I often have people ask me how I managed to travel so much and the quick answer is “I had a great job”. The longer answer entails being at a job long enough to get two weeks of vacation, being laid off from same job and given 3 months’ severance and then landing a fantastic job (ie, a lot of holiday/vacation time). Then I moved to San Francisco where I had some time to myself before finding another job. However, once the job kicked in, my riding time fell off. Then I moved to the East Coast and my riding time (and desire) really fell off.

Through a very fortunate series of events, my husband and I were able to move to Switzerland. It took us some time get settled into our new lives, new jobs and new motorcycles. But now that we’re here, we’re working on exploring our new home. I’ve added a European map and will work hard to cover it with squiggly red lines in the coming years.

And then in 2019 Dan pointed out that 2020 was going to be “a special birthday” for me and that if I wanted to, I could plan something for it. Poor guy: I went all-out and planned a two week motorcycle tour in South Africa. Complete with Cape Town, safaris, a spin through Lesotho and Eswatini, it was a most excellent way to spend a birthday. And in hindsight, it was also the last “big hurrah!” before the Covid-19 lockdown. We made it home just in time!