There’s now only FOUR weeks to go til we hit the road! Here’s what’s going on with the team at Grit and Sprit, each of whom are still in three different countries right now…
Steve’s update (from Germany):
We kick off in a month. One month… Wow! Let’s step back in time to see how far we’ve come…
Back in March 2015 when Amand, Russ and I met at my house in Dunedin we set up a monthly outline which showed us we had 29 months to go. First on the list for Amand was to get a motorbike licence and buy a bike. For me it was selling my Suzuki GN250 learner bike and upgrading to something more serious. We’ve come a long way, baby! And of course 29 months seemed impossibly far away at that time, and it was. But without the monthly Skype chats for motivation, planning, and accountability, this whole trip would have remained just a dream. That dream will soon be a reality, and now instead of counting down months, we’re counting down days!
Also, I’m so grateful to my wife, family, friends and my biz partner for being so supportive of this trip. I wouldn’t be doing this trip without all the love, support and understanding from my nearest and dearest.
Along with hitting the final month another big milestone this week has been the return of my passport with a beautiful Russian visa inside! I wasn’t expecting to receive it til next week, so it was a really nice surprise opening a package from the courier (in which I expected a Kindle charger!). This is the final big piece of the puzzle for me. From here it’s just preparing the bike, packing, saying goodbyes, then hitting the road. Sounds simple enough 😉
Amand’s update (from New Zealand):
Fortunately it’s actually only three weeks until I get on the plane but it feels a little like the calm before the storm right now. It’s impossible not to think about the trip and getting on the road, but in doing that it seems like time has almost stood still. It hasn’t helped that we’ve had a teething boy at home and sleep has been at a premium, so the whole week has been a bit of a trial.
I just want to get this thing going, it’s been so long in the making that these last few weeks are now seeming like an big hurdle, when it reality it’s the final small steps to the start line.
We’re now waiting on news for only one more Russian visa, alright! Steve and Sam having secured theirs gives some nice reassurance, but this final major piece of the puzzle is leaving me a little apprehensive. What if I don’t get it? Best not to think about that right now…..so a trip to the Russian embassy on Monday morning with only positive thoughts in my mind!
At the strong advice from Steve and Sam of “this will change your life” I bought some noise cancelling headphones for the flight over to Austria. Holy schamoly! I get what you’re saying now Steve! In fact, I had a sneaky whisky in celebration!
On another note, we actively shared out our FB page and website this week and it’s been so cool to hear lots of really positive feedback about them. It’s been hard work and taken some time, but also fun getting it together so it’s great that people are appreciating that. Thanks so much everyone. Please continue to comment and give us feedback on our new posts.
Check out our sweet ladies patiently waiting for us ?
Sam’s update (from Switzerland):
For me the time seems to be flying by incredibly fast. I have so much to do in the next four weeks, and that is taking all my time and energy.
I was travelling through Germany yesterday on my way to a job in Switzerland and we stopped at the “World’s Oldest Brewery”. A great lunch stop… open since the year 1040. With near on 1,000 years of beer making history, they must have some idea how to make good beer by now… so I bought a couple of crates 🙂
Here is my first thoughts of their amber magic.
Thursday night beer report: Kellerbier – 1516
This beer has a strong hops taste at the first guzzle, this is followed by a slightly sour overtone. It is refreshing on a hot day. There are a myriad of flavours on the finish that are hard to nail down.
I reckon that I will need a few more bottles to really define the flavours, luckily I have a crate 🙂
This is not your average watery lager. This beer has a character all of it own.
Ranking: Not really my style, but good.
Kind wish
Sam
Tune in next week when…
Amand has received his Russian visa (hopefully); Steve works out how to install a new chain and crash bars on his bike; Sam has more beer reviews; and we all get a little more excited/anxious about the days ticking by…
Thanks for reading! Please comment below, we’d love to hear from you!