Why I’m going around the world on a motorcycle

People often like to know why and what got you going. It’s something I love to ask people who are on their own adventures. So for what it’s worth, here are the reasons why I’m rounding the world on a motorcycle.

— Fun. I just get so much pleasure riding through new lands on a motorcycle. Three years ago, when I went on my first and only long ride–a trip up and back Central America — my friends kept telling me me how happy I looked in the pictures I sent to them.

— Adventure. ie “[to] engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory.” (Oxford dictionary.) I’ve discovered rather late in life how vital and wonderful life can get when you’re willing to embark on adventures. I’m making up for lost time now, slowly prying open the death grip I’ve had on the pursuit of comfort and security all these years.

— Quest. A quest is a special kind of goal that yields a sense of achievement and accomplishment as you go along, not just when you complete it. It’s something fun to shoot for; something that makes the journey far more important/joyful than the destination.

— Growth. Personal, spiritual, and otherwise. I want to grow younger as I grow older. And I grow like corn in the night when I’m doing stuff like this.

— Learning. I’ve had my head in books and curious nose in everything since I was a nerd in grade school. On a journey like this the learning is thick and rich. For example, there’s the reading about the histories and cultures ahead of time…and then the seeing and being and experiencing it all in real time.

— Teaching (and I hope impressing) … my twin 20-year-old sons. Set the example for them, like my Dad and Mom did for me to keep pushing it to the joyful limits, no matter what age or what your circumstances are. My Dad loved his work as an entrepreneur and once told us: “My 60s were my most productive years.” And for him, ‘productivity’ included his vocations, his avocations and his family.

As for my Mom, I remember her white nightgown hanging loosely on her frail body as she bent over a cassette recorder blasting at full volume, craning to hear one of her favorite novels, “Gone with the Wind”. In four days she would be dead, the long battle with colon cancer finally over. I think she knew it too. But she looked up at me with a smile when I came over. She was enjoying her book.

— Opportunity. I’m incredibly blessed to have the time, health, and funds to do this right now. But all of these blessings will dwindle as time goes on–or could disappear in an instant. So no better time than the present.

— Connection. Connecting with others from all walks of life, often at a profound and more personal level. When people see you living yours, they’ll open up about their dreams, the ones they’ve accomplished, the ones on the horizon. The ones they’re wistful about.

People often invest you–the dusty traveler seeking his Wonder–with a kind of authority, a mystique, and so what you say, the encouragement you give, may find its way to fertile soil. If you spot the capability and the wherewithal–and you sense it’s just a matter of will, or a reframing of the challenges involved, or the passing on of a good tip or two–you just might be part of a minor miracle in another person’s life.

And vica-versa. I still remember an old woman in a shack in Nicaragua who welcomed me into her humble abode with a huge smile from where she lay on her hammock. We talked about a lot of things including Joy and at that she mimed wringing a cloth, twisting it in the air… “I wring the last drop of happiness out of every day of my life.” And with that she gave me another one of her beatific smiles. This amongst telling me about her adult daughter languishing in a prison in Managua and why she slept (with her other daughter and 10 year old grand daughter) in the loft above her (“los serpientes venenosas”…”Poisonous serpents” would visit in the night and no matter how many she killed, there were always more of them.)

You’re also, for sure, going to be helpless at various points along the way. You punctured a tire, you lost your documents, you got robbed. You feel alone and scared and insecure. This is when you discover yet again that angels walk amongst us — those special people that emerge from the crowd, that appear when the need is greatest. They pour upon you the milk of human kindness and you never forget their gift.

— No regrets. I just read a terrific book–30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans (by Karl Pillemer Ph.D.) The author interviewed over a thousand elders, people in their 80s and 90s, and condensed what he learned from them into 30 lessons. Some of the biggest takeaways were surprising. And quite positive:
1. With the wisdom of the years, gratitude and a better attitude often come. And that in turn, brings joy, even with the increased physical/mental difficulties of old age.

2. Death becomes more acceptable, less fearful — a useful ally in the struggle to and rewards of being in the Present Moment.

As for advice, the biggest one was… Wake up! You’ve only got this one life; set your intentions high for it. Figure out what you really want to do in this lifetime, on a daily and decade basis, and aim for it. Capacities and circumstances will of course limit your options but within anyone’s sphere, there’s usually much more possibility and opportunity than they can fathom.

Finally, the greatest pain they expressed was that of regret. Some of the deepest involved rifts with their children, their family. But also, regrets for things not done. Dreams they ignored because they were impractical, inconvenient, inopportune. That they actually were possible was only something they realized in retrospect but by then it was too late.

— Writing. I love to write and this trip will give me plenty to write about.

— It beats all the alternatives. There’s simply nothing more I really want to do then go around the world on a motorcycle. So even if Bill Gates came and offered me a billion dollars in exchange for giving up this dream (with corollaries like ‘you can only spend it on yourself and not on others’… ‘It won’t pass on to your kids’ etc ), I’d tell him to keep his money.

— Ego/Vanity Part of being human I think. Good old ego stroking, vanity–hey look at me! But, thankfully this ranks low on the list. One of the great benefits of approaching 60 is that puffing up the bio, for puffing ups sake, falls away. You’re going to be dead relatively soon anyways, why waste the time doing something optional like this if you don’t enjoy it?

— Promote something positive. Advocate. Raise money for a cause.

I added that last reason belatedly. I’d just reread my list and realized how every reason centered around me and my happiness. Jesus, how selfish of me. Thus I added that last reason, and if I’m really lucky, it’ll make its way up the list. Some of the most joyful people I’ve met seem to have it at the top of theirs.

But nothing wrong with doing this for myself. I find that when I’m enjoying life in a wholesome manner, it can spill over onto others. Like just now when a young friend joined me, the age of my sons.

She said “Oh, I’d love to travel. Maybe someday.” She didn’t say it but I sensed she was thinking about the cost, and how to make ends meet on the road.

“But you can.” I responded. And knowing how well she applies herself, I shared with her the TEFL secret. (https://www.teflcourse.net/ ). With some hard work and investment up front, it’s a great way to travel the world and are looking for a way they can make it work.

My young friend is smart, capable, full of chutzpah and as she listened to me explain how it could be done, a grin spread across her face.

“What is that site?” And she wrote it down carefully.

Point is: If I hadn’t brought up my journey in such an excited way, she wouldn’t have thought of hers. Maybe she would have gone to work with her own dream of wanderlust still tucked deep in the “Someday / Probably No Way” File. Knowing her, it’s now in another file, the “ASAP/ For Sure!” file.