We have learnt a lot from this trip…
First thing I need to mention is planning. Although I planned every detail of the road and programmed the PoIs and tracks on the GPS maps it had no use.
We took two Zumo 550s on the trip where I uploaded everything. Or I thought so. I refreshed the software on mine before the trip so it erased all data while Zsolt updated the map on his unit. As the new map is slightly repositioned he still had the coordinated in the GPS it did’t show the proper roads but straight lines instead (i.e. direction of the next point) which is rather useless especially when you arrive at a crossroad. We had to use the maps I had with me which made for more stops while we missed some of the routes until we realised we shouldn’t trust the units.
The second thing worth mentioning is the need for tools and spares especially if you have tubed tires. they didn’t bring spare tubes due to lack of space… Should they have done otherwise the whole trip would have been…well different.
The third mistake was to book accommodation in advance. It was a stress and unnecessary risk to make is that day. You can always change your itinerary on a trip and it is always possible to find a place to crash. In some cases no plan is a better plan…
As a last thing it was a mistake wanting to do a lot of mileage and still wanting to see everything. It is simply not feasible. In order to have time for everything – especially in a group of 6 where everyone has different needs at different time – you need to plan 200-300 km a day so you still can visit PoIs, take pictures, have lunch, et all. You can even retrace your steps if you enjoy a particular part of the day’s trip…
All these are things we learnt from this trip and will surely integrate them next time… hopefully 🙂