For three weeks in September, I rode my motorcycle the long way South to Los Angeles. The first two weeks, I went from Vancouver along the Pacific Coast through Seattle, San Francisco and eventually made it to Los Angeles. In the third week, I picked up the pace and headed home again through California, Oregon and Washington before returning to Canada. Before I left, I decided on the route and booked a hotel reservation for every night.
To some, that may sound more organized than a motorcycle trip is supposed to be. Some people prefer to see where the day takes them, and find a place to stay when they get there. As much as I get the flexibility, it’s not how I like to travel. I like knowing where I’m going to end the day, especially after long days riding the bike. What I don’t need to know upfront is exactly what every hour in between will look like.
An itinerary with enough flexibility
So I booked the hotels, but kept the reservations flexible. Having my room lined up gave my trip a structure I could rely on. Meanwhile, flexible bookings meant I still had options if something big changed. I was never planning to rearrange the whole trip, but I liked knowing that I could, just in case.1
The riding plan was different. As for most of my trip, I didn’t leave home with a long list of attractions I had to complete. Most evenings, I looked at the next leg and worked out what might make the ride worthwhile. I found some scenic detours, as well as some great lunch options just a few kilometres off the main route. My trip turned into an unexpected food tour, which I’ll write about in a future post.
The route: Taking my time
Key principle for my trip south was that I wanted to stay on Highway 1 as much as possible, even though it would take longer. The ride itself was the point of my trip, not the trips or attractions along the way. The twists and turns slowed me down more than expected, but I knew there would be plenty of faster roads on the way back North.
Every evening I planned my next day. I knew my next destination, and then planned my stops and detours along the way. Some days I stopped more often, just to enjoy the scenery or because some spot drew my attention. Other days I wanted a simple route and an early finish. The bigger plan I put together was useful because it helped to keep me going while creating opportunity for enough creative control along the way.
The route south gave me plenty of amazing scenery and interesting stops to work with. There’s no prize for collecting every suggested stop or viewpoint, so I deliberately skipped a few. But whenever I saw something interesting, I’d pull over, take a picture, and have a coffee. To me, that flexibility is what defines travel. You make a call with the information you have, then you live with the experience without trying to optimize everything.
Pre-booking hotels
Having my hotels pre-booked helped with that rhythm. I didn’t have to finish a long riding day and search for a room along the way. I had some booked some interesting places to stay, and most days I was looking forward to what the next stop would bring. For me, it was good to know where I would end up for the night.
The hotels weren’t all highlights. I got most of them right, but a few I probably wouldn’t return to. That’s fine. I still had a place to sleep before getting back on the road the next morning. Sometimes I’d skip breakfast and leave a little early if I really didn’t like the place. But more often than not, the hotels surprised me and I enjoyed where I stayed. I got several nice upgrades and surprises along the way (read my post here, and yes, I still practice what I preach in my Travel Revolution class).
Looking back on the highlights
Even with the route planned, not every arrival felt the way I had planned. More about that in a future post. I had pictured the last stretch into Los Angeles for a long time. Instead, Santa Barbara, the night before, felt more like an arrival. As much as I enjoyed Los Angeles, the arrival there turned out to be a little anticlimactic.
That’s the mean reason I like leaving a little extra breathing room in a trip: even when you know where you’re going, you’ll never know how a place will feel like when you get there. I liked having a general direction and a handful of ideas for the road before I left. From there, I let the trip be the trip and let it unfold along the way, leaning in day by day to whatever pulled my attention.
The balance suits me on most of my trips. I don’t want to spend every day worrying about where I’ll stay, but I also don’t want to turn a long motorcycle trip into a checklist of everything I must do and see. I liked having a plan I could trust, with enough flexibility to change my mind when the real day didn’t match the one I imagined.
Download my full itinerary
Several people have already asked for the details of this trip, so I’ve put together a downloadable copy of my itinerary for VIP readers. It contains my route, along with the exact places I stayed.
If you’re thinking about a similar ride, you’ll have a route to start from and the actual hotels I used. Use it as you see fit. Take some of my suggestions as a starting point, and create your own adventure from there.
As always, ride (and travel) safe.
