With touring season now upon us I’m sure many of you are making tweaks and plans to any tours they’ve got in the pipeline. Myself I’ve got a tour of Europe in a 6 weeks time along with a Scotland and Yorkshire one in September as well. This combined along with the nicer weather means I thought a small blog post was needed for some touring tips and tricks. Many of you might know some of these but these are all things I’ve learnt over the years, normally the hard way!

So in no particular order;

Overnight Ferries

I’m a big fan of overnight ferries. For being on the south coast an overnight ferry allows an extra day of holiday to ourselves. You can have a normal day at work and then nip down to Portsmouth, Newhaven, Plymouth to grab an overnight ferry to France which means you wake up the next day refreshed and already in another country. 

If you take this option though after you’ve secured your bike don’t take all your kit from it up to your room. I found this the hard way having to climb 10 decks in the boiling heat with two panniers cutting into my hands, tank bag and helmet. Instead just pack what you need for the night on the ferry in a carrier bag and take that up to the room. Much easier than the decisions I made getting on a ferry for the first time

Internet Abroad

This could be a whole post in itself and I’ll probably do one in due course but when it comes to internet abroad you’ll hear many people go on about getting a SIM from the country your visiting and using that which saves money. This is even easier with e-sims and the majority of phones allowing you to have two sims active at one time. Before you look at that option though see what your own provider offers first. Mine for example gives me the ability to pay £20 and use my allowance abroad for that month. It may be slighter more expensive that getting a ‘local sim’ but we’re talking less than a tank of fuel and in my opinion that far outweighs the faff. 

The big thing with this however is if you are going on a ferry set your phone to airplane mode and only use the WiFi. The networks on ferries aren’t included in any abroad deals and it will very quickly add up to be very expensive!

Charging for Gadgets

Everything these days seems to need electricity and charging it all on tour can get tricky. If you are going to Europe the best thing I can say is to go to Amazon France, Germany etc and order a European USB charger like the one pictured. It means no faffing about it adapters and it also means that you have that little bit more space in your luggage. 

Also take a power bank with you. We rely on our gadgets now a days and there is nothing worse than running out of juice when you need it the most, especially in a foreign land. A power bank isn’t expensive and allows you to have that emergency charge if something runs out. Or in my case also allows me to keep the go pro batteries on charge during the day. See related blog post. 

Taking Notes

I know some of you will be of the opinion that a bike tour is an adventure and that you will make it up each day as to where you are going and staying (I will do a blog post in due course on the difference’s) 

I however are not and want everything planned out from refueling stops to where we are going to have lunch (as a group tour organiser it means that we know we are going to have a good day everyday). I am however rubbish with remembering what stops are coming up and telling people you’ve got this stop coming up and then it’s something different doesn’t go down well! As such I make notes of where the stops are for each day along with the distances and times between them. I put them in the tank bag and it allows me to see clearly what is coming and when.  I also include the hotels details of where i’m going so i can easily contact them if needed

It’s only a short blog today because the bike is calling in the sunshine but the biggest touring tip I can give is to do it! Motorcycle touring is brilliant and there is nothing I’d rather be doing than taking the bike and exploring somewhere new. For those of you that have never done it before or have reservations take the bike away for a night and see how you get on. Then two nights etc. A motorcycle tour doesn’t have to be for long but trust me whenever you do one you will come back with the biggest smile or memories