Follow me online! My posts on these channels are mostly about travel and motorcycle riding - or at least somewhat. Also see my reviews of hotels & other travel services on Trip Advisor.
I am all about stravaig. Although I don't really feel aimless - the journey is my aim.
I have been blogging about my road trips since 1996, before they were called blogs - but I started my camping, hiking and road trips in various parts of the USA several years earlier. When I started writing these essays, they were emails to friends. Even when I started sharing these on the web, I was writing them more for myself than others, for when I was old and wanted to remember my oh-so-exciting young life... but when I moved to Germany and started publishing online much more via my web site, complete strangers started responding to my travelogues. I've continued to share my travelogues, not to say, Look what I'm doing! but, rather, to try to inspire women to say, Hey, maybe I could travel to... and also to help people who might be traveling to the same areas.
I realize that the stuff from the 1990s is terribly dated
and, at times, painfully naive - actually, stuff from just 10
years ago can also be terribly dated - but I hope the old
stuff is still worth reading, even if just to show how
everyone who travels actually isn't perfect, with super model
good looks and Hemingway eloquence and everything going well
at all times.
And note: I'm no influencer. I don't make any money at all
sharing my travels. I'm looking to be helpful and have no
illusions that this is a profitable way to present myself.
September 2026. The Making-It-Up-As-We-Go Motorcycle Tour: Oregon, California & Nevada. About 2200 miles. My failed attempt to do the Lost Coast BDR-X led us to alternative routes that were twisty, beautiful and led to some wonderful places. We got to revisit some wonderful roads and discover and enjoy new ones. Some of the best camping we've ever experienced.
Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Paraguay, then visiting Iguazu Falls (Argentina & Brazil), sans motorcycle. May 2025.
September 2026. The
Making-It-Up-As-We-Go Motorcycle Tour: Oregon,
California & Nevada. About 2200 miles. My failed attempt to do
the Lost Coast BDR-X led us to alternative routes that were
twisty, beautiful and led to some wonderful places. We got to
revisit some wonderful roads and discover and enjoy new ones. Some
of the best camping we've ever experienced.
Touratech Rally 2025, Plain, Washington. June 2025. The link goes to my review of the rally. Before we went, we camped for the first time at the North Fork Campground of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and then the night before the rally at a campsite that I can't remember... but this is why 2025 wasn't much of a motorcycle travel year: I hurt my left knee, and couldn't ride for five months.
Fall
Two-Week Motorcycle Tour: the Pacific Northwest Outback
of Eastern Oregon, Northern Nevada & South
Western Idaho. 2531 miles (4050 km). September-October
2024. One of the most surprising and beautiful trips we've ever
done, and we were never that far from our home!
Visiting historic towns & eating biscuits & gravy - motorcycle adventure: September 2022. 16 days & almost 3000 miles / 4828 kilometers by our motorcycles in Washington state, Idaho, Montana & Oregon. Camping most of the time. An amazing, beautiful trip that was far better than we ever dreamed so close to home!
Trask River County Campground, Tillamook County, Oregon, in March 2022. This was a weekend car camping and hiking trip with our dog, and the maiden voyage of the custom square drop camper built by coyotetrips.
Blackberry Campground, along the Alsea River in Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon: June 2021. A weekend motorcycle trip in a beautiful forest close enough to the coast to visit but far enough away to feel isolated from it. Photos with descriptions rather than a travelogue. Fun forest service road ride!
Motorcycle Tour of Northern California & Southwestern Oregon: 11 days, 10 nights, 2095 miles, September 2019. Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, McArthur Burney Falls State Park, Salmon River Road between Somes Bar and Cecilville, California, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California state road 36, Empire Mine State Historic Park and Grass Valley, Downieville, Modoc National Forest, Bear Camp Coastal Route in Josephine County, Oregon & my first water crossing!
Oregon Volcanic Rock Huggers Motorcycle Ride: 4 days, 3 nights, 580 miles, July 2019. Deschutes National Forest, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Big Obsidion Flow, McKay Butte Fire, Fort Rock
Long Weekend Trip to Brooks
Memorial State Park in Washington state & Cottonwood
Canyon State Park in Oregon
September 2018. Three nights of hiking and tent camping and travel
by car in two state parks off-the-beaten path, less than a day's
drive from Portland, Oregon. This was a trip with Lucinda the dog.
Mostly Nevada motorcycle tour
July 2018. 13 days, 2657 miles / 4276 kilometers in Nevada,
Southeast Oregon & a Wee Bit of California: staying at the
historic hotel in French Glen, Oregon, riding around Steens
Mountain, riding most of US Highway 50 in Nevada (the "loneliest
road in the USA"), visiting Eureka, Ely, Rachel and Tonopah Nevada
and taking the Extraterrestrial Highway.
Camp Wilkerson,
Columbia County, Oregon.
June 2018. Beautiful, forested, remote campground with a great day
of hiking, less than a day's drive from Portland, Oregon. This was
a tent camping /car trip with Lucinda the dog.
Washington state motorcycle
tour
August 2017, 1489 miles / 2382 km: a smokey, hot, scenic,
abbreviated trip through Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount
Rainier National Park, the imitation Bavarian village of
Levenworth, Olympic National Forest and Olympic National
Park.
Mostly Idaho motorcycle tour
September 2016: 3825 miles/4520 km, mostly in Idaho, some in
Eastern Oregon, and a little bit in Montana and Washington.
Included at least 120 miles of gravel. Hells Canyon, Silver City,
Idaho, Bruneau Dunes State Park, City of Rocks National Reserve,
Sawtooth Scenic Byway, Salmon River Scenic Byway, Historic Custer,
Idaho, Ft. Missoula, Montana, historic Wallace, Idaho, Lake Coeur
d'Alene, White Pine Scenic Byway, Hell's Canyon Overlook, Oregon,
Joseph, Painted Hills, and Little Crater Lake in Mt. Hood National
Forest.
16 days via motorcycle from Oregon to
Hyder, Alaska, the Yukon & the Alaska Highway, through
British Columbia
September 2005. 3700 miles / 5954 kilometres, August &
September 2015. Includes bears, glaciers, very remote places,
horrible winds and badly-behaved truckers.
Utah motorcycle tour (with some of Nevada & Oregon): Moab, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley, Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, and camping in a cow pasture in a desert of Nevada and at Farewell Bend Oregon State Park. And my first motorcycle wreck. 2989 miles / 4810.329 kilometres. Also see all of our 2014 Motorcycle Travel.
Why nothing in 2013? Because we bought a house. But we did take lots of day trips on our motorcycle.
Lava Beds National Monument, Lassen National Monument, Emmets Pass, Devil's Postpile (California), the Alvord Dessert (Oregon), and everything in between. Motorcycle tour. September 2012. 2446 miles / 3914 km miles.
SoundRider!
Motorcycle Rally in the Gorge in Washington & Oregon
(the Columbia Gorge)
August 2012. Includes Maryhill loops road (zowie). So glad the
wind wasn't bad.
Gifford Pinchot National
Forest / Southern Washington State: Motorcycle Quest for Gravel
A long weekend motorcycle tour and camping trip in July 2012 in
one of our favorite places.
Eastern Oregon Trip: a long
weekend motorcycle adventure
May 2012. With conspiracy theories, a cult, the Google Streetview
car, screech owls & so much more...
Yellowstone, Western Montana, Wyoming motorcycle adventure. Including US Highway 12 through Lolo Pass, Nevada City (Montana), Craters of the Moon, Bruneau Dunes State Park, and John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The trip ended at the legendary Burning Moto Man 2011, in Westfir, Oregon. 2680 miles.
Oh Canada (and more). It was nothing short of epic: British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, Jasper, Banff and Kootenay National Parks for the first time, Glacier National Park, Swan Lake National Park, Garnet ghost town in Montana, and so much more, all via motorcycle. 2,535 miles / 4,056 km. And it wasn't our only trip in 2010. We went back to Jasper and Banff in 2015. But this was my first trip to Canada. Yes, after more than 30 other countries, I finally visited Canada.
The Lost Highway motorcycle tour (my first trip on my own motorcycle): Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Ferndale, California, the notorious Mattole Road from there to Petrolia, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Avenue of the Giants, Bigfoot Scenic Byway and my first (and thus far only) Horizons Unlimited rally. About 1000 miles. 2010.
Road trip from Kentucky to Oregon
August 2009. We moved to Kentucky from Germany, and as the summer
ended, spent two weeks traveling to places I'd never been,
including Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota, driving a 2009
Honda Fit and pulling a U Haul trailer and tent camping the entire
way!
Recommendations for your trip to San Francisco -- and beyond! At least these were my recs in 2004...
(the seven year gap in years here is because I was living in Germany and, for six months, in Afghanistan - scroll down for those years)
Trippy Texas: My First Camping Trip in West Texas, 1997. By myself. With my dogs.
Ms Cravens Goes to Washington, December 1996. A trip to Washington, DC.
Journey to Start Over in Austin, Texas, October 1996. I traveled from Oakland, California, me and the dogs, camping along the way.
A road trip from California to the Carolinas and back again, May 1996.
A shame I didn't write about my road trips from Kentucky to New
England and back, a trip I did three times by myself and once with
Buster the dog between Fall 1988 and Fall 1990, and my road trip
to move to California from Kentucky in October 1990, with Buster
and my Mom. Though those were pretty much to get from point A to
point B, with no real sight-seeing in between.
Volunteering
with
Habitat for Humanity in Paraguay, then visiting
Iguazu Falls (Argentina & Brazil), sans
motorcycle. May 2025.
Guatemala
Motorcycle Adventure, January 2024. More than 1000
kilometers on rented bikes, seeing Antigua, Lake Atitlan
(Panajachel, San Pedro de Lago, San Juan de Lago), Q'Umarkaj
(Mayan ruins), Santa Cruz del Quiche, Zaculeu (Mayan ruins),
Lanquin, Nebaj and Coban and Semuc Champey, Pachalum, Mixco Viejo
San Martin Jilotepeque (Mayan ruins) and the Pacific Coast village
of Monterrico.
Belize by motorcycle (& a visit to Tikal in Guatemala sans bikes). February 2023. About 1000 kilometers (7600 miles). Riding the infamous dirt road to the ancient Mayan site of Caracol, also visiting Xunantunich and Cahal Pec, popping over to Tikal (in Guatemala) sans bikes, snorkeling, zip lining, and enjoying the diverse landscapes, cultures and food of, mostly, Belize.
Our Motorcycle Adventure in Baja, Calfornia, Mexico: 19 days, 3,706 miles/5964 km. March 2020. Missing the madness of COVID19 (& then driving right back into it).
Havana, Cuba, February 2016. Sans motorcycle.
Mexico City & Puebla, Mexico,
July 2011. Sans motorcycle.
Austrialia, March 2010 (photos only)
Afghanistan, March -
August 2007 (also some about the UAE)
India,
June 2007 (photos - no travel essay)
Jordan, Brought to You By Pepsi,
January 2006 (Jayne turns 40!)
Jayne returns to Egypt, April 2003
My first trip to Egypt, May 30 -
June 3, 2002
Also see my essays from living and traveling in Germany, Feb. 2001 - April 2009
Barcelona, Catalunya / Spain, November 2014
Warsaw, Poland, November 2014
Ukraine (Kyiv, Chornobyl, Korosten), August & September 2014
Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium, January 2012
Budapest, Hungary, January 2011
Belgrade, Serbia, December 2009
Rome, Italy, January 2009
Eastern Europe three week trip (pillion on a motorcycle): Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia. Amazing. 2008.
Surfing in Munich, August 2008
London Revisited, November 2007
Northern France (pillion on a motorcycle): ancient sites, Roman sites, medieval sites, World War I sites, World War II sites... Bayeaux Tapestry. Mont St-Michel, Carnac, so much more. Amazing food, amazing sites. Good camping. Two weeks. September 2007.
Scotland Stone Hugger Tour (pillion on a motorcycle): Leaving from a port in Belgium, arriving in Hull, England. Highlights: Hadrian's Wall, Braemar, the main Orkney Island, Kilmartin, Ballmoral, Loch Ness, the small stone circle near Tarland... more than I can summarize here. Two weeks. September 2006.
Cave Canem - A visit to Naples, May 2006
Along for the Ride - the motorcycle season begins, April 2006
Oui Oui in Paris, March 2006
Bruges, Belgium (pillion on a motorcycle): Long weekend. 2005. This was more of a boring ride on a motorcycle to get some place, followed by an amazing time walking around Bruges (great beer!). September 2005.
Madrid Revisited, and Toledo Visited, April 2005
Norway & Sweden (pillion on a motorcycle): Kristiansand, fjords, sea life, mountains, glaciers, a rock slide, a crazy ferry ride and primitive rock art. Two weeks. My first motorcycle trip! July 2004.
Komm gib mir deine Hand - a Trip to Hamburg (April 2004
A trip to England to study and play, February 2004
Prague, July 2003
Schadenfreude - a return to Berlin, May 2003
Jayne returns to Spain, August 2002
Berlin, Easter 2002
Voy a España, Christmas 2001
IRELAND, August 2001
England, December 1987/January1988 (my second trip ever abroad - I didn't write anything about my walking across the border and shopping a bit one afternoon in 1987).
Are you a woman? (however
you define that, I don't care). Have you traveled somewhere and
want to talk about it? Have a travel blog? Have an online album
of photos from your trip that you want to share? Have a tip for
travelers? You can post links to your blog at r/womenwhotravel,
an online discussion group on Reddit (a subreddit). Unlike other
women and travel subreddits and many other online communities,
this group DOES allow people to post links to their blogs,
YouTube channels, etc., so long as it's either focused on women
and travel or is by a woman who travels. Whether you are a
backpacker, a bicycle traveler, a budget traveler, a luxury
traveler, an adventure traveler, a cruiser, and whether its a
weekend getaway or some epic experience in another country, come
share your experiences at r/womenwhotravel.
And if you are an experienced traveler, join the group and help
answer questions from newbies. There's just one thing this group
doesn't allow: the question "Is such-and-such area safe."
Because that question is impossible to answer.
Quick Links
Some of my favorite photos from my travels. Very hard to pick favorites.
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Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).
The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.
