Well it’s been a while! Luckily I managed one trip at the start of this year to Krakow in Poland I will write about that soon, it’s been a fairly manic couple of months even without the Coronavirus pandemic as it is… but also a lot of exiciting and positive things have been happening so I can’t complain too much.
I had a number of trips planned for this year along other things I wanted to do going forward. I know we are all in the same boat together!
In March 5 days before Lockdown was announced in the United Kingdom I purchased a new car a BMW 335i it’s a natural evolution to my old 330Ci (as featured in my Northern European Road Trip post). It’s a wonderful car and I’ve not had the chance to give it a proper going over yet.
It also meant I said goodbye to the 330Ci a trusty and faithful servant, and a good friend at the same time.
Those who know me well know how much I love driving. The connection I feel with it goes back to road trips on family holidays as a child. Mostly to the South of France but other destinations such as Denmark, Belgium, Spain, The Netherlands and Germany.
Driving also connects to my love of racing. Some of you will know about my time as a racing driver reaching the dizzy heights of the British GT Championship. It’s something I miss terribly but my love of travel allowed me to compensate for that gap.
So a good road trip with the 335i is definitely on the cards. I’d say Italy looks likely, although that said I have still unfinished business with the Nurburgring and what better place to find out just how much the 335i has to give!
Beyond a road trip I’ve been keen to visit the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan for quite some time. The idea was to start in the Black Sea resort of Batumi before taking a series of trains across Georgia to Gori then Tibilisi before crossing the border into Azerbaijan and finishing in Baku at the caspian Sea. I took inspiration from the Amazon car show the Grand Tour for that trip, Although no Aston Martin DBS for me on that one I would imagine.
If I could also manage some kind of road trip in the United States that would be really cool. Theres something quite appealing about hiring an all American muscle car like a Camaro or a Mustang and spend some good days blasting across the wilderness seeing what I find along the way.
Sadly another plan I had being visiting Munich’s Oktoberfest won’t be realised as the 2020 festival has been cancelled. Along with most of 2020 in general…
I’ve recently invested in GoPro’s amongst other things, hopefully when I do get out travelling again I can make some videos along the way. I’ve always enjoyed editing videos and making films so why not combine multiple things I enjoy! They’ll probably be awful but we can all laugh together!
There are so many places to visit still and the list grows all the time, I’ve still unfinished business with Ukraine and Russia, You can read about those on previous posts. Both of them are wonderful countries with a lot to see and do. If I could recommend cities to visit at some point in your life Kyiv, Moscow and Saint Petersburg are all high up on the list.
These places are not going anywhere, so for the moment we just have to sit it out and wait it out for the end of the pandemic we are currently all facing. I’m horribly impatient so I’m probably finding it more challenging than most.
But again, travel, adventure and new experiences are all my vice. There’s something quite magical about visiting new countries. The thrill of arriving normally in my case quite late at night in a bit of a chaotic fashion, with no money and normally no clue, heading to wherever I’m staying brimming with excitement to get out the next day to explore.
Stay safe and do what makes you happy!
Beyond The Beaten Track 