My First Motorcycle Adventure to Portugal | BMW GS | TET & ACT | 2018

This video takes me back to 2018, when I set off on my very first long-distance motorcycle adventure, riding from London through France and Spain, and eventually into Portugal. Looking back, it's hard to believe how little experience I had at the time. I was a latecomer to motorcycling. I only got my first motorbike in 2015, when I was in my late 30s. I had never really been into motorcycles before, but once I started riding, I was hooked. During 2016 and 2017, I spent as much time as I could on two wheels. Somewhere along the way, I accidentally discovered adventure riding and off-road motorcycling. I started taking off-road training, including some riding in Norfolk and, more importantly, the BMW Off Road Skills course in Wales, where I gained most of my off-road riding skills and confidence. Learning how to handle a big adventure bike on dirt was a completely different experience, and I absolutely loved it. Eventually, I decided that a BMW GS was the bike for me. The plan was simple. Get a GS, load it up, and go exploring. I'd heard about routes like the Trans Euro Trail (TET) and Adventure Country Tracks (ACT), and I wanted to experience them for myself. And that's how this adventure began. In 2018, I left London on my GS and headed towards France. My friend Max, who was living in Berlin at the time, rode down to meet me in Calais. From there, we travelled through France and into Spain, where we started exploring some of the adventure routes, including sections of the ACT and TET. Taking a big BMW GS off-road with very little experience probably wasn't the smartest idea I'd ever had. But that's part of the fun of adventure riding. You learn as you go, make mistakes, pick yourself up, and carry on. After riding through Spain, we eventually crossed into Portugal. It was my very first visit to Portugal, and I had absolutely no idea how much this country would eventually become part of my life. We spent almost a month riding together, exploring trails, discovering places we'd never been, and enjoying the freedom of travelling by motorcycle. It was my first proper long-distance motorcycle adventure, and I absolutely loved it. The riding, the landscapes, the challenges, the unexpected moments, and the simple pleasure of being out there on a motorcycle made it an experience I'll never forget. Why am I uploading this video now, eight years later? Well, I originally made this video back in 2018 and uploaded it to my old YouTube channel. Unfortunately, I ended up losing that channel. Entirely my own fault. I did something rather stupid, and that's a story for another day! Recently, I was going through some of my old videos when I came across this one. Watching it brought back so many fantastic memories. I remembered how exciting everything felt back then. The anticipation of travelling somewhere new, the uncertainty of riding unfamiliar trails, and the sheer enjoyment of discovering adventure motorcycling for the first time. It reminded me why I fell in love with adventure riding in the first place. So I decided to give this video a new home on my current YouTube channel. It's an old video, filmed and edited back in 2018, so don't expect anything particularly polished. But it's a genuine record of one of my earliest motorcycle adventures, and that's what makes it special to me. A lot has changed since then. I've ridden many more miles, explored plenty of new places, and gained a lot more experience. But watching this again reminded me that some of the best adventures happen when you're still figuring everything out. I hope you enjoy this little trip back to 2018 as much as I enjoyed rediscovering it. And if you're new to adventure riding, or thinking about getting your first motorcycle later in life, perhaps this will encourage you to get out there and give it a go. You don't need years of experience to start exploring. You just need a motorcycle, a little curiosity, and the willingness to have an adventure. Thanks for watching. CJ #BMWGS #BMWMotorrad #AdventureMotorcycle #AdventureRiding #MotorcycleAdventure #MotorcycleTravel #MotorcycleTouring #AdventureBike #GSAdventure #TransEuroTrail #TET #TETPortugal #TETSpain #AdventureCountryTracks #ACT #BMWOffRoadSkills #OffRoadMotorcycle #OffRoadAdventure #MotorbikeAdventure #MotorcycleJourney #Portugal #Spain #France #RidePortugal #ExplorePortugal #PortugalAdventure #MotorcyclePortugal #AdventureTravel #TwoWheels #MotorcycleLife #RideMore #ExploreMore #MotorcycleMemories #MotorcycleRoadTrip #AdventureMotorcycling #BigBikeAdventure #CJMeister #ADVZEN