𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗘𝗡𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥, "𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗬 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗦," 𝗚𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥-𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗬𝗖𝗟𝗘

 

Noraly Schoenmaker, Norway, 37

If someone declared that I'm living vicariously through YouTube videos, they'd be half right, but also wrong.  I've been a lot of places, boys and girls, and consider myself a citizen of the world, but, although I no longer have a television, traveling the world via YouTube is a favorite pastime.

Noraly Schoenmaker, a geologist from Norway, who left her job in 2018 to travel the world, now known as Itchy Boots on her YouTube channel, has been one of the favorites I've followed across Europe, up and down Africa and from Patagonia to the Arctic Ocean.

Schoenmaker is one tough, no, very tough, gal who I've observed dealing with rude, even physical, border guards, yet sitting on bare ground to graciously eat the humblest meals in tents. 

With a ready laugh, she makes friends easily, but doesn't linger long, typically rising the next day before dawn to quickly shower, find some breakfast and move on down the road.

 

After breaking her collarbone in an accident in Africa on May 27, Noraly was eventually flown back to Norway, where other problems were discovered, including a punctured lung, but now it appears she's ready to resume her travels with yet another motorcycle.  

Ms. Schoenmaker has worn out four bikes: a Honda CRF300 Rally, Honda CRF 250L, Honda CB500X and a Royal Enfield BS4(I think our friend, Jorge Lerma, retired firefighter, may have one of these.)

After 6 years of traveling across dessert, tundra, climbing mountains, fording rivers and squeezing her vehicles through jungles, Noraly has a good idea of what her next bike should be and has had a German friend, Moritz, she describes as the world's "absolute expert" in the bike she needs,  building her a new one.

What Noraly said she needed was a motorcycle that was light enough to pull out of the mud or ditch, yet powerful, with as few electronics as possible.  She described being in central Africa with problems with electronics no mechanic knew how to deal with and wanting to avoid that with a simpler bike.(An ABS sensor.)

Moritz, on the right, with his helper, Rasmus, on the left

She and Moritz have settled on a 1987 Yamaha Tenere 600 Custom, that Moritz has been rebuilding for several months, stripping it down to the frame and equipping it with what he calls "special things."

As an older bike, it's lighter. (150/160kgs was her goal.)  It's also simply made without all the modern gizmos she says typically "go wrong."

Moritz asked Noraly to come to Frankfurt so he could "tweak" the bike for her riding style and comfort.  

As Noraly, Moritz and Rasmus tooled around the winding streets of Frankfurt, then went through a grassy field and nature trail, it's obvious Ms. Shoenmaker is at her happiest on a bike and I look forward to her coming travels.