I've got a few moments that are deeply memorable, but most memorable are two:
2014, first trip to Morocco on the 1150GS with my girlfriend, we arrive at Tangier on mid afternoon and spend an hour or two on customs, sort of lost and not really understanding what we were doing on each paperwork booth, I remember not being in a rush and sort of savoring the moment because it felt like all the adventure books and reports I had read. Then, as they slowly opened the harbor customs' gates we roll onto the seafront avenue in search of our hotel that was on the same avenue. It was quite warm and late afternoon by then, riding slowly with my jacket open, going past the bad fish smell that used to be in front of the old docks (now it looks like a nice european city), I remember the first roundabout and the first moments in morrocan city traffic, the usual gathering of guys at the end of the afternoon, what I remember as most memorable is the feeling of adventure and literally smelling Africa as we roll out of customs. It's maybe too romantic, but I do remember that I would never feel like that again, and I was right an the next few times that feeling got replaced by familiarity. This is on video, but for some reason both my external hard drives have not been cooperating and I am waiting for my brother to help me out with them, it'll take a while as he's in Croacia.
2017, the fourth trip to Morocco, second trip on the current 1200GSA, we get out of home at around 9AM on a saturday on late September, weather is nice but morning chilly, we get onto the motorway heading south and cross the Tejo river north of Lisbon and the bike feels specially smooth while we cruise at 120 or 130kmh, I remember thinking that we had a whole trip and adventure ahead of us, I remember the light, asking Maria if she was comfy. I appreciated that moment as it happened and would have been happy if that was the last moment in my life, the feeling of enjoyment of a whole trip ahead.
The plan was to ride straight to Morocco that day, but the weather was so nice that when we got to the Algarve we decided to cut the day short, have a nice grilled fish lunch, and go have a swim in the ocean in the afternoon. Then a nice dinner and too much wine, it was one of the best days of my life. I remember the before was a saturday because on the next day, a sunday at around 07:00AM we are leaving home to heading to Tarifa and I remember to casually check my insurance papers to find that Morocco wasn't in my policy, and all insurance offices would be closed because it was a sunday ?. My mate Paulo, who does my insurances handled it at 8:00AM when I woke him up with a call, and that's why I will always have my bike's insurance with him.
Another one, long time ago, I think maybe 2006, I was on a ride on my Transalp to the Serra da Estrela, got off the road onto a dirt road for 100 or 200 meters, and stopped for a piss. Parked the bike and left the helmet on top. As I finish and turn back to the bike I notice a dog is sniffing it, I assume it's a curious shepherd's dog but as it round the bike I see it's a little big for a dog, with a long snout, it's an Iberian wolf, which is quite smaller and thinner than north american wolves but still I was shitting myself. It moved 1 or 2 meters from the bike towards me, and I'm frozen with fear. It just quietly sniffed the air, and walked away. It was scary as hell.