30 years ago – Ireland

Summer 1994, me and two army buddies decided to take our summer leave and bike through Ireland. No smart phones or satellite navigation, just paper maps and a film camera. We camped about half the time, and B&Bs the rest, depending on weather and location.

Rough itinerary: flew into Dublin, spent a day there. Then a train to Galway, where we started the real biking. Down the west coast, then east to Cork, Tipperary, and Cashel, and finally to Limerick, and flew out of Shannon. Total time, about 16 days.

This was the second long tour I had ever done, we were still learning a lot. Done many more since then. But you’ll never forget those first ones.