Cathedrals and caves: homecoming

Dave Dight dreams of the open road and the timelessness of motorcycle travel…

by Dave Dight 29th October 2009

Each summer I take a long motorcycle trip. Having built and fettled a thirty-year-old BMW, I was ready to head south, for the sun. As usual, with no fixed route and only a vague destination, there was an air of expectancy. Travelling alone by motorcycle frees the mind and being a stranger in a foreign land enriches every human encounter: we are different and the same.

Meandering through France, always keeping to the back roads, meeting other travellers and revelling in the warmth of every social contact – small talk by the road, flirting with a waitress, children trying their English on me.