have it though, my feelings were not reciprocated, so I had been handed a bitter sweet gift. Finding out I wanted to have children but losing the person I wanted to have a family with.

My relationship sadly didn’t work out but what I realised was the person I want to be for my children if I’m ever lucky enough to have them. I want to be the person who could be brave and strong for them and teach them how to explore, dream and discover. i want to be the person who can teach them to live a life based on love and not fear (something I wasted way too much of my life doing).

My motorcycle trip, the wonderful people I have met, and the amazing things I have seen are the many stories I hope to one day share with my children.

This is the dream I am chasing.