History of an Idea

So what is making me consider this crazy idea of riding a motorcycle around the world?

The history of this idea has many years and many influences, and is actually nothing unique or special, having been done by many already and surely will be done by others in the future (hopefully I will be one of them).

I have always enjoyed travelling to new places and seeing the scenic wonders and experiencing new things.  While I did not travel much in my early life, I have managed just enough in my adult life to make me want to do more.

I also developed an early interest in photography and even later started to play around with video as well.  And of course I have always liked to write, especially in a way that allows me to share my experiences with others, in the hopes that they can enjoy them as they are, or use them to inspire their own adventures.

The first ideas came in the year 2001 when I found myself unemployed, in a new, but already shaky marriage and generally feeling like I was adrift in the ocean of life with no goal or focus.  For a few years I had always thought it would be fun to drive a 4x4 around the world, but of course the cost and sheer scope of it never seemed to be something that could really be done.  I considered bicycling as well, but never gave it much serious thought.

During this downtime in my life I stumbled onto a book, "Worldwalk" by Steven Newman that chronicled his walk around the globe in the mid 1980s.  I thought that would be an interesting way to travel, much closer and personal contact with the people and places.  It also lacked the costs and difficulties that using any form of mechanical transportation created.

I tried for many months to talk my wife into doing this, but that was never going to happen, and by 2003 that marriage was dead and gone.  I also was again out of work (at least not working in my career field) and feeling lost again.  This made me start to think about what I really wanted from life and I still had this desire to see the world and meet the people out there.  So I decided to get back into my career and see if I could get to the point where I could seriously try something like this.

After getting back on my feet and building my career back up, I started to think again about walking around the world.  I also started to travel a bit more and found I still had a desire to see and experience new things.  I kept thinking about a global trip and planning various ideas, but never really acted on any of them.  I also was not sure walking would be the best way anymore, as it would take a very long time to get even across the United States, let alone Asia or Africa.

Around 2012 I was loaned a copy of "Long Way Round", a video documentary of a motorcycle trip completed by actors Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor.  I was inspired by the idea of travel by motorbike as it gave you the up close and personal exposure that walking or bicycling could, but still gave you a quicker method of travel and could get you out of trouble better if need as well.  And while it had some costs involved with operating the bike, they were not too crazy, and still less than a 4x4 or car would have, and the bike is capable of travel in places and ways that 4 wheels cannot.

I spent a few years going over this idea and thinking about what I would want to do, but there were a few obstacles.

First and foremost, I had not ridden a motorcycle since the 1980s, and never actually had a license even then.  Second, I was getting older, out of shape and generally not in any condition to mount this kind of crazy expedition. (The curse of a desk job).  I had planned to start at the end of 2015 originally, but that time arrived and I had not done anything but talk and plan, but at this point had yet to even look at a motorcycle.

My career had been growing nicely after 2013 and I decided to take advantage of the extra earning capability that gave me as a means to help finance this project, but I had not saved nearly what I had hoped by the end of 2015 either.  So I decided to push the date out, but did not actually choose one.

Starting in early 2017 I decided that this would be the year I would start working on this project, and while it took me longer into the year than I hoped, I have finally started on this path.

Future entries will cover those steps, but this is the history of what pushed me to this idea and the hopes of making it work.  I have decided that even if I can never pull off the grand global adventure, I can still experience quite a bit of the world in smaller trips both on and off the motorcycle and document them in the same fashion, but lets shoot for the stars first, that way we can at least land on the moon. :)

Chris