We're very pleased to announce the 2nd Virginia Travellers Meeting, scheduled for April 28-May 1, 2016 at Appomattox, Virginia! Note the LATER date, we're expecting wonderful spring weather!

Travellers from all over will meet at the Holiday Lake 4-H Camp for a weekend of fascinating presentations, good food, and amazing camaraderie amid the rolling hills, lush forests, and great roads of central Virginia. The 4-H camp is set lakeside in a state forest, and we'll have it all to ourselves. We'll have several rooms for presentations, including covered outdoor sessions. Accommodations include tent camping, rustic cabins, and bunkhouses, and packages of lodging and meal choices are available on the website.



Tentative schedules and presenter lists are on the HU Virginia page, but we'll be adding more as you volunteer to talk about your latest or greatest trip! Remember, we always need practical how-to sessions such as roadside cooking, navigation/GPS, trip prep and planning, adventure motorcycling medicine, packing light, setting your bike up, communications/blogging from the road, self-publishing your story, yoga for bikers, bodging/bike maintenance, self-defense, photography, videography, tire repair, safe riding techniques, how to pick up your bike, off-road riding, all are of interest.



Andrew Pain demonstrates packing technique at HU Virginia 2015


Virginia meeting organizer Steve Anderson is being assisted by HU North Carolina organizer Mike Kilpatrick, whom Steve has helped the last several years, so you'll be in good hands. George Parker and Jim Truesdell round out the local team - we're VERY grateful to them for stepping up and really making it happen with a lot of legwork and effort. If you have any questions not answered on the HU website, please ask here and Steve will respond as soon as possible.

Thanks for anything you can do to help spread the word about the event. There is a poster that you can print off and hand around to local venues and bike shops too:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/eve...2016poster.pdf

As we count down the days, you can get the latest event updates by subscribing to this thread, (thread tools, subscribe). Feel free to discuss the event on this thread or on the Facebook event page!

Registration is open NOW with early bird rates in effect until Dec 31, so mark your calendars now!
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events/virginia-2016

Hope you can make it!
Grant & Susan

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Susan Johnson

Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

The meeting was such a blast last year with great presentations, venue & food...I can't wait to go again!

Thanks for the great review, Annette. We're looking forward to another great time, and we hope everyone who came last time will invite a friend. We've got plenty of room, so let's pack the place!

Cheers,

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Steve Anderson
HU Virginia Organizer
BMW R1150GS
Locust Grove, Virginia

Registered! October was a great event, but I'm even more excited about Virginia cuz my dad's coming. He's always loved motorcycles and travelling. Hoping he'll catch the bug for a long ride!

Looking forward to this, my first HU meeting!

Wow, my bike looks dirty in that picture.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

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I write books about motorcycle travel. Small, cheap, motorcycle travel. Also superheroes.

Been lurking for a while - first post. I'll be registering tomorrow and riding up from Charleston, SC. Looking forward to it!

Registered and will be heading in from Jersey. I'm wondering if I should volunteer...this will be my first HU event or even motorcycle event of this type (so I want to make the most of it).

What would you guys recommend, any thoughts?

1) Bring some spare cash for books and t-shirts. That's a great way to support the speakers and Horizons Unlimited.
2) Give yourself plenty of time to meet people and have great conversations.
3) Be ready to take notes and pictures. The speakers always have a lot of great info to share and you'll see plenty of innovative ways to prepare for travelling. You'll want to remember the tips when you get ready for your next ride.
4) Sign up for the meals, if your budget allows. Breaking bread is a great way to meet travelling partners and having the meal plan takes a lot of planning off of your shoulders so you can be thinking about the rally.
5) Look me up when you get there and say Hey.

Welcome...you've picked a great meeting to try as a first timer.
I'll agree with Ride4Coffee & really second #3. I hear so many good hints at the talks that I'd lose most of them if I didn't write them down. You'll see & hear the most useful ideas on so many subjects that it boggles the mind. Presenters are attenders, so eating with the crowd does allow you to follow up and discuss the various topics...that helps as well.

Also..keep your eye on the posted schedule in the main hall. Things are added, people volunteer to share, and rooms can be moved around. You'll have to make hard choices about what you won't be able to fit in, but sometimes they'll get the presenter to do a repeat if the crowd threatens.

The food is very good. Well worth the cost, and certainly worth the time you'll save.

And last but not least, pass the word to any female travelers you know...we have a very welcoming group of ladies in HU that love to meet new people!
Annette

Thanks guys! I'm taking into account all your considerations and they are very helpful!!

Looking forward to meet you and acquire some more knowledge in person,
I will be a walking sponge

I'm all signed up and looking forward to my first HU meeting! I'll be riding in from Charleston, SC...and have a friend joining us from the D.C. area. See you all next weekend!!!

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"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape."

I've uploaded a couple of aerial shots form my Phantom to My Smugmug site if you want to download larger images.

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Michael Jordan
Sterling, Virginia
USofA

I just got home from the awesome Virginia meet. (Note the "Still to Explore" destination...)



My cell phone rang as I was getting off the bike with my wife telling me she was at Panda Express, and would I like to meet her there.
I asked her to bring me something home since I still had all my rain gear on.
After eating, I showed her my badge and the fortune cookie she brought me:




Maybe I shouldn't bother unpacking?

That's awesome, Rick! It was great meeting you at the Virginia gathering. Start packing...you're going to Asia!!! :-)

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"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape."