Travel diary Departure-North Macedonia

Here I am, four days after my departure, to make a first update on my trip.

As I was able to write, the physical and psychological stress before, during and after the departure was really great. The sorrow for all the loved ones I left at home and who showed me all their affection and then that for Astrid, my dog who, despite being in good hands, is far from me.

The first two days of the trip were difficult, these thoughts prevailed over everything else and to complicate things there was the cold and the rain.

But then, in the following two days, things went much better, the further I got away from Italy the more I felt the desire to make progress and discover new places.

In four days I crossed Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and last night I entered North Macedonia, from where I am writing to you. From the image of Albania below, you can realize how the world around me has changed in a few days.

The day before departure, among the hundreds of messages received, there was one from a certain Fabio Cofferati from Parma. In the message he complimented me, he would have liked to come to the departure, but having a commitment that day in Trieste, he asked me to see each other there, since I would have been there in the afternoon. He absolutely had to give me a lucky charm …, and he did.

After departure, I arrive in Trieste at 4.00 pm and meet him at my sister-in-law’s house. A “big” that I had actually already seen online, but I had not connected was him. Passionate about Vespas, he has more than 100, has made numerous trips, the last of which is the one made in 2021 from Milan to Tokyo with a Vespa from the early 1960s!

We talk over coffee, obviously about Vespas and travel, with his wife resigned to keep us company. After wishing me his best wishes for my idea, he gave me the amulet and also his new book on the Milan – Tokyo trip , sure that in times of difficulty he would be of support.

I will talk about Fabio’s book and other travelers’ books that inspired and helped me in a dedicated post. For the moment, I thank him for his closeness, even in the days following departure. Ditto for Massimiliano Perrella, another inveterate traveler and writer of two books .

Croatia – Montenegro – Albania – North Macedonia

This was a bit of the test of the whole trip and I already understood many things.

The Vespa would have gone splendidly, except that on the first evening, around 7.30 pm near Rijeka in Croatia, I was going down a long gentle descent of several kilometers and my engine stopped due to a seizure. I won’t tell you what I thought “here, 250 km from home my journey is over”. I pulled over to the safety position, waited a few minutes and tried to restart the Vespa, but now it had a more metallic engine sound, as if it had a Polini muffler. I leave slowly, trying to understand the situation, by now I was at dusk, I looked for a place to sleep, postponing the reflections on what to do for the next day.

Actually, hearing Walter in the evening, I realized that the long descent, with little petrol entering the cylinder for a long time, caused the problem. The next day I try, the Vespa goes, it hasn’t lost power, it just has that noise that constantly reminds me of the bad experience, so I decide to continue.

Apart from that, the other thing I realized is that there is too much luggage. On the second day I try a new arrangement and a better fixing system and I have to say that things have gone much better.

Last thing are the times, or rather the speed, the maximum is 80 per hour, but the actual average oscillates between 43 and 50 km / h. In practice, considering daily travel times between 6 and 8 hours, you can do between 250 and 400 km a day, obviously when entirely dedicated to traveling.

Meetings “on the road”

Apart from the good Fabio Cofferati of whom I have already written, shortly after departure, a car with a boy and his girlfriend overtook me in Palmanova, he rings me and shortly after stops. I pull over and we stop to talk, he is happy because he had read about me online and he knew that I would be leaving that day. We fantasized a bit together and then we said goodbye, both happy with this occasional meeting.

In Croatia, at a distributor, I meet an Austrian with a BMW RT1200, exactly like the one I had. Enthusiastic about my trip, he begins to tell me about his and to take pictures to send to his many Italian friends … “cool … cool … cool”, he kept repeating. However, he too was not joking: retired, traveling alone for a month, passing all the ski resorts from Italy and all the countries up to North Macedonia and Greece, to then return to Italy. If you want to know more about Croatia click here.

Finally, in Montenegro in the hostel, mega party with snacks with my roommates. She Dutch, he traveled alone by bus, he Turkish, he had just found a job on a boat in Dubai, where he would go in a few days, and that was why we were celebrating.

For fans of numbers, I have already expressed my opinion on the average and maximum speed and on the daily distance.

– the Vespa did about 27 km / l

– cost of gasoline in all states between 1.4 and 1.7 euros (I thought less)

– cost of accommodation in hostels or private rooms: € 30 in Croatia, € 15 in Montenegro, € 11 in North Macedonia

Yesterday in Albania I tried a 60 km stretch of really bad road, I think when I arrive in Greece I will rape myself and unload 10 kg of luggage, I absolutely have to lighten the load. On good roads there are no problems now that the luggage is well arranged, but in view of worse roads, lightening is a must.

Today I will probably aim to get to Thessaloniki and then it will take at least two days to reach Istanbul … A warm greeting to all the people who love me and to those who have reached the end of the reading. Today is sunny 🙂

If you want to read more about Greece click here.