A heads up. Came across this on youtube and would recommend it to other riders. A series of youtube videos called "itchy boots". The rider, Noraly, also has some vlogs which include lists of clothing, riding gear, saddle bags, etc that she has used. Now note that Noraly doesn't camp but depends on locating housing every day along the way. But she definitely made me reconsider some of my basic assumptions like her arguments for soft saddle bags vs hard bags, and other choices of gear. Though I disagree with her choice of bikes she does make an excellent case for lighter machines. A thoroughly enjoyable set of adventures worth watching.

Itchy Boots
I've ridden 100.000 kilometers solo around the world and still counting! My name is Noraly, I'm Dutch and passionate about motorcycles, traveling and adventuring. In 2018, I quit my job, sold my belongings and have been traveling the world full time by motorcycle since then. Right now, I am picking up my journey towards Alaska from when I started it in the South of Argentina, in Patagonia. My loyal companion is named Alaska, and she is a Honda CRF300L Rally, carrying me all the way to Alaska! I share my adventures here on YouTube every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Welcome to the channel and I hope you'll enjoy the ride! LET'S GO!

https://www.youtube.com/c/ItchyBoots

I've been watching her videos and have commented on them. 

Even when she's in the most barren looking countries, she has her way to make the video's interesting.

I even like her name of itchy boots.

WOW!! Makes me wish I was 40 odd years younger. To do this type of thing these days (with all the political upheavals and so on..) I would have thought it would be really tricky. Not for this lass.

Then I think think about the logistics involved...fuel, spares, FOOD, BEER etc. The mind fairly boggles.

I suppose with modern satellite comms and nav systems backup would not be a major issue. But, nevertheless, great adventure.

Great to see!

Rickmeister wrote:WOW!! Makes me wish I was 40 odd years younger. To do this type of thing these days (with all the political upheavals and so on..) I would have thought it would be really tricky. Not for this lass.

Then I think think about the logistics involved...fuel, spares, FOOD, BEER etc. The mind fairly boggles.

I suppose with modern satellite comms and nav systems backup would not be a major issue. But, nevertheless, great adventure.

Great to see!

You ain't the only one envious. She claims to be spontaneous and changeable at the drop of a hat, Like when she was refused entry to Finland during the Pandemic. But my experience is that for things to go anywhere near as smoothly takes a lot of either planning or luck. Maybe she's just the luckiest girl rider I've ever seen. But I hadn't realized how possible it is to get internet service even in the most remote places. Another thing I noticed is how common motorcycles are in what I would consider the hinterlands of the world. Lots of cars/trucks of course. But the videos of South/Central America seemed to have a ratio of bikes to cars  that was almost 1:1.  Very eye opening.

Like her presentations. Hope she's as happy go lucky as she comes across as.

Itchy boots is in California at the moment.

daveyson wrote:Itchy boots is in California at the moment.

Yeah, her entry was slightly amusing. One of the border guards recognized her and wanted a selfie with her. The interrogator wondered why she had such a hop around the world background and once inside the US she wasn't really sure where she was. Is that all there was? sort of attitude. Guess she had been primed to expect a more difficult entry.

You might be able to give her some riding tips, roads and stuff. She likes all that geology stuff.

daveyson wrote:You might be able to give her some riding tips, roads and stuff. She likes all that geology stuff.

Getting through to her is rather a challenge. You can pay to join her entourage with
two levels of membership in her Itchyboots.com. Myself, I'll enjoy the youtube videos.
Though if anyone else has already buddied up with her, you might suggest a ride
on California 25 south from Gilroy. It goes down the middle of the San Andreas fault.
If you sit there in the middle of the road the west side is moving South and the East
side is headed north. Or is it vice-versa. She's a geologist and should be better
able to tell.

Luckily, we've had pretty shitty weather down these parts (rain, rain, floods, more rain...) which, of course, allows one to binge on Itchy Boots.

I got all of the Patagonia to Alaska in, up to Bolivia, "escaping" into Peru to fly back home, because of Covid. Then the jaunt up to Denmark, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and back home again. Now, with her new Honda 300, into Quito, Ecuador, continuing her trip north to Alaska. (Could be a good song title!)

Some of the "roads", goat tracks she has traversed is truly amazing. Even in my enduro days, in a previous life, on my trusty Husqvarna 430, some of these tracks would have been an issue.

The weather here is starting to fine up, so chores need to be done, SWMBO is back in charge.

Rickmeister wrote: Some of the "roads", goat tracks she has traversed is truly amazing. Even in my enduro days, in a previous life, on my trusty Husqvarna 430, some of these tracks would have been an issue.

Likewise, though I've always been a street/Hwy rider. I do acknowledge it is a calculated risk she takes and maybe she knows how to cut it close. But when I see some of the drone shots with nothing and no one for many a mile as seen from the air. I shake my head and am impressed. I'm sure she's a modern lass with all the electronic goodies. But does she have a satellite phone? Never mentioned. And I've seen her pull out what looks like a cell phone to navigate by as well as the garmin that's mounted to the dash. And I find it difficult all too often to get a cell phone signal much less map "down load" here in the S.F. Bay Region. So maybe part of her presentation is well rehearsed or choreographed. I've read she does all her own video editing so maybe it's also part stage craft. But if I got that far off the beaten path into an area which doesn't look like anyone else travels it in a month I would have serious concerns about all the possibilities of tire/engine issues. My most recent bad luck was to lose the fuel pump on a major freeway, that I related in "a tale of three tow trucks". That still sticks as a cautionary concern when I'm shooting down the road. But then my bike is a 1991 with 50,000 miles on it. But of course she is younger and that can make a difference in weighing risks.

jjefferies wrote:But does she have a satellite phone? Never mentioned.

It's mentioned on her website in her gear list.

Laitch wrote:

jjefferies wrote:But does she have a satellite phone? Never mentioned.

It's mentioned on her website in her gear list.

I stand corrected. That makes the risk assessment much more balanced in her favor. But I wonder who she would call if broken down in the middle of no-where? But it does signify to me that she's taken a much more conservative approach than perhaps is shown, which I appreciate. And she seems to separate out some of the more dangerous events and refers to them but doesn't seem dwell on them. For instance the incident in Honduras where some guy had a rope stretched across the road at neck level. She shows him dropping it and she rides on but no further comment than the title about being cornered in Honduras. And the incident in Sinola, Mexico where she came upon a group of 8-10 armed men stopping a truck and who go over her equipment to see if she had recorded them. She appeared shaken by that one. And I'm frequently surprised at the number of military or police roadblocks and then armed guards at petrol stations. It's eye opening for sure.

It's interesting to see the normal life of normal people in different countries, unlike the pampered life of overpaid actors which is supposed to be newsworthy. 

Good editing, good drone work,  good resolution, speaking as a lay observer. Non paid up watchers can comment, but there's probably so many, she can't read them all. 

Dunno why I was worried about her getting through Central America safely, maybe had something to do with my nephew telling me about his travels down there.

Don't think she's been robbed in her travels through these countries, but guess what happened on one of her returns to her home country, the Netherlands. That's right, went on a bike ride and her bike got stolen (push bike I think, which is a way of life in those flat land countries)

jjefferies wrote:But I wonder who she would call if broken down in the middle of no-where?

Traditionally, satellite phones are used to call family and friends to arrange ransom.   Secondarily, they're used to order food and helicopter rescue.

When you're broken down in the middle of nowhere, somebody always seems to come along and help. Nowhere is more crowded than commonly believed.

Laitch wrote:When you're broken down in the middle of nowhere, somebody always seems to come along and help. Nowhere is more crowded than commonly believed.

Yeah, Yeah, Maybe so. But I was raised the old fashioned way to be prepared. Hell, I even have a master's in Planning. Can't turn it off even when it bugs the hell out of me.Truly I know I ride my luck a bit too much and it worries me when I see others... So let's just raise a toast on high that she doesn't loose her touch and we can enjoy the adventure vicariously.

jjefferies wrote:Yeah, Yeah, Maybe so. But I was raised the old fashioned way to be prepared.

No maybe about it. Thru-hikers call them trail angels. The oldest old-fashioned way is to be resourceful.

Laitch wrote:

jjefferies wrote:Nowhere is more crowded than commonly believed.

You're not wrong. Having done a fair bit of mountain biking in Canmore and Banff, west of Calgary, I can tell you that you will always find a bunch of people where less-informed people think they wouldn't necessarily. Everyone wants to go where no one is!

RS Rider wrote:Everyone wants to go where no one is!

The result as Yogi Berra might have put it, "Nobody goes there any more; it's too crowded."

Laitch wrote:

RS Rider wrote:Everyone wants to go where no one is!

The result as Yogi Berra might have put it, "Nobody goes there any more; it's too crowded."

Yup. And the bears now carry people spray!

So itchy boots finally makes it into a first world country, with wall to wall bitumen roads, then crashes on a dirt road, and ends up needing crutches. I'm glad I'm not her dad, I'd be pulling my hair out now.

daveyson wrote:So itchy boots finally makes it into a first world country, with wall to wall bitumen roads, then crashes on a dirt road, and ends up needing crutches. I'm glad I'm not her dad, I'd be pulling my hair out now.

I was thinking something similar and  wouldn't it be fun to find where she's holed up and go by and commiserate with her bike Alaska about being damaged. "Oh you poor bike, she did what to you?"

Kind of wondering if her thinking along the same lines is what did her in. Here you are in a 1st  world country, with all these paved roads, people and communities everywhere and maybe her guard dropped a bit? There are roads, tracks etc in the US that are every bit as demanding as what she ran into in her earlier adventures. Hopefully the crutches won't be necessary for long as there is a dearth of interesting stuff on Youtube and NetFlix. I am having stomach pains over watching more fail army vids or idiots getting kicked off aircraft for being a**Holes. And don't get me started on NetFlix offerings. I'm down to Borgen and Pinky Blinders and I'm back to re-reading 1980's SciFi.

For some reason I had it in my mind that Ms. Noraly was posting her videos as soon as she had had her adventures and of course had had time to edit them. A close friend who is a park ranger just pointed out that the large rock that closed that park road in Rocky Mountain NP fell on June 2.  So that would indicate that her video's are being posted about 2 1/2 months after she makes the ride. Well that kind of makes sense at several levels. First I don't think she particularly cares for company and if she were posting them quickly then people/men could track her. So that's probably a good enough reason. Though it was sort of funny when she was getting gas somewhere in Colorado and an older gentleman who was at the pumps commented that he thought she was still in South America. Blew the poor girl's anonymity. And then there's the reality that if she's going to make it to Alaska this year she's only got about a month from now, August 20, to make it before the weather gets real unpredictable. Assuming, of course, she's going to do the AlCan highway.

Plus the snow in the Colorado town that had already melted two months prior.

I'm interested in threads from places like Colorado, I spose cause I used to love watching westerns, especially the altiplano high snowy ones. They should make them again, The Revenant is a perfect example, was waiting for that to come out when I first heard about it.

jjefferies wrote:For some reason I had it in my mind that Ms. Noraly was posting her videos as soon as she had had her adventures and of course had had time to edit them. A close friend who is a park ranger just pointed out that the large rock that closed that park road in Rocky Mountain NP fell on June 2.  So that would indicate that her video's are being posted about 2 1/2 months after she makes the ride. Well that kind of makes sense at several levels. First I don't think she particularly cares for company and if she were posting them quickly then people/men could track her. So that's probably a good enough reason. Though it was sort of funny when she was getting gas somewhere in Colorado and an older gentleman who was at the pumps commented that he thought she was still in South America. Blew the poor girl's anonymity. And then there's the reality that if she's going to make it to Alaska this year she's only got about a month from now, August 20, to make it before the weather gets real unpredictable. Assuming, of course, she's going to do the AlCan highway.

I was informed a couple of weeks ago that she was already in Canada, so yes the videos are a bit behind for the reasons already stated.

Onherbike (another female lone rider travelling around the globe) does the same.  Her latest released video is in Victoria, Australia but I know thats she's in Canada also on her way to Alaska(she has a logictics problem though bike shipped to the wrong side of Canada).  I met her recently(maybe 2 months ago now) in Bathurst, Australia and I know that video is yet to be released (no, I'm not on it).ie and I were walking the dogs and seen a couple of bikes camped in a local park, thought we maybe recognised the rider of the R80G/S in the distance so wandered over  It was him and he was camped with Kinga (onherbike) for the night. We had a good chat while they were cooking their food on the picnic table.

Al

I also watch "Itchy Boots" regularly down in Mississippi. I was concerned for her when she crashed and banged up her leg. She's like the sweet girl next door. Pretty, smart, and innocent and every Dad is watching out for her. I was surprised when Ed March of C90 adventures came to her rescue! I was expecting to see anything , including streaking, but he was a perfect gentleman and minded his manners. Anyone who can ride a Honda C90 as far as he did, deserves my respect. I will continue to follow Norally and look forward to more Ed March adventures too.

GrayRider wrote:I also watch "Itchy Boots" regularly down in Mississippi. I was concerned for her when she crashed and banged up her leg. She's like the sweet girl next door. Pretty, smart, and innocent and every Dad is watching out for her.

I agree but "innocent"? She is a geologist. I've heard stories about rock hounds. But she is getting better if not well known.You caught the clip at the gas pumps where the gentleman commented to her that he thought she was still down in South America? That amused me.

If I'm reading the clues right, itchy boots is on another continent, waiting for her bike to arrive. If I'm reading it right I'm thinking she is in Australia. Am I reading it right?

daveyson wrote:If I'm reading the clues right, itchy boots is on another continent, waiting for her bike to arrive. If I'm reading it right I'm thinking she is in Australia. Am I reading it right?

That was my guess as well. Though she is being coy about where. But change of continent? Australia would make sense. If it were NZ don't know if continent would be technically appropriate and she's a geologist, right? And she's already been in Africa and parts of Russia and who would want to go there right now?

She's been in Australia, minus. 

But that was for work, plus. 

They installed an auxiliary fuel tank, plus. Straight away I thought, bonus, she's coming to Australia and will be crossing the Nullabor. Reading a bit much into it, maybe.

I'm thinking East Coast first, I'm thinking Great Ocean Road, Victoria.

jjefferies wrote: If it were NZ don't know if continent would be technically appropriate and she's a geologist, right?

What a physicist might not realize is that NZ is part of a continent named Oceania. Maybe she's in Antarctica.

Well she threw us or at least me off the trail. It's Africa, but starting in Spain and down to Morocco. Who knew.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMvfS5mbsiI

I must admit this took me by surprise. But reviewing what I've seen of her travels, she does have a thing for dirt and where are you going to find more dirt roads than Africa?

India . Or maybe Oz?