What an interesting day today, to say the least. It seems that fate would have it that on the day of the Orthodox Christmas on January 7th my young life would take an unusual course, one that is as exciting and wonderful as it is out of the "unorthodox". Fate I imagine planned this long ago, that I should meet with a friend I barely ever see, and that we should talk about non-other than the topic of our respective bucket list, and that I should go home and say to my self, “how did I not think of this earlier”. By Zeus! Now it makes perfect sense!
It seems crazy to quit a job that one would happily do for free (I teach rock climbing for cryin' out loud!), drop everything and pick up and go on a self-discovering, friend-reuniting, motorcycle journey of a lifetime. Actually, hearing this out loud makes it seem to me crazy not to.
But then again why is the idea of cris-crossing continents on two wheels so hard to imagine. It isn’t really. It seems simple enough; I have a motorcycle. I have the time I suppose, who says I don’t? Money I have never had really so no worries there, but gas I believe I can afford. There were many before me, and many more to come. No new barriers to be broken or record to be shattered here; this is simply one extremely curious young guy on a journey that he imagines will fill him with what each human being on this planet of ours, the whole seven billion of us homo sapiens sapiens, search for; happiness!
So is it the urge for happiness or for adventure and adrenaline or is it the result of uncontrollable curiosity, or yet-to- be matured imagination, or all the above? It's not really that important. I will do it! North to south, east to west, visiting old friends, getting to know this beautiful country, being “out there” as they say, one with nature, the wind and the asphalt and the heat and the ocean and all those things we “urbanites” forget to take in.
I have spent the last few hours pondering which route to take and mapping all my friends and possible contacts. I want this to be a trip of a different meaning than just for the sake of travel which would be valuable enough. I want to meet new people I would never otherwise have the opportunity to meet; ride roads less ridden just for the sake of solace; get to know this beautiful land and document it all, for no worldly reason but my own selfish pleasure. This is my goal. Even though going at it alone has its undeniable attractiveness to me, I will admit that sometimes it feels so good to be able to share something of value with others, what ever it may be; a favorite song, a chocolate brownie, a sunset… Hence I have decided to share my journey with all of you who visit me here. I hope the posts help inspire others, and I hope the what I learn along the way is of practical use to other future ADV riders.
Thank you world for this amazing opportunity.
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