In Praise Of Motorcycles

Life would have been just fine without Motorcycles.

I might have bought a reasonably priced sedan or hatchback, got a “real job,” had 2.3 kids and lived happily ever after. Things would have been more, well, predictable. I mean, I used to cringe when I walked past guys wearing Harley Davidson jackets and leather chaps, or guys decked out in full racing leathers. Victims of an under-developed fashion sense, I’d say to myself. And here I am two years later on the peripherals of the club. Now when I pass these guys on my motorbike, we exchange the biker’s salute and chat about our travels in Tim Horton’s parking lots and truck stop restaurants (I wonder: how many people who drive Camaros or pickup trucks wave to each other as they drive by as a sign of respect? I would wager it’s not a high number). Though that’s not to say I’ll ever wear leather chaps. Read more

Newfoundland By Motorcycle, the Montage

This two week trip from Argentia, up through Gros Morne, and back by way of Port-aux-Basques was a small test to see if Josh and I could travel together to South America (by motorcycle) in a few years time. The verdict was: a resounding yes. Awesome trip. Although next trip, we’ll need bigger bikes.

Don’t Get My Motorbike Wet…

I’m addicted to montages.

This one is of Kim and I on our $300 motorbike in Southern Vietnam, off-roading, crossing a river and checking out some waterfalls… just before we got arrested and detained for the better part of three days (story coming soon).

The dirt roads that we drove on for the first week of our trip were a little hairy at times. We crashed twice — once while trying to dodge a rogue cow and another time trying to slowly cross a wooden bridge. The funny part was that Kim actually got the crashes on video (she used to take a lot of videos while we drove — something about being bored because she couldn’t see around my big helmet).

I’m going to post the crash videos (they’re pretty hilarious) as soon as Kim emails them to me.

(UPDATE: The videos were on Kim’s laptop, which got stolen…)

Oh yeah, and that picture of Kim driving: She’s faking it. I didn’t let her actually drive the bike until much later on in the trip…

Vietnam Motorcycle Diaries

Tet holidays in Vietnam and everything shuts down for a good ten days. My good friend Marc and I used the opportunity last year to do a trip to “the end of Vietnam,” meaning the southernmost tip. Having never really rode my motorbike more than around the block before, I was thrilled at the proposal.

I only really “crashed” once, and it was into a river. After boarding a mini ferry, I went to get off of my bike and my foot got caught on the baggage attached to the bike rack. I lost my balance, tipped the bike on it’s side on the ferry, which tossed me clear into the river head first. The locals, who had likely never seen other foreigners traveling those dirt paths, didn’t laugh. They just looked concerned and bewildered as Marc and I cracked up.

Other follies include our celebration at achieving the Southernmost Point Goal: Marc decided to take off his shoes and walk in the tidal mud. He made it a whole three steps before slicing his foot open quite badly on a barnacle. There’s a picture of him lying down getting his foot cleaned up at the “doctor’s office.” There’s no picture of my folly, as my camera fell in the water with me and had to be dried out…

My Favorite Topic Is Me

I usually write about my myself, I know. Yes, I’m self-centered and no, I don’t care. I write about what I know best. That said, I refuse to contribute another “I got up, brushed my teeth, went to the store…” blog to the online world. Something’s gotta be at least interesting to me to write it out, and I have a short attention span.

Writing about my experiences and opinions accomplishes two things: One, it gives me an outlet to record my life; and two, it pushes me to take my life in a direction that is worth recording and sharing with other people.

In the past few years of personal growth, I feel that more anything, the one thing that changed my limiting beliefs and helped me break out of my boring lifestyle has been reading and watching the examples of other successful eccentrics and adventurers. People who are living life and not letting life “live” them. I love to read about how Neil Strauss went from being a college virgin to the worlds most famous pickup artist; how Tynan became the head of an online gambling ring in two years and made hundreds of thousands; and how Timothy Ferris trained for four weeks to become the Chinese Kickboxing National Champion (which is, by the way, a great example of turning the system on its head for one’s own benefit). The people that I read about inspire me to live outside everyday social norms and expectations and consequently have much more fun.

On that note, here’s a video of fun times with Kim and “Georgia” (my motorbike) in Thailand and Laos:

You, massage?

When Kim and I arrived in Northern Thailand we decided to take a long break from the road. Driving every other day or so was taking it’s toll on our bodies, so we decided to take a little R&R break. I signed up right away for a week learning Thai massage, but Kim’s version of re-cooperation was to join a Mui Thai kickboxing class and do a week-long solo bicycle trip through the mountains… (yeah, I know. She’s a little crazy…)

The culmination was for Kim and I to do an intensive weekend oil massage course together and then take the motorbike up to the border of Thailand and Myanmar for a few days.

My Awesome Life

My life is awesome. It wasn’t always that way — I had to work at it. In High School I was super shy and a complete pushover. When I started respecting myself, following my dreams and not giving a damn about what anyone thought, things started getting better.

While on our 5 month motorcycle trip, Kim and I made movies with my little Canon digital camera, and edited them with Movie Maker. We originally made them just to send to our parents, but we had so much fun with it that I think I’ll make movies for all my trips from now on.

This is one from early in our adventure. And yes, Kim and I are very proud of ourselves for picking music that fits so well with the video…