Escape & Explore—A Letter from Florian
Each year, we send out our reader survey to learn more about you and your riding habits. One of the questions asks you to rank the reasons why you ride. Consistently, the number one answer is “the desire to escape and explore.” I second that.
It has been a great travel year for me so far. I developed cabin fever last winter, even though it was the warmest I can remember. Two quick trips to Europe to test new motorcycles, a couple of short family outings to keep sane, and three very different but equally fun motorcycle tours have kept me on the road in 2024. I fulfilled my need to escape and explore well before the halfway point of the year.
For my first adventure, I tapped my friend Josh for a 1,200-mile loop through South Carolina—riding Honda Trail 125s. I’m glad we did! We rode for six days and even included two camping nights, one at a beach and one in the mountains. The lack of speed wouldn’t let us escape anything, at least literally, but it did emphasize exploring. Plus, the bikes were conversation starters wherever we went. The trip will be chronicled in our 2024 Special Collector’s Issue for your reading pleasure.
Next was a short ride on my local favorites, including Little Switzerland, Mount Mitchell, and Roan Mountain, with Richard and DeeDee who won a Triumph contest last year—the prize being an all-expenses-paid three-day trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains led by yours truly. We lucked out with the weather each day, seemingly slaloming between rain clouds. It was an absolute blast riding with them and making new friends. While I try to always find new roads and new places to eat and sleep, sometimes we return to our trusty staples. The Switzerland Inn right off the Blue Ridge Parkway continues to deliver.
Then came the trip of a lifetime. Marisa, Caleb, and I rode Route 66 from Chicago, IL, to Santa Monica, CA, on three sparkling Harley-Davidsons. You’ll see plenty of stories from this trip coming up, but let me just express again how special and transformative cross-country trips are. There’s so much you see and learn. A 17-day trip like this allows for plenty of escaping and exploring, and it will probably be a long time until I get to do it again.
Surely you’ve had a trip where everything was perfect. So much so that you say you’ll do the same thing next year—but then the second attempt falls far short. You’ve built your expectations far too high. I think two reasons cause the two-time disappointment. First, never visit the same place twice. It’s impossible to recreate the intangibles. Second, remember to escape and explore. A trip is much more memorable when you find new places along the way.
To help you with some new ideas, some of our most recent tour stories take you to explore the backroads of Arkansas and the deserts of New Mexico, including some very pretty balloons. If you’d like to escape over the hills and far away, venture to picturesque Tuscany. Of course, you’ll also find our usual spread of City Escapes, motorcycle reviews, and more.
Keep exploring and escaping,
Florian Neuhauser
Editor-in-Chief