For almost a year now, I have been tooling around in my head the idea of moto-camping. Researching down rabbit holes of gear and loading gear sort of created an unbalanced idea that moto-camping was a hard adventure to unwrap. Over the Winter I watched the Apple TV series “Long Way Home” and then it all clicked; you pack & GO! And essentially that is what it came down to. Pack a few items, find a designation, and go. But where would I start? How would I pack Lucy, my 2024 Triumph Speed Twin 900? And honestly, where would I go? For me the key ingredients to moto-camping is….camping. A passion of mine I had not revisited in over a decade. So I started my pack list there; camping. Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and of course, the most important component to me for a lovely camping experience, a delightful camping chair. Building my pack list around camping helped me discover items I had and what I would need to have. And then reality slowly came into center stage, everything must pack on Lucy…how do I do this?

Once I was able to fine tune my pack list, I knew I had to visualize my stuff. See it, be it, understand it. My impression of my first pack out was I forgot that Lucy was a motorcycle. There is only so much she had take on for a load. And my gym bag and single left side pannier where just too shy to admit that “Rolf, you need to breakdown your pack list more”. I slowly cut items, understand that I was camping, and for me the experience was not escaping, but integrating myself back into the woods. So took to a minimalist approach and soon realized that a lighter load, is a smarter load, and ultimately would prove to be a core value I would take on my first moto-camping adventure.

Ok, my pack out was ready. I made some upgrades like a 70 liter duffel bag to fit all my camping gear, ROK straps to hold the duffel bag in place on the pillion seat of Lucy, and used my single left-sided pannier for camp arrival duties. I honestly felt pretty good while looking at my load on Lucy in my mom’s garage. I felt confident that Lucy was ready. But was I? And I still had no idea where to go? Then on a rainy James Island Saturday, I knew it was time to pack & go. I decided I would use Sunday as my first experience in moto-camping. I gave myself a radius of 50 miles to understand my first moto-camping adventure. This would allow travel time to be just an hour, maybe find a park area to setup, fire up my camp stove, and have a cup of instant coffee in my camp chair. That sounded like victory to me! Also, traveling with Lucy fully loaded, I could feel what it was like to travel with my gear. I decided to use Copilot and ask about areas to moto-camp within a 50 mile radius from my home on James Island. The first hit Copilot wrote back to me was….Givhans Ferry State Park. Located in Ridgeville, South Carolina, Givhans Ferry State Park offered everything I needed. Campsites to setup everything I had and test it out, places to explore, and just an hour away. I could camp for a few hours on Sunday and be home just in time for dinner. I checked the weather for Sunday, beautiful, and knew it was time to go.

Arrival! Landing at the entrance way to Givhans Ferry State Park felt like I crossed a threshold moment. I traveled over 60 miles from Folly Beach, load secured the entire journey, and knew that what I thought about a year ago, had come true, I was a moto-camper now! Givhans Ferry State Park is so charming. It was just far enough from James Island to feel like I was in a new land, but close to home, and I did have to work the next day. I circled the campground to get a lay out of everything, saw the campsites and the car camper in me from a decade ago was giving me a high-five. So, I decided to check-in and reserve a campsite for a day. The staff at Givhans was very welcoming. In a few minutes I had campsite 7 reserved and made my way to my campsite for the day. To make the unloading as efficient as possible, I decided during my pack out that my left side pannier would be my arrival gear; stove, coffee, snacks, and my water bottle. I had to celebrate this moment at campsite 7 with my first official camp stove coffee. And I did! Sipping fresh instant Starbucks coffee while sitting in my camp chair was heavenly. After a few more sips, I knew it was time to setup camp. I mean traveling was fun, why not complete the experience and setup all my new camp gear at a campsite? Luckily, I had setup my campsite before I left home a few weekends earlier in my mom’s backyard. That experienced helped me so much. 30 minutes later I was lying down on my sleeping pad, with my camp fan spinning cool air on me, head resting on my camp pillow, and staring up at the small opening in my tent, the beautiful Givhans Ferry State Park trees above me. Then I thought, “yes Rolf, you are now moto-camping”.

Finishing lunch, a instant meal from Half-Moon Outfitters, which was delicious, I checked my watch, and thought it was time to go. But no hurry. I brewed another cup of instant coffee, sat in my camp chair and felt amazing. Honestly the experience tapped into my car camping experience a decade ago when I traveled from South Carolina to Los Angeles, California. It was like that version of me was reborn. And understanding now that moto-camping is not so much about the designation, but the journey, is so true. From dreaming about this experience a year ago, watching “Long Way Home”, building my pack list, getting my gear, packing everything, and loading Lucy, the victory was already felt the moment I left my mom’s driveway. Campsite 7 at Givhans Ferry State Park was a breakthrough moment for me. As of this writing, I have a campsite reserved at Aiken State Park over Memorial Day weekend which will allow to do do a few overnights, and really dig into the moto-camping experience. If you are curious about moto-camping like I was, and you have a motorbike, pack & go! You will not be disappointed. And don’t forget…

….pack a great camp chair!

Rolf