Tomorrow morning I leave for another motorcycle trip. This time there is a slightly different approach, less ambitious perhaps. I have a book contract due in mid September, my critique of the promotion of resilience, so have decided to rent a cottage and divide the time between writing (mostly) and riding ( two or three hours a day maybe). I am going down to Dorset to stay a few miles from Litton Cheney where I worked in a youth hostel after leaving school. This was also the ground where I first discovered the fun of motorcycles and part of this trip is to retrace the ride I had back in 1974 on the back of a BMW R80 (I think) from Litton Cheney to Bath. This time I have a couple of nights in a hotel there (and not staying in Royal Crescent as I did in 74) before heading home.

So out of the panniers go – all the camping equipment – and I am travelling still with panniers, topbox (it would be great to travel without it but it is too useful to pick up groceries and to keep a helmet in when I leave the bike) and tank bag, but lighter and with more space for computer and a few books.

Dorset is a beautiful, rolling county with some lovely coastline. Its about 190 miles away, via the dreaded M25.