Escaped from London a few weeks ago and drove the Bonnie a couple of hundred miles up to beautiful Herefordshire and Wales to attend the Big Chill Festival (www.bigchill.net/festival) at Eastnor Castle. The bike rode great - even tightened the chain myself before leaving! Great performances from Dionne Bromeld who made her tribute to Amy Winhouse her godmother, Janelle Monae, Brazilian stuff from Wara but Kanye West just ranted on about stuff - not good!
Just to say, the bike had taken me out of contact with the rest of the world and over just a few days found out afterwards that the whole country had been rioted and looted ! Sad, sad, sad.
London, Birmingham, Bristol you name it!
Total discontentment from so many people living in an "Everything for Nothing Society". It makes me sad that there are people out there that feel it is their right to just get anything they want immediately - without thought, remorse or guilt!
Only reason I'm bringing this up is that (and I'm definately not a preacher and respect that everyone has to do their own thing) what I'm trying to achieve on this "Go or Bust" Trip is the EXACT OPPOSITE.
If I can't get the money or get the time off, I'm probably not able to do it - oh yes, how easy it would be to get a loan or pay thousands and thousands on credit cards for that immediate adrenalin rush and easy way to obtain something. Think of the nightmare of then trying to pay it off! Would that make me feel that I had achieved something special - probably not.
I guess I was brought up with stronger values - statements I remember in childhood from my father like "don't spend what you can't afford", "just tie your belt in", "save for a rainy day", although not taken on board seriously at the time must have made some kind of impact.
Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not Mother Teresa - I've had to pay off massive bills and debts in the past but survival is more and more nowadays about keeping your head above the water in this stormy, unpredictable world we live in.
America and Europe are currently facing incredibly tough times, wages don't go up but we're all expected to pay more for basic stuff like food and energy bills. God, I thought food and keeping warm were essential for the developed world - obviously not!
Enough banter on nothing to do with bikes - only good thing that may come out of this is that the exchange rate with the US Dollar may be good next year when I want to go over - I'll certainly and hopefully get more for my £'s! That means more adventures and things to do on the road trip!
