Three months have passed since the last blog post, the times a bit traumatic and exhausting. Much has happened during the span and life continues. My mother’s health made a slow turn for the better, but one of my sisters had a major health issue arise. With the future unknown, Kim landed a great job and new apartment, deciding to remain in Texas rather than continue south since she was now ensconced in a new life.
I had time to plot our travels from Alaska through Mexico, totaling just under 30,000 miles if my GPS tracks are accurate, which is likely. Quite an accomplishment for Kim, considering she started with no adventure motorcycle or long term travel experience, crossing three countries in some very difficult terrain, conditions and situations.
As I stated somewhere previously, Proverbs 16:9 says “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” Certainly true in this case and I’ve learned to accept the unexpected courses, though grudgingly at times. I was happy that my mother had survived and was somewhat stable though far from health. Her condition remained tentative and fluctuating throughout the summer.
After three months, the confluence of the two main issues in life had met - time and money. The delay had put me in a serious "go now or go never" situation since the time window for getting to the southern tip of South America was closing quickly. One has to get headed south for the 6 month trip to arrive before the snow and ice in Patagonia, and September is the latter edge of that time window.
The decisions were pressuring me hard. I’d radically changed my life, selling my home and most possessions to have the time to do the travels and was now watching my finances dwindle while waiting, not to mention concerns for my mother’s slowly failing health and the resulting emotional issues of that. I remained in limbo daily, unsure whether to get back into the workforce or hold out in case the trip could continue.
I’d always planned to do the Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego ride solo, until Kim asked to be a part of it, at least until Mexico where she felt her budget might run out. Though I had some qualms about a travel partner, someone giving up a solid life for an unknown one, having no experience, likely slowing the process and making it more difficult, it had worked out pretty well. The fact she’d had to go back to work and to a “normal” life was understandable, since her goal had been accomplished, however I’d gotten used to sharing awesome times on the road with another, and now would be back to my regular routine of traveling alone.
Knowing I might be on this southern trek for at least 6 months and possibly up to a year, the realization my mother might pass in that period was a difficult one. She had relied on me heavily since my father’s passing, and knowing I wouldn’t be easily available gave me hesitation. The biggest difficulty for me was the previously mentioned life change… if I had to abandon this trip for another year, it very likely would mean the trip would never happen and I’ll admit to some feelings of bitterness at the knowledge I’d basically irreparably changed most aspects of my life for this event, and to lose it all and never be able to live that dream was a hard pill to swallow, one I lay awake at night pondering too often.
My mother called me to her side, knowing the dilemma I was in and told me to go ahead, as she could remain in her condition for another year or five, as she said. It was a very difficult decision for me to make, knowing that when i rode away it was likely that I may never see her alive again. But, she and I are people of faith and after prayers about it, I felt a strong urgency to go.
The decision made to continue, I had to make quick choices as to the best way to travel the route. Leaving in September meant riding through Central America in the rainy season, not something I looked forward to, in addition to the well known heat and border crossing problems.
Another option was to bypass Central America altogether and ship the motorcycle to Colombia, giving me much more time on the southern continent. I had been advised this was the better way, since Central America was a couple of months of heat, rain and border crossings, with far more to see and do on the South American continent.
I checked into shipping the motorcycle from Houston to Colombia by boat and air, however getting accurate information was difficult at best, and in research found little but horror stories of shady shipping brokers, month-long delays and other issues. I decided that my original plan was to ride from North to South, and if I skipped Central America, I’d always regret it, knowing I hadn’t done my dream. At least that decision was settled in my mind and I began preparation. The "waiting in limbo game" had worn my ass out, and not knowing each day whether to stay or go had burned through cash I couldn't afford to lose.
Since this leg would now be solo, I began repacking and rethinking gear to get it all down to one bike. It was much easier carrying needed gear with 2 bikes, since Kim had room on her bike. I whittled it down once again, and still bringing some extra BS I’d probably toss on the road. Each time there's a system change it takes a while to figure out what works and it’s easier to delete things than to find them on the road. Especially in 2nd and 3rd world countries.
Several things were rethought, including stove and some camping gear, adding and deleting tools, and the ever entangling digital cords, chargers and foofooraw for computer, camera and electronics. Being a photog, the cameras, backup drives and a laptop are non-negotiables however.
It’s been in the last week or so that prepping has begun again, and the process of trying to think of all that's needed for the trek south. The basic gear doesn't change, but the climate extremes require some thought, hard decisions about spare parts, backup and such have to be made. Some things can be bought along the way, but the three months in Mexico proved the task of finding things can be challenging so I'd rather buy now and toss later.
In the midst of the process, the middle-of-the-night panics hit and you think "Oh my God, I need to bring the inflatable raft and that electric donkey biting dog polisher I saw at Bass Pro!! Jeezus how I could be so stupid to forget that?!?!" And the next day wonder what the hell I was thinking...
After all of the work, aside from my tent, I was able to get everything into my 3 hard cases and I was very happy with that. There’s not room for a sheet of paper in them now, and they’re so well packed they weigh as much as a black hole.
I've not had the time to do any real planning for the countries ahead, and will have to do so from the road. I have little idea of what lies ahead other than reports of rain and heat. I'd like to hit Colombia at the end of September at the latest if possible, and then slow down a bit once on the continent. Though Ushuaia is my goal, honestly, with the way things have been, I'd rather just say I'm "heading south" and leave it at that…
Packing Notes
I've found that organizing and packing smaller containers allows a lot of flexibility, more so than large items, as I do find the need to shift things around at times. The downside of carrying small container items means there's lots of little sh*t to deal with when digging around for stuff. I also tend to isolate items and pack them in padding, since I've seen a lot of stuff go south from vibration in the cases and that's always a concern.
It's much easier to pack thin, rectangular items that can be pulled like files from a file cabinet. Round things waste a lot of space, such as a sleeping bag, and I've found some stuff sacks that attempt to make them a bit more rectangular.
I’ve broken down my packing of the three cases below, with corresponding numbers and descriptions:
• Left Side Case (Primarily Tools)
1 - Paperwork - Passport, title, etc
2 - Guija Roji Mexico - map book
3 - Carry strap/handle for cases
4 - Spare Parts, Electrical, Grease, etc
5 - (3) Oil Filters
6 - Final Drive fluid
7 - Oil 1/2 qt for top offs
8 - 60 ml syringe and hose for filling final drive
9 - Sleeping bag 35/45º
10 - Tire Irons
11 - Mini Camp hatchet - used more than you'd think
12 - Tool Roll
13 - GS-911, Spare parts, tent repair tape, lots o’ misc
14 - Air Filter
15 - FD seals, duct tape, etc
16 - 3/8 Digital Torque Adapter
17 - Zip ties, misc Foto Clamps
18 - Ultra-Light Tripod Rig
19 - Fuel Line, Silicone tubing, Brake pads
20 - Camp Knife
21 - Tire gauge
22 - Metric Screw Assortment
23 - Small parts
24 - Silicon compression bands for packing
25 - Photo misc
26 - Rim Protectors for tire change
27 - Camp rope
28 - Mini Can WD40
29 - Straps
30 - Misc Photo doohickeys
31 - Invisible AR-15 and 200 rds of armor piercing .223 ammo
• Right Side Case (Primarily Clothing)
1 Fleece Jacket
2 Backup drives and cords, etc
3 MacBook Charger, USB battery packs, etc
4 UE Roll bluetooth speaker - great sound in a waterproof package
5 12” MacBook
6 Titanium Cook Set and Alcohol Stove, utensils and Silicon hot pad
7 Pack Towel
8 Shirts and Pants
9 Hiking Sandals - my shoes are way too big to carry. Sandals compress
10 Klymit Inflatable Pillow
11 Sea to Summit Inflatable Pillow
12 Sawyer Water filter & UV Light Steripen (adds ability to kill viruses in water)
13 Spare Sawyer filter, electric water heating coil, misc
14 Klymit sleeping pad
15 Underwear and Cold Weather layers
16 Sox
17 Meds, antibiotics
18 Toiletries
• Top Case (everything else)
1 Camera Street Bag w 2 bodies and 6 lenses
2 SAE, USB adapters etc
3 Heated jacket liner
4 Cards and decals
5 GoPro Kit
6 Nalgene bottle - tough as nails
7 Rain pants
8 Pocket Camera
9 Etymotic earbuds
10 Sunglasses
11 Pencil light
12 Rain jacket and Rain covers for Gloves - jacket doubles duty - for off bike wear and large enough to fit over riding jacket if needed
13 On Bike Charging cables and helmet lock cable
14 Neck Gaiter
15 Folding cap
16 Spare gloves
17 Mtn HardWear glove liners
18 Bike Cover - helps keep feely fingers off bike when parked outside at night
• Tank Bag and Duffle Bag
1 Camera, Peso pouch, note pad, head lamp, misc
2 Tent, stakes, groundcloth, poles etc
3 PacSafe Mesh - large enough to cover duffle, jacket and boots when off bike
• Touratech Tool Box (tire/tow related):
MotoPump Tire Inflator
Tire plugs and patches
2 Tie down straps
Thanks for following the story of the North American travels, but due to the length of this blog, I’ll be documenting my South American trek at the new website: