World Tour: How Not to Have an Adventure

It was supposed to be a special day—the first of our round-the-world adventure. But all it turned out to be was a special kind of hell. Soon, though it got even worse… And fast.

Not wanting to die on day one was the only thing we could think of as we chugged along a blacked-out, empty French highway at 25 mph. The wind threw us from lane to lane like ragdolls. The rain was relentless, hammering into our visors and reducing visibility to the length of an outstretched arm.

As it turns out, all of France was on red alert thanks to Storm Eleanor and its 100-mph winds. We probably should have checked the weather before leaving the U.K., but it was a mad rush. Our bags were quickly strapped into an embarrassing leaning tower five minutes before leaving and with awkward smiles we set off—managing to set fire to our camping bag as it drooped down onto the exhaust on the way to the Channel Tunnel crossing.