DriveThru Tours

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THIS IS A NEW WEBSITE, THEREFORE THE CONTENT IS RATHER LIMITED AT PRESENT

PLEASE BE PATIENT - WORK IN PROGRESS.

You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie, as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today...

Sad to say: Whatever the future will have in store for us, one thing is for sure: We were allowed to experience unforgettably beautiful travel times in a still relatively intact world during 14,100 days (>38 years) and 487,000 miles [783,000km] on 6 continents, which generations after us can now only dream of! - Emil Schmid - Worldrecordtour, Index, Start, Begin, Overview, Guinness Book of World Records, Toyota, LandCruiser, Emil Schmid, Liliana Schmid (weltrekordreise.ch)

Adventure

The one good thing about adventure is that it’s a unique experience for YOU. Whilst everyone else has been there, seen it, done it, and worn the T-Shirt, it’s no less an adventure when YOU go there, see it, do it ....... and come home wearing the T-Shirt.
Even when you’ve read all the books and seen all the videos, it’s still YOUR adventure when YOU DO IT. Every adventure is different. It’s about putting the books and videos on the shelf and getting out into the world to do it for yourself.
The hard part of any adventure is not the adventure itself - it’s getting round to doing it yourself - committing yourself to act.
It’s when the talking stops and the action starts.

Alan J Cook

The famous New England philosopher back in the 19th Century, Henry David Thoreau, once said:
“Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”
In other words, they just 'settle' to get by and earn a living. They never have a dream, or maybe they just never developed a true passion. Now I'm older, I realise how true this is. As for me, being born in the era just after WWII, there were few opportunities for a working class lad to do anything else no matter what his dreams might have been. For most, there was no point in dreaming as there was no prospect at all of them coming true. Even so, it must be awful to wake up one morning, and look in the mirror and realize that you're 50 years old, or older, and are still 'settled'. Then you may wonder, what have I done with my time? Luckily, since I was 47 years old (in 1996), I changed my life and made some of those dreams come true - and more to follow now I'm nearly 74 - I hope.

Alan J Cook

"It is the adventure that still brings renewed enthusiasm, excitement and challenges into our lives".

Liliana + Emil Schmid - both aged in their 80s and still travelling the world in their Land Cruiser after more than 38 years on the road.

“Be bold (or "Go Boldly") and mighty forces will come to your aid.”

Attributed to both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and Basil King.

I've sometimes proven this to be true during an adventure.

If something good happens, travel to celebrate.
If something bad happens, travel to forget.
If nothing happens, travel to make something happen.

Source unknown

“A year from now you will wish you had started today.”
Author Karen Lamb

You do not need to waste your time doing unnecessary and trifling things. You do not have to be rich. You do not need to seek fame or power. What you need is freedom, solidity, peace and joy. You need the time and energy to be able to share these things with others.

― Thích Nhất Hạnh, No Death, No Fear

“I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.”

Arthur C Clarke

Not surprising if they were considering our world's leaders!

“Whoever you are, no matter what social position you have, rich or poor, always show great strength and determination.”

Ayrton Senna

It seems appropriate to quote from the poet, Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (also known as Jean Paul):
Die Erinnerung ist das einzige Paradies, aus welchem wir nicht getrieben werden können.
"Memory is the only paradise from which we cannot be driven"

If we ever get to travel again, capture the wonderful memories of those places you visit;
take photographs and write a diary, or even a blog, to help you remember those places and the people you meet on your travels.

On a more humerous note, by Katharine Hepburn.“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.”
Enjoy your travelling whenever (if) we are able to do so again.

An American friend, Marc Bernier, once said to me whilst I was in the Philippines
"Well Al, you may not have any money but you have a million dollars worth of memories".

How right he was - and those memories often come back to life when I view my photographs and read my diaries.

“I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”

Noël Coward

Well said, Noël Coward - Over the years, many people have annoyed me; that's why I've sent them on 'long walks' so I never have to see them again!

As one gets older, one realises that it's a good idea to have just a very small number of family members and friends as you have fewer funerals to attend and fewer ties that might otherwise prevent you from having an adventure!

Alan J Cook

"For many, adventure is at the front door, yet for many reasons we choose to not embark on it. In any case, abandoning a professional life built-up over many years and endorsed by those closest to one - and applauded by those who look up to us, is going to take a leap of faith".

Adapted from the words of Mandela Echefu (URL: https://www.adventurecycling.org/blog/take-me-home-country-roads/)

When you're touring please do stop awhile and take in what you see around you. As Simon Barnes (Journalist) said:
“We have a terrible fear that if we stop for a moment we will miss something. The exact opposite is true.”.

and remember:

The beauty of touring on a bicycle is being able to visit places you’d never otherwise see
and a chance to learn so many things you'd never have otherwise known about.

Alan J Cook

	On this page I will be sharing with you some of the routes I've been planning to tour whilst incarcerated during the Covid pandemic lock-down period. I know this is a bit late in the day being many months after the first lock-down started, but who could have foreseen that this pandemic could have taken so long to get under control - or are the powers that be just controlling us? That's another story altogether. There will also be some tours described, usually in blog form, that I have already toured, as well as some bicycle tours. Touring on a bicycle has got to be the best way of seeing a country. Some tours will be shown as starting from the port of Calais, France, as this is the most commonly used port in Europe when travelling to or from the UK. As I don't know your starting point, you will have to add this distance to the route I describe. Many tourists / travellers seem to be stuck with the Big Three destination countries, these being Spain, France and Italy, with USA fourth. It's interesting to see that Austria and Croatia, for example, don't even make it into the top 20 in the list of tourist destinations (refer to graph at bottom of this page). For this reason, the main concept of the routes on this website is to inspire you (and me!) to see places you may not have previously considered visiting - to give you ideas of where to travel if we ever get back to some sort of normality after this dreadful period of touring inactivity. Being principally about ideas, the routes will contain many omissions of detail - you can 'fill in the blanks'. Of course, none of these tours will include all the places of interest along the route. Even many famous places may well be omitted from a particular route but you can include or exclude as many places as you like - and design your own route. In fact, if you have a favourite route you'd like to add to these pages, please send me the details for inclusion. I will also be adding as many links as possible to pages that cover the main places of interest along the routes I describe. I will do my best to cover many places of interest that are off the usual tourist trail - especially in the Big Three. Many tourist destinations are over-rated, over-priced and over-crowded so I will try to direct you to alternative places that are just as interesting, if not more so, and less crowded, therefore a large part of this website will focus on the countries of Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. For many, time will be the limiting factor. Isn't that sad? Sadly, I cannot design routes for every person's availability of time; all I can do is present my own ideas, not all of which may be to your liking - or time frame. I'd just like to add that I too haven't travelled along most of these routes so, for me too, they are just ideas for the future. Any advice about these routes would be most welcome if you've already travelled along some of these roads yourself. On the topic of time* please do remember that your time in the EU / Schengen Zone countries is restricted to 90 days in any (rolling) 180-day period! Click on the Getting Out!* button below for further information.* Some of the tours will have 'themes', others not. Most 'theme' tours may well digress into other directions - this is much of the fun of touring where you just 'follow your nose'. This site is in a constant state of being work in progress as there is no time that it will ever be completed as there will always be information to add or change and new tours to be added as there are more places to visit than could ever be achived in a lifetime of travelling. Please remember when you're touring that there is no such thing as 'being lost'. You're just exploring where you happen to be. As Lao Tzu stated: "A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving". Sadly for us in modern times we have far too many restrictions placed upon us that prevent us from following his ideal. An introduction to this website. Many of these tours are fairly long so take time out to enjoy them! Don't hesitate - just GO!
	Click on the button above to read some cautionary notes.
	If you haven't won the lottery and need a campervan, here are a couple of money-saving ideas:

	I found the above images on facebook at URL: Facebook

	These links may help you:
	For Cyclists:


	For Motorists / Tourers / Campers:


	The button (below-left) will connect you to a website in New Zealand named Sport Fitness Advisor, which is well worth viewing. These other two buttons will link you to websites (mainly for cyclists) for those who need inexpensive accommodation or camping.

	* Source (2018 figures) ©: https://www.finder.com/uk/outbound-tourism-statistics#:~:text=than%20in%202018.-,What%20are%20the%20UK%27s%20top%20travel%20destinations%3F,number%2C%20at%205.11%20million%20visitors I'm showing the graph for 2018 as that is that last year of 'normal' tourism before the pandemic crippled the tourist industry and the worldwide economy.

	If you want to escape the crowds, have a look at the map below:

Background image from: <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/wall">Wall Vectors by Vecteezy</a>

	DriveThru Tours
	Not all who wander are lost - they're just taking their dog for a walk!

DriveThru Tours

The beauty of touring on a bicycle is being able to visit places you’d never otherwise see and a chance to learn so many things you'd never have otherwise known about.

Alan J Cook

These links may help you:

If you want to escape the crowds, have a look at the map below:

The beauty of touring on a bicycle is being able to visit places you’d never otherwise see
and a chance to learn so many things you'd never have otherwise known about.