Brandon O'Brien

Sunday, March 24, 2013 @ 11:10 AM in 2013 Europe

I've been slowly buying things I'll need for my trip and collecting them in the corner of my office. So far I've got my big backpack (the REI Vagabond Tour 40), day bag (REI Flash 18), water bottle, flip flops, sleep sack and more ready to go.

I decided to go with the REI Vagabond Tour 40 after reading several reviews online and trying it on in the store. It's large enough that it should be able to hold everything I need for my 6 month trip but it's small enough to still act as a carry-on for most flights.

I'll use the smaller day bag for walking around cities or for day-hikes when I'm in the Alps. It has an integrated pouch for my Platypus water bottle and can be turned inside out and used as a stuff sack when I'm not using it during the day.

The sleep sack is used in hostels as a barrier between me and the bed/sheets. It packs up extremely small and doesn't take up too much room.

You can check out my entire packing list by clicking on the Preparation link at the top of the page.

Teaser photos:

What I'm taking so far

Posted from: United States

Thursday, February 14, 2013 @ 10:28 PM in 2013 Europe

Well, no turning back now. I just purchased my one-way ticket to Dublin to depart the US on June 26, 2013. I'll be arriving in Dublin around 9:30 am local time which is great. One thing I learned from the trip to London a few years ago is by taking an overnight flight and arriving in Europe in the morning/afternoon you can basically pretend it's a normal day and trick your body out of jet lag. The hard part is trying to sleep on a plane filled with a cacophony of babies crying, people coughing, conversations, flight attendants and bathroom doors slamming.

Flight Details:
Flight: Aer Lingus 124
Depart: ORD @ 8:00 pm on June 26
Arrive: DUB @ 9:25 am on June 27

Next up I need to figure out where I'm going to stay once I get to Dublin. It looks like there's a €6 bus from the Dublin airport to pretty much anywhere in the city.

Posted from: United States

Thursday, February 14, 2013 @ 10:31 AM in 2013 Europe

Well, this is something I've wanted to do for a long time now and I'm finally making the decision that it's going to happen. Starting on June 26th I'll be heading to Dublin, Ireland where I'll start my journey of exploring the world. I'm not going to restrict myself by setting a return date either. I'm going to simply travel around until I feel like coming back home.

The plan is to get to Dublin and to spend a few days there exploring the city. After that, I'm not going to have a real itinerary but simply go where things take me. I'll be staying at hostels and talking to fellow travelers to get insight and ideas on where to go next.

I feel like my adventures from the last couple of years have helped me get ready for this endeavor. A 2 week European vacation through Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy was my first time overseas. After that, a friend Eric and I spent a week in London and the surrounding area. It was nice to spend a lot of time in one place and really get to see and explore the city. The last major trip I did was with my buddy Ryan which was a 17 day, 5,700+ mile motorcycle tour through the western US and Canada in July 2012. We only spent 2 nights in hotels while the rest of the nights were spent camping.

I've built this site in an effort to keep a journal of all my travels while on this trip. I'll be keeping it updated with all the countries I visit as well as links to photo galleries from all the cool places I'll see. You can check out my Preparation page to see a list of what all I'm planning on bringing. The Map page will also be updated whenever I visit a new country.

What's making this trip possible? Well, I'm fortunate enough to be able to work anywhere there's an internet connection. As long as I have a wifi signal every couple of days I'll be fine. Also, thanks to my parents for watching my dog, Canyon, while I'm gone!

What's my next step? Booking the actual ticket to Dublin is next. I'll be doing that over the next couple of days. I also need to buy a new backpack and a few other new items for the trip.

Stay tuned!

Teaser photos:

Tower Bridge, London (2011)

Dover, England (2011)

Road side re-fueling (2012)

Redwoods National Forest (2012)

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Saturday, July 28, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

We woke up again today to more rain. We finally were able to drag ourselves out of our tents around 7 so we could get everything packed up again and set out. We didn't even eat this morning because sitting around for an extra half hour in the rain didn't sound to appealing.

We headed out of our campsite around 7:50am and got back on 82 and headed toward Independence Pass. It immediately started dropping in temperature as we gained elevation. Ryan said at the coldest point it reached 48 degrees which is quite the difference from high 90's and low 100's we experienced over the last few days. We made it over Independence Pass and down toward Leadville. The temps started slowly warming up and by the time we made it to I-70 things were tolerable again.

Being Saturday, there wasn't really too much traffic and we made it to Denver quickly. We made it back to Ryan's place where we both took showers and then went out to eat. The rest of the night will be filled with editing photos that we will upload to our ride reports.

I head back to Albuquerque tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to being off of my bike for a while.

Teaser photos:

Back at Ryan's

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States

Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

We had been sleeping with our rain flies off our tents since it's been so hot. Last night we were woken up in the middle of the night by rain drops coming through our tents and hitting us. We got up and put the rain flies on our tents and heard other people doing the same. We couldn't believe that even being in the middle of the desert we still couldn't get away from the rain.

We woke up around 7, ate and got our bikes and set off so we could try to beat some of the heat on the way to Aspen. It started heating up really quick. By the time we stopped for fuel and food in Grand Junction we were ready for the day to be over. We checked the weather and saw that it was supposed to be thunder storming around Aspen and the exit we needed off of I-70.

We got back on the road and sure enough, right around the time we reached our exit off of I-70 it started to rain. We pulled into a gas station to fuel up and get some gatorade to mix our booze with later tonight. As soon as we headed out of Glenwood Springs on 82 the skies opened up and it poured on us for about a half hour.

Eventually we made it to the Difficult Campground and pulled up to the host campsite to figure out where we were supposed to go. The guy who was in the RV didn't know anything about what was going on and told us to find a lady riding around on a golf cart and she could check us in. We did a loop of the campground and finally found the lady but she couldn't find our reservation anywhere in her little notebook. Ryan told her he had a reservation number so she looked through her book again and found us. We had to fill out a bunch of information we had already filled out online and finally made it to our site.

When we got to the site, we quickly set up our tents before the rain started too hard. We threw all of our stuff in the bear box so it wouldn't get wet in the rain. After that we started mixing the gatorade with the remaining vodka we had. The Svedka Clementine flavored vodka mixed with orange gatorade tastes really really good we found out. After drinking for a bit we had dinner. Almost immediately after finishing dinner it started to rain so we decided just to head into our tents. It was about 8:15pm at this point so we figured that wasn't too bad. Also, it isn't about 90 degrees out like it had been the last couple of nights in Moab. This is the last night of camping and of course it had to be in the rain. At least tomorrow we head back to Denver where we can take a real shower and sleep in real beds again.

Teaser photos:

Back in Colorado

Campsite in Aspen

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Tags: motorcycle

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Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

We were hoping to sleep in a bit this morning but between crows squawking, the sun blasting into our tents and other people getting up we woke up around 7. We tried to quickly eat and get ready while it was still a little cooler outside.

We set off to see some of the sights in Arches. The first stop was Landscape Arch. We weren't sure how far away it was from the parking spot so we set off with our full gear on (aside from helmets and gloves) and immediately started to regret that decision. Turns out the arch is a 1.6 mile round trip. It was cool to see it though. We made it back to the bikes and set off to see Delicate Arch. Instead of hiking the distance up to it we opted for the lower viewing area where we could see it from a distance.

While there we ran into another biker and his passenger who had a Victoria, BC patch on his riding vest. We got to talking and it sounded like they were doing a really similar loop to ours, as they were just in Albuquerque a few days ago.

Next to the parking lot for the Delicate Arch viewing area we saw an unmaintained road that said 4x4's only and decided we should go and explore it. The trail was a mix of sandy spots and rocky areas. After a mile or so we decided this isn't the kind of riding we were looking for and turned around. It was a little too rough for our bikes, especially mine with relatively smooth tires.

We headed down into Moab to fuel up and find some food and figure out where to ride next. The couple on the motorcycle we ran into at Delicate Arch had mentioned the Blue Pig as a good BBQ place to eat at so we figured we would try that. We got there and found out they were only open for dinner so we ended up at the Moab Grill instead. The service and food were really good. Both of us got Patty Melts on Texas Toast. We took our time drinking as much water and tea as we could before setting out into the extreme heat again and exploring some dirt roads.

We decided our route would be Cotter Mine Road to Blue Hills road and ride that all the way back to 191. When we got onto Cotter Mine Road we immediately started climbing some really steep and rocky hills. We both looked at each other and though… not this again. Things got better after that initial climb though and we had fun riding around. All in all we spent about 2 hours out there riding around. Neither of us dropped our bikes but both of us had some close calls. Ryan almost went over his handle bars when riding pretty quickly through a dip in the road and hit a hole larger than he was expecting. I had some close calls going through some sand. I also started having issues again with my bike overheating. It seems like when this happens it won't idle and instead the engine simply cuts off. It made it pretty annoying trying to navigate some of the trails to get back to 191. I'll have to look into it when I get home to see what the deal is.

We eventually made it back to 191 and then stopped at a Shell station for something cold to drink and to relax in the shade before heading back to our campsite. We talked to the cashier for a bit about some of his journeys on an old BMW and told him about our ride so far. We finished our drinks and set off for the campground. Riding through the park took a lot longer this time because we got stuck behind an RV that simply wouldn't pull over. We were stuck behind them all the way to our campsite.

We got back and doused ourselves with water and are now just relaxing in the shade waiting for it to cool down. All of our booze is extremely hot so we'll probably pass on that tonight and wait until tomorrow night in Aspen where it's supposed to be a lot colder.

Teaser photos:

Landscape Arch in Devil's Garden

In the middle of nowhere outside Moab

Riding through Arches National Park

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

The plan this morning was to wake up whenever we wanted to and take our time since the ride down to Arches National Park was only going to be about 250 miles. Ryan ended up waking up at the crack of dawn and I got up around 7, so we didn't really get to sleep in much. We did take our time getting ready though. After eating we packed up and headed out for some roads we thought were going to be dirt/gravel before hitting Heber, UT.

We ended up getting stopped for one-way construction traffic and had to wait for about 5 minutes for our turn to go. After a few miles we turned off onto some really nice and tight roads that gained quite a bit of elevation. Eventually the road turned to gravel and then eventually some really nasty hardpack that was being worked on. The road turned into some extremely unmaintained asphalt before we finally arrived in Heber.

We made our way through Provo to Highway 6 which we were on all the way until I-70. Another 45 miles or so and we were at Arches National Park. We used Ryan's park pass to get us both in and then went into the visitor center so I could get my national parks passport stamped and we could buy some stickers.

The ride through Arches NP was really nice. The rock formations and sights you can see simply while riding through the park are amazing. There wasn't too much traffic when we were going through which was nice.

It took another 45 minutes or so and we finally made it to our campsite at Devils Garden. By now it was around 3:15 and extremely hot. We quickly set up our tents and tried to stay in what little shade we could find. After relaxing for a bit we decided to have some vodka and go exploring around the campsite.

A little later we saw this big Ryder rental truck pull up to one of the group sites. We couldn't quite tell what was going on but guessed that they were probably setting up stuff for a big group. Sure enough, about an hour or so later this huge tour bus showed up full of high school aged looking kids. We figured they were going to be really loud all night but we lucked out. They did however create quite the line at the water station and restrooms.

Eventually it got dark and we were cool enough that we could finally start dinner. I had the Natural High Spicy Sausage Pasta and Ryan had the Chicken Enchilada. Both of us thought our meals were dull and lacking some flavor so we added a few packets of Taco Bell hot sauce.

We had a little fire and decided we'd head to bed. We were still kinda playing catch up from the last several long days. Tomorrow the plan is to explore Arches and try to do some off road exploring around Moab.

Teaser photos:

We started a fire in the morning for a little bit of warmth

Some of the nice views near Heber, UT

The bikes at our campsite

The view of our campsite from a big rock behind it. I ended up having to move my tent due to all the dripping sap.

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States

Tuesday, July 24, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

Today we woke up around 6am so we could get packed, eat and fuel up before starting the long haul to our campsite east of Salt Lake City. We were on the road around 7:15 and immediately jumped on I-80 East. We would be on this for about 500 miles today in total.

The day started off with nice weather but by the time we stopped for lunch in Elko it was really heating up. We resorted to pouring water into our riding gear in order to cool off while we rode. The water would evaporate pretty quickly which was a shame.

About a half hour west of Wendover the clouds started darkening quickly and it looked like rain. We stopped and zipped up our riding gear and took off. Not 30 seconds later the rain started. It wasn't too heavy and only lasted a little while but this would make it the 10th day in a row we hit some sort of precipitation. We hit a break in the rain when we got to Wendover and had just enough time to fuel up and find a liquor store before the rain hit. If we had been another minute slower we would have been drenched. Fortunately by the time we made it to the salt flats the rain was getting farther and farther behind us.

The last 80 miles or so of the ride seemed to take forever. We finally hit I-215 and made our way to Exit 6 where we would get off and make our way to the campground. We were happy when we rolled into our campsite and it was still daylight. Our long day of riding was complete and the temperatures were quite pleasant. It might not have been our longest distance day, but it was definitely the most monotonous day of the trip so far.

After setting up camp we looked around for some fire wood so we could get a fire going. Some of the empty campsites still had some laying around that we were able to take back to our site. Unfortunately they had some really heavy rains there earlier in the day so everything was wet and hard to start. We tried a few things and finally resorted to dousing it all with some gasoline. That did the trick and we had a nice fire the rest of the night.

For dinner I had some of the Natural High Chicken Pot Pie with Mashed Potatoes and I was blown away with how good it was. Ryan had the Honey Mustard Chicken and said it was pretty good too. We're both extremely exhausted so we're going to head off to bed now. Tomorrow takes us down to Arches National Park where we'll be staying for two nights. The ride is only 250 miles which seems like an extremely short day compared to what we've been doing.

Teaser photos:

The seemingly everpresent rain we run into all the time

Finally off the interstate and onto 190

The campsite at Spruces Campground

Cooling our booze and drinks in the creek. The water was so cold it actually cooled everything down really well.

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States

Monday, July 23, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

Soon after we fell asleep last night it seemed like everyone decided to start running around doing stuff and making as much noise as possible. I put some ear plugs in and eventually fell asleep.

I had my alarm set for 6:10am so we could get started early. There was a cool mist surrounding the campground when we woke up. Once again our normal routine of packing up and eating took place. We were on our bikes by about 7:15 and headed out. The original plan was to skirt Redwoods on and ride some gravel and dirt roads and eventually catch up with 299 toward Redding. Since Ryan's tire was essentially shot, we decided to head to Eureka where we found a KTM dealer and try to get Ryan a new tire.

The ride there was extremely cold and foggy. We unfortunately didn't get to see too much of the coast or trees because of the fog. Eventually we made it to Eureka and found the KTM dealer just after they opened at 9am. Fortunately they had a tire that fit the bike and set about replacing it. It didn't take too long and before too long we were out on our way to Redding and eventually Reno.

The cold and fog continued until we finally crossed a high pass on 299 and it seemed like the temperature immediately went up by about 20 degrees. We had been complaining the last week about how cold and damp it had been during the journey and getting blasted with this hot dry heat for an hour or so made us realize that both extremes can be equally bad.

We pulled into Redding and decided to get Wendy's for lunch so we could get some Frosties as well. We decided to go ahead and call ahead and see if we could book a hotel room without just aimlessly riding around Reno trying to find somewhere to stay. I was looking at a map for an REI so we could buy more freeze dried meals and saw there was a Comfort Inn & Suites just around the corner so we called them and got a room. We then drenched ourselves in water to try and cool us down while riding. This helped for a bit until it evaporated and we were stuck sweating in our riding suits again.

By the time we reached Highway 44 it looked like we might hit some rain and sure enough within a few minutes it started to lightly rain on us again. The rain quickly went away for a while and we had more nice riding on 44 then 36 and 395. We fueled up again in Susanville, CA and took a little rest. Ryan's debit card ended up getting declined due to overuse which we thought was strange since we had been using our cards for the last 8 days several times each day. He got it cleared up and we got on our way. There was about 86 miles to go before we reached our hotel. As soon as we got out of Susanville the winds kicked up like crazy. We were riding with side gusts of 30 or 40 miles per hour and we saw some rain off in the distance. For the remainder of the ride into Reno we were either getting blown all over the road by wind or rained on.

Eventually we made it into Reno around 7 and went to REI so we could get more food. We then checked into our hotel, showered, started our laundry and then went to find something to eat. The closest thing was Denny's so we just went there. We were so exhausted we didn't feel like venturing out any further.

We came back and threw our stuff into the dryer and relaxed for a while and worked on this ride report. Our laundry finished and now we're getting ready for bed. Tomorrow is the day we've least been looking forward to the entire trip. Reno to SLC. About 540 miles through a hot dry desert. Additionally we're also going to lose an hour which makes things even worse. We'll see how it goes! We're off to bed now so we can get up early and get going before it's too hot.

Teaser photos:

One of my favorite shots from the whole ride so far

Finally taking a break to remove our rain gear and open all the vents on our riding gear

What's this in the distance? Could it be? More rain? No..... Yes. It's more rain we're getting ready to ride through.

Getting past the rain; bonus rainbow in the distance

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States

Sunday, July 22, 2012 @ 7:00 PM in 2012 Epic Motorcycle Ride

Last night we drank most of the booze and had some dinner and got our fire going pretty well. I think we both slept pretty well and fortunately it didn't rain on us through the night.

We woke up and did our daily routine of eating, tearing down camp and packing up our bikes. We were on the road by 6:45am. We had to carry our trash out of the park and find the nearest trash can. Next up was fueling up. We still had quite a few miles on the current tank so we wanted to fill up sooner rather than later. We didn't see any gas stations near the park so we had to go about 4 miles out of the way to get some gas. After that we were finally on our way down the coast on Highway 101.

The plan was to head town the 101 until we got to Highway 26 and then take that to Portland where we would ride through the Columbia River Gorge and see some of the sights along the way. When we neared our exit for 26 I saw that Cannon Beach was just a few miles away and wanted to go see it. It had been really foggy and cold and when we pulled up to the beach the view was a little obstructed but it was still cool.

We set off on 26 and after some more rain/fog we finally started to make it to Portland. Riding 30 along the gorge was awesome. There were some highly trafficked spots since it was the weekend, but overall it was a nice pleasant ride. We got to see some cool waterfalls along the way. We both got some stickers of the Multnomah Falls for our panniers.

After seeing those falls we headed out to find lunch. We decided on some Taco Bell and ate that. After filling up we still had a long way to go. The original plan was to head back to the coast and ride 101 all the way down to Redwoods. Since the weather had been holding us back and we were pretty sore, we decided just to take I-5 down to 199 and take that into the park. We were on I-5 for over 200 miles and it was pretty boring. Once we got to 199 things started changing for the better. The weather cleared up and the roads got really twisty. We continued on that for 90 miles until it connected back with 101 and we headed into the park. Ryan had to take the twists pretty slowly since his rear tire was almost bare. We really have to take care of that tomorrow.

We made it to camp around 9:00 and fortunately still had a bit of light to set up our tents. We got to see some of the Redwoods on our way to the campsite which was really cool. The campsite attendant told us there were bears in the area and whatever had any kind of scent needed to be put in the bear box. We both ate and then quickly decided to head off to bed after another long day, about 14 hours in total.

Teaser photos:

Crossing the bridge into Oregon

Vista House along 30

View from Vista House

Multnomah Falls

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Tags: motorcycle

Posted from: United States