250 Superhero: New Blog Who Dis

Please update your bookmarks to 250Superhero.com.

Hello!

Thank you for visiting Steph's Vespa travel blog. Remember how change was in the air? You found her depreciated Blogspot, saved (for now) for posterity. In May of 2019 we moved to a new home:

250Superhero.com

564 posts were penned within the familiar Blogger platform, which makes me a bit nostalgic. But alas, no more.

Please update your bookmarks and check there for the latest news!

Where's Steph: Winter 2018-19

Here's my itinerary for winter 2018-19. Old Blue won't be with me this winter, but here's to some adventures on foot, or on borrowed/rented wheels! As always, most updated photos will appear on my Instagram, and please say hi if you find yourself in the same part of the world.

Boston, MA → San Francisco, CA

Now - Dec 16: Cambridge, MA.
Dec 17 - 24: San Francisco, CA with Fred!

San Francisco, CA → Hong Kong SAR

Dec 25, 2018 - Jan 2, 2019: Hong Kong, SAR. Hello, family!

Hong Kong → Taipei, Taiwan → Hong Kong

Jan 3 - 5: Taipei, Taiwan.
Jan 6 - 7: Back in Hong Kong. Fred goes back to the US.

Hong Kong → Chiang Mai, Thailand → Hong Kong

Jan 8 - Feb 4: Chiang Mai, Thailand. I'll be staying near Nimmanhemin for that expat life.

Hong Kong → ???

Feb 5: Hong Kong, happy Lunar New Year!
Feb 6 - ???: Hong Kong, Taipei, back to Thailand, who knows?

Serenity: Ready for Season 2

Fred's garage.

As you may have already gathered, Old Blue is up and running again! I want to say thank you again to everyone who chipped in for her rescue, but a few special thanks to:

• Sean at Philadelphia Scooters, for being Sean.
• Pete formerly of Vespa Brooklyn but now of Revolution Moto, for being Pete.
• Denver James, scooter hauler extraordinaire.
• Gwynne and Tom, for scooter storage and support.
• And of course Fred, for many, many reasons.

I daresay Season 2 of Serenity wouldn't be possible without you guys.

Onward to the resurrection!

It's Been Quiet Around Here, But Change Is In The Air

Hello. Radio silence has almost become the new norm here, but I haven't come to a rest. I have new travel stories, on Vespas even. Here are two bits of news, while those stories take their final form.

Flickr has announced changes to their free service, with a 1000 photo limit. As you may have noticed I host my photos with Flickr, and thus I have until January 8th to find a new home for my albums. It's likely I'll move them to my own server, migrate the blog there as well, and do a site redesign. Unfortunately, the forum threads that I maintain on ADV Rider and Modern Vespa will lose their image links, unless I find an easy way to go back and change every. Single. Post.

Justifying the energy to do this may be difficult with the next bit of news, although ostensibly it's good news: Colleen and I are teaming up again, to produce two full length graphic novels. This should keep me busy until 2020!

We made 6 graphic novels together in the past, in the Guinea Pig Pet Shop Private Eye series.
Now we team up again! Please buy it, in the distant future.

As I stare down another winter in New England, the days I lived on a bike feel so far away it's like another person lived it, and the person here now is only a shadow. But I know there are more roads yet. Book work will keep me busy, but I intend not to let it keep me in one place.

Perhaps the timing is right for a kick in the butt. Old Blue and I have seen more of North America than I ever could have imagined. I've been eyeing another continent for some time now. Perhaps the imminent blog transition can mirror another transition, to further adventures on more continents.

This is code for, I've been doing research on flying Serenity to Europe for 2019.

Fingers crossed. In the meantime, stay tuned for my winter plans.

Gear Talk: GTS Touring Tool Roll

My prized tool roll from CORSette 2014. Thanks, Nikki!

Who doesn't like a peek into someone else's tool roll?

After many miles, I think I've dialed in a field kit arrangement that's portable and can handle all the regular maintenance jobs on the GTS, and then some.

Serenity Revived! Summer Plans 2018

She's alive!

I know this is jumping around a bit in the overall narrative, but I wanted to get my summer riding schedule posted for anyone who might want to say, "Hi!"

Suffice to say, Serenity's engine swap was successful, she's all in one piece again, and running great! A huge thank you to everyone who chipped in for the GoFundMe, and Fred for tolerating the grouchy mechanic that is me. Click on to find out where I'm planning to be in summer 2018.

Convalescence in Ballard. May 30 - June 28, 2017.

Bling on my sling, thanks to Gwynne and Fred.
"I wear black on the outside, 'cause black is how I feel on the inside" patch is available here!
Felix on a blue scooter pin is not available. ;)

Home was always a conundrum for me. Is it the place you're born, or the place where most of your stuff is kept? Is it a feeling, a state of mind, or certain people?

Where does someone without a physical home go, when they need to recover from more than just travel fatigue?

Between the cloudiness of painkillers, I made the verdict for where I wanted to spend a month recuperating. Not San Francisco or Providence or Boston, though I'd find my way back there eventually. The summer wasn't over for me. My boxes from Fairbanks were shipped to Boston, but I knew where I wanted to make my memories of healing: Seattle, near Gwynne and Tom.

The Dalton vs My Right Clavicle. Fractures in Arctic Circle. May 27 - 30, 2017.

The Top of the World Highway had given me some confidence taking my Vespa on rougher terrain, but from Fairbanks I wanted to ride at least to the Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway. I anticipated the stretch ahead to be the most challenging – the sheer distance without a soul in sight was intimidating. I went back and forth as to how far north I would travel, and to this day I'm unsure what informed my final decision. Maybe it was sleep debt. Maybe it was FOMO. Maybe it was hubris.

As you may have guessed from the title, this doesn't end particularly well.

On Top of the World and back on American Soil. May 24 - 26, 2017.

From the Midnight Dome Viewpoint, if you looked on the other side of the Yukon River you could see a pale line etched into the green hills. It climbed in a straight line up the river-facing side of the mountain, then turned in a squiggle that wrapped the crumpled terrain like a dropped a piece of spaghetti. That was my first look at the Top of the World Highway, and that was where I was putting my bike.

Sourtoes and Shipwrecks. Dawson City, YT. May 22 - 23, 2017.

Dawson City is a destination in its own right, though the usual attractions – Klondike gold rush history, gold panning, cabaret, and other old mining town and frontier sales pitches – were not what drew me there. I wanted to ride the Top of the World Highway, which started at the landing point of the George Black Ferry.

But a stop at a historic mining town along the way was swell, too.

The Indoor Life in Whitehorse, YT. May 19 - 21, 2017.

Nothing in Whitehorse is more than 10 minutes away, because if you've gone any farther you're pretty much in the wild. The town was just big enough to have what I sought: a large grocery store where I availed myself to some produce (and gasped at the prices), and a cozy hostel with blackout curtains.

Boya, That's Beautiful. Stewart-Cassiar to Alaska Highway. May 17 - 18, 2017.

I had a few campgrounds (recreation sites, as they're called) along the Stewart-Cassiar in mind for the next stretch. I knew I would be riding through some remote places, and figured I'd just go until I felt ready to stop. It's a supreme luxury, the freedom to go till whenever, with no one expecting you anywhere, anytime. I suppose it depends on the person whether they find that freeing or concerning.

Scooter Holiday Cards are back!

Whether you missed them last year or simply want to grab another round, I've opened up my holiday card sales again.

Cards are back!

Check it out – markdowns apply, while supplies last!

I promise, I'm working on catch-up posts for Alaska too.

How To Care For Your Overlander: A Stuff-Free Guide

Want to give a gift that won't weigh them down?

The holiday season is upon us, so what better time to do a gift-giving guide?

This post has been kicking around in my head for a while. It's not a run-down of newest riding gear or hottest bike farkle. Chances are, if someone has been riding this long, they probably already have everything they need and don't have room for more. My list was born from being asked, "What do you do to treat yourself, when you can't carry gifts?"

So, in a season inundated with messages of rampant consumerism, what do you do for someone without giving them stuff?

Whether you're thinking of your minimalist motorbike traveler or someone who's just simplifying their life, here are some ideas for awesome gifts that won't clutter the closet or the topcase!

Touchdown on Alaskan Soil. May 16, 2017.

Putting on all my layers in the morning felt like dressing for battle. Today, I would touch Alaskan soil, albeit in the tiny tourist town of Hyder, AK. I had a low mileage day ahead of me, to give myself time to explore Kispiox again and see how far I got up to Salmon Glacier.

Into the British Columbian Wild. May 12 - 15, 2017.

This was it. My last stop for urbanity before I went into the British Columbian wild. I always dubbed this trip as an Alaskan adventure, but in actuality the largest portion of miles would be Canadian. Indeed, British Columbia alone proved to be expansive, rich in history, and absolutely packed with jaw-dropping natural beauty.

The Ferry Fancy Life, Port Angeles and Vancouver, BC. May 9 - 11, 2017.

In case you haven't picked up by now, I love taking ferries with my bike. I go out of my way for ferry rides, and found a route to Vancouver that involved very little actual riding. Sure, it would be almost $70 in ferry fees, but did you miss the part about how I love taking ferries?

Pit Stop Seattle. May 4 - 8, 2017.

It's a straightforward ride along I-5 from Portland to Seattle, but I'd find a way to dress it up. I hustled out the door early to give myself plenty of time to meander and catch the Bremerton ferry.

Friends and Food and Floating! Portland, OR. April 30 - May 3, 2017.

Time had come to part ways again. Pete had pushed his dog-sitters to the limit, and he would have to slab it all the way back to San Francisco in a single day (480 miles, blasting my day record out of the water on his first overland haul. Aw). I had a more moderate 300-ish mile day ahead of me to one of my favorite cities, Portland, OR.

In the morning mist, our farewells were brief and without fanfare; we were eager to tackle our independent miles. For my part, maybe I hustled a bit to get my gear on because in your helmet, no one can tell if you're crying.

Champagne Asphalt and Mudslides. San Francisco, CA to Gold Beach, OR. April 24 - 29, 2017.

It's been a while, but if you're wondering what happened to those missing dates between the last entry and this, I flew to Boston to see Fred and take care of some life back east. It seems my current style of nomadism is six of vagrancy and a half dozen homes? Anyhow, fast forward to the end of April and we're back on the west coast, on that north-bound agenda.

End of a Bay Era. April 8 - 10, 2017.

Often the best stories are forged in adversity, and by that measure this is not really a great story. It is, however, a story about good times. Pete had long wanted to gather a group of scooterists to camp out, and this would be his first... and possibly last in California, because he'd just accepted a position in New York.