Blogging About Motorcycle Travel – For the Rest of Us

Riding close to home

Staying Close to Home

I read a mountain of motorcycle blogs each day. In the last couple of years there seems to be a trend that has emerged across some of them. It is the idea that in order to have an “adventure” you must undertake an epic trip. Preferably on some giant behemoth of a bike with fancy luggage and everything but the kitchen sink strapped to it.

The rest of us knobs putzing around on the tarmac within the confines of the state where we live or the country in which we were born – well, that’s worthy of a pat on the head and an “aren’t you cute with your little motorcycle rides?”

I call “bullshit.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. If you have the time and resources to find yourself in far off corners of the world for months at a time – you are indeed doing something wonderful. I am here to say that no one appreciates the effort people make to write about their far-flung travels and share their photos and routes more than me. It’s the stuff my daydreams are made of.

But… if your time and resources keep you close to home  – don’t you dare feel like you’re doing something less than someone else or that it isn’t worth writing about.

Enthusiasm Trumps Mileage

The more blogs that I read, the more I discover that it’s really the authors enthusiasm that draws me in. Some people can travel across the US or through spectacular alpine passes and manage to write a blog post that is yawn worthy. Others can make their moped trip across town seem like something you’ve just got to try.

Motorcycling isn’t about having to fit into a mold or into an ideal set forth by someone else. It’s about you experiencing your world in the best way that you can. The value in a journey is not solely the number of miles it contains or the borders crossed but in the enjoyment and experiences you come away with.

Motorcycle Blogging For The “Un-Adventurous”

If you’ve been thinking about telling your story but have been holding back because you aren’t in the midst of some tremendous undertaking – don’t!

The biggest trip you’ll ever take happens every single day that you wake up and complete a rotation on the Earth. There’s your epic trip. Savor each day, enjoy each ride.

So if you’re out there, just a regular “un-adventurous” motorcyclist with a blog who doesn’t have the time to globe trot – it’s alright. Keep loving your life and keep sharing your un-adventures with the world. You just might be surprised to find out how inspiring it is to the people who read your posts.

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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30 Responses

  1. NWX says:

    I totally agree with you. For my generation (millenials) there’s this misconception by the Gen Y/Xers and everyone else that we’re taking the safe route, that we’re losers hanging out in our parents basement.

    It’s pretty damn hard to travel the globe when you’ve got $60k worth of student debt. You read so much about people who turn 40 and say “I just had to leave everything behind and so I decided to travel the world.”

    Well, duh! We’d all do that if we COULD. It sure is easy to do that when your kids are all moved off and you have assets that are of value. If you’re just trying to cut your teeth, it’s like a sandpit.

    Motorcycle blogging is about communicating a common interest, a universal thread between those of us who are close and those of us who aren’t so close.

    Hardly any of our stories have us leaving the state we live in. Hopefully we aren’t snoozing you to death. But I’ll take my miles of smiles with my $60 toolbox panniers any day.

    Get out and ride.

  2. Bmwgsgirl says:

    LOVE you Fuzzy! I spend a few weeks last year with a bloke who was on an around the world journey on his BMW. What an asshat he was. He essentially is traveling around mooching off everyone and declaring his type of travel the most spectacular and saying the rest of us “don’t know what riding is!” Well, I’m with you, Fuzzy, he can suck it. By the way, HIS blog has been empty for the last three years sans a nice little bit I helped him write (ie, i wrote).

    My favorite rides have been on back roads in our ‘hood, no bags, no gear, just one rider on the road with me who I would follow to the end of the earth. Riding is about finding your own personal zen…not following the pack and going where everyone else has gone. Cheers to you and your blog post! You said it well!!!

  3. novos says:

    I don’t know about you, but that one time I rode from the garage, to the mailbox, was pretty badass.

    True story.

  4. Well said, Fuzzy. I’ve been enjoying my adventures here in my one little Virginia county immensely. Of course, it’s all new to me. Which helps. And it’s really, really pretty, too. You are so right that enjoying your world is adventure enough. You just need to describe it in a way that’s compelling. You sure have that figured out. Even your rants are well-written. 🙂

  5. Leslie S says:

    In the end how one defines adventure is totally up to you. Doesn’t matter where you go or on what type of bike…if you enjoy what you are riding, wherever, long or short…that is what its all about…the adventure is how you define it for yourself. My partner and I have been fortunate to travel this beautiful Continent but to be honest we always say we have some of the BEST riding right in our own beautiful back yard called BC, Canada.

  6. Trobairitz says:

    Well said Fuzzy. I am inclined to agree with you 100%.

    If people write from the heart, enthusiasm and humor you can have me enthralled even if you are talking about watching paint dry.

  7. Andrew says:

    Well I’ve only ridden in one country, it’s divided by a rough stretch of water that takes 3.5hours to cross and is smaller than most states in America but I love my touring. I’ve done it on smaller bikes but now have my dream tourer(s).

    And since I’ve added an adv bike to my stable that bike has not travelled more than a 300km radius from home but has taken me to a lot of places I’ve never seen before – beautiful, lonely and interesting places too.

    It’s about enjoying the ride however long or short.

    In saying all that – I have a bucket list…

  8. Zoe says:

    Absolutely.
    Life is all about the journey after all.

  9. See, this is why I (((heart))) you!! Thanks for the encouragement. Hubs is taking me out Saturday riding and it will be the farthest I’ve gone … wait for it … a little over an hour south of where we live. >Newbie< Yes. But I'm with you when I woke up this morning my epic trip for the day began. xoxo

  10. Liz Jansen says:

    You are absolutely right! Thank you.

  11. Atv de vanzare says:

    I want a road trip :(((

  12. Rex says:

    I could not agree more.

    In fact I’d take it up a notch and suggest this goes well beyond motorcycle/travel blogging. Consider the following rant…

    http://maduko.com/2011/12/21/experts-are-overrated/

  13. Mike says:

    Its all about the adventure. Not how far you go!

  14. Griso Rider - Canada says:

    Awesome! Very well put.

  15. Absolutely spot on, Fuzzy! Here in Southern California just my daily commute in and among the cages can be a breathtaking adventure.

  16. Shybiker says:

    As everyone else is saying, you’re right. And you express the idea lucidly. Your blog is a delight to read.

    My work prevents me from taking more than a long weekend off, so (in addition to riding every day) I try to do mini-trips. Day-long jaunts to interesting places on interesting roads. And those adventures are blog-worthy.

    You say what the rest of us think.

  17. Janet says:

    Well-said, Fuzzy! Been writing about my little trips around Iowa now for about 8 years – I still love riding AND writing. A trip doesn’t have to be big to be meaningful.

  18. Beautifully said, Fuzzy. I only wish i could adhere to the “ride locally”. I’d rather stay at home and do some artwork than take on the local traffic jams. I’m one of those, let get the hell outa dodge, kinda girls. But I don’t devaluate anyone’s local ride. It’s all about personal preference.

  19. SonjaM says:

    Well said. I love those little adventures as much as ‘epic’ ones. It’s not only the mileage you do, it’s also about the people you meet, and this can well happen in your backyard. And sometimes the best stories can happen a few miles from home.

  20. Rob Wilson says:

    I just came across your blog and enjoyed reading it so far. This entry hit a particular chord with me since I’m still new to motorcycling and really can’t afford to make an “epic” trip. What I’ve found is interesting stories, places and people 10, 20 or 100 miles done the road from me. I discovered that their really is a waterfall at the end of Waterfall Rd. That a local winery had some of the best Muscadine wine I’ve ever had. Any trip can be “Epic” if your willing to open your heart to the experience.

  21. Kate says:

    Well said! ‘Adventure’ means something different to us all, and it’s definition to each of us is never static. The great joy of that also being that we’ll never run out of adventures! !

  22. Lance Rohn says:

    It is funny that an epic trip should require anyone to travel across the country when some of my best adventures have occurred no more than a few hundred miles from my home.

  23. Kyle says:

    Great post, totally agree with you!

  24. Write about what you are passionate about. Passion just like laughter is infectious, in a good way)! Either one, makes for a good fun. Combine both and you have a great recipe!

    Having fun is not a competition and it is all subjective anyway. Fun can be a motorcycle trip to Alaska, which I would love to embark on. Fun can also be tinkering with my motorcycle in the garage, again something that I love to do.

    Live your life and ride your motorcycle the way you want to and then if you feel like, morph that experience into something fun for us to read!

    Ride safe, Ride often! 🙂

    • Ohh and love your road trips! Some of those places I blow past time and time again but not stop for a good look. I will mend those follies next time around.

  25. T.W. Day says:

    Hell, I even write about my lousy 6 mile daily commute. It’s not epic, but there are often more thrills than I’m interested in experiencing.

  26. saigonone says:

    Hi from Vietnam!
    i am Vietnamese. i have not read much from your blog but i love your style. i am keen on traveling by motorbike. we did a lot of trips around Vietnam, the best of them must be the north western mountainous region along Laos and China boder. i have just buiding a blog (it is still simple but up in some days).
    Have you been to Vietnam? try its road one day!
    we are going on motorbike trip in August to North Eastern Vietnam. For me travelling by motorbike is the way of enjoying with all senses
    Welcome to Vietnam and threat your way in the flood of millions motorbikes.

  27. Hello i just travel of mountain in motorcycle and this is the very good for trip of my life ,i have full enjoy and the every movement

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