I'm not totally sure if this was my first overnight tour but it was one memorable one. My dad build a tandem from several old bikes and on the maiden voyage we took it for a tour around the Bodensee (Lake Constance). A lake situated at the border of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We started from our home in Germany where I grew up.
One one night we slept under the Autobahn (Interstate) bridge on the river Bregenzerach in Bregenz, Austria. The tent was setup down by the river, not very far away from the water. I noticed the water raising and mentioned that to my dad but he told me not to worry. Everything was fine but the next morning a local pedestrian that came by told us that the dams upriver often open up and the water rises well past where our tent was.
On a quiet morning I remember us riding down a hill in a town where a trumpeter played a nice tune that was overshadowed by our breaks squeaking horribly loud. That really ruined the idyllic morning. Quite often the chain on the front would drop and I'd continue pedal like crazy and propel us forward. On Sunday both breaks failed which made slowing down on a hill difficult. The other difficulty was repairing it since everything was closed. We finally were able to find a place with some tools and supplies to jury rig one of the breaks. I believe the lead end of the cable came off and a nut was placed on it allowing the breake lever to work again.
Around the lake there is a bike/hike path which makes it great for a bike tour. On the Swiss side there was a part where the left side of the path went up and the right side went down toward the lake. My dads pedal got caught on a rock coming out of the left side throwing us down into the bushes. Since I was a kid and light I didn't go as deep down as my dad, and he ended up landing in burning nettles. Near by railroad tracks were used to hammer the pedal straight again.
It was a lot of fun and the blue homemade tandem added to several memorable moments. My dad likes to build stuff so there are also stories about the backcountry skis he build for me. We had a successful tour up a mountain where we stayed overnight in a snow and then resorted to use the cabin because the igloo started to melt. However at the beginning of the second tour the ski binding failed causing us to end the trip early.
Unfortunately there are no pictures of any of our adventures because my dad doesn't bother with a camera. I can see a camera altering your experience of your surrounding as you are thinking of taking pictures and what looks good then just be worry free. Of course there is a neat story about that too. We toured through Yugoslavia by car and stopped at a tourist attraction where a guy had a bear. Through the language barrier he told us about taking a photo of me and bear. So I ended up sitting on the back of a bear while both, my dad and that guy, were waiting for the other to take a photo. Neither of them of course had a camera.
While my dad is still traveling the world in his style, I spend money on equipment and take a camera and other gadgets with me on my adventures. And of course he has the better stories now.