The following article was published November 17, 2005, while we were in Idstein, Germany recovering from our injuries that we suffered when our sidecar was hit by a mini bus in Gole, Turkey September 22, 2005.

Thursday, 17 November 2005                  IDSTEINER INDICATOR

"The closest thing to home"

Americans Verna Norris and Jim Seavey explore the world from their home port Idstein.

The US Americans Verna Norris and Jim Seavey do not have a correct home any more, since the year 2000 when they sold their house in Shady Cove, Oregon, and sold everything which does not fit into the side cases of their motorcycles, and the voyage around the world began. Nevertheless however they selected themselves with Idstein and the "Hotel Ziegelhuette" as a home port, which they have regularly visited in the past six years.

So also at the end of of September 2005, when it applied to Verna Norris to recover from the consequences of their traffic accident suffered in Turkey and the necessary operation. In the summer of this year they had a long stay in the "Ziegelhuette" again when they exchanged their two BMW motorcycles for a new machine with side car, before they headed in the direction of Italy. After a tour of Southern Italy they headed for Greece with the ferry, explored the north of the country and reached the European part of Turkey, Istanbul, where they transferred to the Asiatic side. Their further intention was to travel - light hearted and optimistic - through Iran, Pakistan, and India. Later they were planning a route from Morocco along the African west coast to South Africa in the eye calm.

NOTE: Something got lost in the translation during the interview. We told him we wanted to go to India via Iran and Pakistan but it is not possible at the time of this writing due to the policies of the Bush administration. Our plan is to head to Africa next.

So far it did not come however, because in Turkey their motorcycle was rammed by a minibus, which wanted to overtake those leisurely American travelers. The motorcycle rolled several times, Jim was thrown clear of the bike and sustained minor injuries, and Verna suffered a break in the ankle joint. The military police - the nearby town was too small and remote to support a civilian police station - transported the married couple including motorcycle by truck into the nearest larger city and Verna into the hospital there. However it was so badly equipped that Verna for the necessary operation considered Germany. With the help of ADAC Verna was flown to Frankfurt and driven then into the Idsteiner hospital. "Why in the world did you choose Idstein?" she was asked with the admission in the hospital, Verna remembers.

Note: ADAC is the German Automobile Club

Meanwhile Jim had to regulate still complicated formalities in Turkey. On the one hand, said Jim, is difficult it to want to leave with a vehicle in Turkey. On the other hand the transport of the broken motorcycle into a German workshop had to be organized. Two days later Jim also Idstein had reached, where Gabi and Erdmann Scheibe, the owners of the hotel "Ziegelhuette" received him. Meanwhile Verna Norris and Jim Seavey were referred temporarily a flat let for rent in Idstein. Verna trains her operated leg with daily walks, for which she needs still crutches. For wintering both of them want to fly to Spain and return in spring, when their motorcycle might be again operational.

That is important to them, because the married couple, which already has visited with few exceptions all European countries, intends still much: From Turkey they learned to know only a small part and then is also still sooo large the remaining world. One asks oneself whether this accident has absorbed any of their almost unlimited optimism and whether they had any less reason to continue their travels. "This accident could have happened anywhere. The accident changed nothing in our intentions, we will continue as planned ", says Jim. With a small exception, his wife limits: "after the experience, we found how complicated traveling with your own vehicle can be and the entry with a motorcycle can be expensive in some countries; we will head for some Arab states only with the airplane!" Do they, as Americans, fear hostile meetings in the Arab countries? "Depends what Bush does", referring to the influence of the American policy. They hope, however optimistically, that nothing will happen to them.

Impressing humans, the two Americans. For approximately thirty years they are a pair and maintain a relaxed "Way of Live". "Slow is well for the soul" reads their slogan and therefore leaves itself with its round trips apart from pressure and stress, time for the new. One feels their open mindedness immediately, as one comes into contact with them. Whereby the same sympathetic cordialness, which both maintain among themselves, immediately becomes assigned also to new acquaintances.

So it is not a wonder that to the restaurant operators/barkeepers Gabi and Erdmann a close friendship developed, since the two Americans in the spring 2001 for the first time took a room in the "Ziegelhuette". Verna needed an exam with an English speaking physician at that time. They had selected Frankfurt because the American armed forces with their mechanisms were strongly represented here. Since they did not want to be however in a large city, they looked for the interesting town nearby and the choice fell on Idstein. Meanwhile Idstein for both became "The closest thing to home".

How can one finance such a life? "We are not rich", says Jim Seavey. "however we worked our whole life and saved. And because we do not have to provide for children, we can indulge ourselves." The two still want to see much from their base Idstein...

For the original article in German click here.

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