Jennifer Colvin Articles
The Big Trip #12
Not Just an American Tragedy
“That can’t be right.”
On Tuesday, September 11, I saw the headline “Plane crashes into World Trade Center” while in an Amsterdam internet cafe, and I barely gave it a second thought.
I didn’t realize the magnitude of what had happened until a friend found my fiancé and I at work on [...]
The Big Trip #11
Week 21: Bicycle Heaven – Life in Holland
Route: Chamonix, France – Rotterdam, The Netherlands – Amersfoort
145 kilometers
While hiking the Tour de Mont Blanc, we met a nice couple from The Netherlands, and once we told them about our plan to spend a month in their country looking for jobs, they insisted we take their [...]
The Big Trip #10
Week 19: Romans, Romans everywhere
Route: Nimes – Camargue – Avignon – Chamonix – Tour du Mont Blanc
215 kilometers
We stopped in Nimes to check out the Roman ruins, which included a large
amphitheater used in current times for concerts instead of gladiator events,
and a temple dedicated to Diana that’s now a draw for tourists instead of
worshipers.
On [...]
The Big Trip #9
Week 17: Riding the Tour train
Route: Ste. Marie-de-Campan – Tarbes – Rabastens – Lombez – Toulouse – Carcassonne – Quillan
430 kilometers
The riders in the Tour de France had a day off on Monday, but we didn’t.
After packing up, we rode 50 km to Rabastens, where we would watch a sprint
section of the race. Luckily, [...]
Week 15: More Port, please!
Route: Porto – Vitoria, Spain
87 kilometers
The best thing about visiting wine cellars and vineyards is that after
learning about the wine, you get to taste it for yourself. My problem,
though, is after I do the tasting, I forget most of what I learned earlier
about how the wine was made.
This was especially [...]
The Big Trip #7
Week 13: A bumpy road to Lisbon
Route: Sagres – Setubal – Lisbon – Sintra
238 kilometers
Heading north, we found we had fewer roads to choose from, and they weren’t
as well maintained as the ones in the big tourism areas in the southern
Algarve region. Surprisingly long stretches of road were paved with bumpy
cobblestones or filled with [...]
Week 11: Ahhh…Andulacia
Route: Tarifa – Vejer – Arcos – Sevilla – Tavira, Portugal
443 kilometers
Since returning to Europe from Morocco, the pace of our trip slowed down
quite a bit. Instead of setting the alarm for the morning, we got up when
the sun made our tent too hot for sleeping. Avoiding the larger roads
whenever possible, we [...]
The Big Trip
Morocco
Week 9: Cycling the Route des Kasbahs
Route: Ouarzazate – Gorge du Dades – Gorge due Todra – Goulmima – Merzouga
345 kilometers
From Ouarzazate, we headed out into the desert, a vast, empty, rocky
landscape. In the distance, we could see the hazy outline of the High Atlas
mountains. We rode past crumbing Kasbahs (old fortresses) and [...]
The Big Trip
Morocco
Week 7: Welcome to Morocco!
Route: Tangier – Chefchaouene – Ouezzane – Meknes
180 kilometers
We arrived in Tangier and spent a couple hours cycling in circles through
the middle of the city, searching for an ATM that would take our debit
cards. I quickly realized I would need to give Bob a few lessons in how to
say [...]
If you’re credit-card bike touring, travel is easy. All you have to bring is
a change of clothes, a tire repair kit, a toothbrush and your credit card to
pay for hotels and meals.
But when you’re traveling on a budget, it’s a bit
more complicated. In order to afford six months in Europe traveling by bike,
I [...]
