Global Adventures Connect – for those with itchy feet!

I have always been impressed with the adventurous spirit of motorcyclists in general. More often than not when you get past the mandatory ooo’ing and aaah’ing over each others bikes you find that most bikers have such intriguing hobbies and passions. No more so than the bunch at Global Adventures Connect. I struck up a conversation with Ciara, the co-founder of the site.

From first glance you see a well presented woman, articulate with a big smile and a sparkle in her eye. You could imagine her quite happily sitting amongst her peers in a cocktail bar and look very much in her element. However, scratch just beneath the glossy surface you discover she has an adventurous side … Before I knew it I had been whisked away scuba diving and surfing in Fiji, surviving on Tom Hank’s Castaway Island, Dirt biking in Northern Ireland and the list goes on.

For most of us, turning our passions into our job is just a pipe dream, but Ciara is embarking on her new adventure to turn that dream into a reality. I got her to tell me all about it.

Q. How did Global Adventures Connect come about? The who, what, how and why?

Haha well … Global Adventures Connect was started by two of us, Graham Gannon, a commercial diver from Dublin, Howth and myself, Ciara Luke a digital designer from Carrickfergus. We are both passionate individuals with an absolute love for the outdoors and a burning desire to see the world. The project was created to inspire people, just like us, that were driven by their sport but keen to take that passion and travel. We’re crafting the site to provide a way in which people can connect and discover new places and adventures.

Q. What will I expect to find on the site?

The website offers a range of sports and activities from Surf to Summit (our tag line) with future intentions to include a whole lot more generated from the very people who love them.

Q. What’s the Motorcycle Connection?

I was personally exposed to motorcycles most of my childhood but only truly discovered my passion and love for bikes on a short trip as a pillion through the Nagarkot Mountains in Nepal whilst working on a website project in 2014. It was simply stunning and I knew biking was for me!

Q. Oh really … tell us more?

Well … I was born with itchy feet. From a young age the thought of visiting somewhere new created that butterfly effect in my stomach and still does to this day. It is a huge driving force in my ambitions and career. On my return from Nepal it wasn’t long before I got my test and took to the country roads along the coast of Ireland to practise for the next journey ahead. I initially grew to love motorcycling because it offered a sense of freedom and a wonderful, creative way to discover new places.

Q. So that was the hook?

Yes and no. It wasn’t until I took part in some rides outs with my father and the Belfast Flyers Motorcycle Club in Belfast that I realised something even more special about motorcycling. As the old saying goes “it’s not about the destination but the journey along the way” I found that it wasn’t about the speed I sat at or necessarily the road I was riding on but the company and the people I met along the way. It brought about something more meaningful to the sport and was an aspect I wanted to emphasise in Global Adventures Connect.

Q. So was this when you saw the connection with motorcycling and your new Business?

I was still quite new to Motorcycling when I first had the idea. I always felt welcomed and was provided with some really good road advice from a range of riders with different backgrounds in the sport that would make the longer journeys more comfortable. I thoroughly enjoy each new road that is travelled on and each new experience that is gained with that road. It wasn’t long before I felt a longing to go further afield with their being thousands of exciting world wide tours, I spent hours researching and dreaming about the next new place I could visit. I encountered a wide range of sites that offered adventurous life changing tours, it was however often quite laborious filtering through all of them, so I added in motorcycle routes to the Global Adventures Connect website to provide a nicer, easier way to point a motorcyclist in need of an adventure in the right direction all in the one place.

Q. Are you a fully fledged tourer now?

Funny you ask that … I recently gained some off road experience with Paul from “Dirt Bike Tours Ireland“ which took my riding skills to a whole new level and opened my eyes to a whole different kind of adventure. So let’s just say I’m broadening my horizons. It is adventures like this that we wish to further include in the website to offer a wider range of various possibilities there are and to inspire motorcyclists to discover them.

Q. What are you ambitions for the site?

The website is still in beta version and is currently undergoing work to provide more tours, more reviews and more events to wet any motorcyclists tastebuds. I enjoy meeting other riders on the road, all with their own reasons for partaking in the sport and each with their own story to tell. Our main aim for Global Adventures Connect aims to create a website were people can express this digitally and inspire other riders with unique road maps and tours, or simply someone solo like myself seeking to jump aboard a tour and meet new people with the same passion.

Oh yes, the website will also provide a place for Motorcycle clubs to advertise a range of possible ride outs or fund raisers.

Q. Any final Words?

A big thank you to Motorcycle Scotland for allowing Global Adventures Connect to showcase some of the exciting motorcycle routes they they too feature on their website. I look forward to embarking upon these myself sometime in the near future. As for the website, watch this space – regularly! Many more exciting adventures to come!

From what I can tell, Global Adventures Connect is going to be one of those sites that will help you take your day dreams and turn them into realities. We all have wonderful ideas but don’t know how to follow through until we’ve seen someone else that has been there, done it and show’s us the way. I’ve followed their Facebook Page for a while now and the abundance of inspirational stories and ideas to get you out and about our quite phenomenal. Ciara seems to be burning the midnight oil and the website is developing at a rate of knots with new things to see every day. Good luck Ciara and all, Scotland’s a beautiful place and has loads to offer both on and off two wheels so it’s been a pleasure sharing our routes with you and the Global Adventures Connect world!