June 16: Adventure, Baby!

What a great first day on the road for Adventure Baby and me! Sitting here in my hotel room in Luxembourg lounging in my yoga pants after a brisk 150-mile trip through the countryside from Heidelburg, Germany on my Honda CB500x, I feel so happy to be on the road in Europe again.

Once I cleared customs in Frankfurt this afternoon, I headed straight to Heidelberg to be reunited with Adventure Baby. After adjusting his tire pressure, re-routing a new phone cord around his frame, for navigation purposes, installing a new battery in his air tag tracking device, and tying down and loading all my bags, we hit the road and headed west. What better way to handle jet lag than with the wind in your face and the road under your footrests?

Passing little clusters of villages surrounded by fields and vineyards, I felt immediately at home as they reminded me of the summers spent with my grandmother not far from here. I breathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the crisp air on my face and small raindrops on my face shield, knowing that the scorching heat of Africa lies just a few days ahead of me.

It was so liberating pulling on the throttle and feeling the rumble of the road, knowing that I have left the responsibilities of the regular work week behind, and have 63 days of glorious adventure awaiting. I’ve pared down the clothing and gear that I need to just a few items each, leaving my mind free to focus on what I am experiencing around me.

Pulling into the little town of Dudelange, I was greeted by colorfully painted stone and stucco homes on both sides of the street and narrow little streets that wound around a neo-Gothic style church built between 1894 and 1900, the third largest in Luxembourg. After a pleasant dinner within walking distance of my quaint hotel, I settled down for the evening.