What Adventure Motorcycling Means to Me

RevZilla is running a contest right now where readers can talk about what touring or adventure riding means to them. Check it out!  http://bmwmoarally.com/motorcycle-adventure-blog-contest and www.RevZilla.com .

Of course this got me thinking about why I ride, and what adventure riding means to me. It’s a great segue into how I’ve been feeling since returning from our motorcycle trip through the Americas six months ago, as it’s all related.

Adventure motorcycling is something I do because it’s part of who I am, just like writing. To not do it would be to cease to be me. It’s as essential to my life as breathing. But it represents so many important things to me, and every day that I’m not on the road is a little bit depressing because it means I’m not getting those things.

I love being completely exposed to the world around me on a motorcycle. Not only do you move through the landscape; you get to experience it as you travel. You feel the wind; you smell the grass or jungle or garbage; you hear the sounds of everyday life going on around you.

In a car or other enclosed vehicle, you’re locked away from all of these things. You’re in a sealed compartment traveling from Point A to Point B. On a motorcycle, you’re a part of the world. The landscape you’re traveling through becomes a part of you, and you become a part of it.

And then there’s the riding itself. Riding a motorcycle is an experience I love, regardless of the landscape or the travel. Being on a bike is incredibly Zen; it’s engaging and immediate. It gives you an opportunity to exercise your skill, and it requires you to be present in the moment. Just feeling the bike under me; my hands and feet at the controls; turning, leaning, stopping, accelerating; riding a motorcycle is one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. And every time I swing my leg across the saddle, I get to experience it all over again. It doesn’t matter what kind of mood I’m in when I get on the bike; it’s impossible to be unhappy when I’m riding.

Being exposed on a motorcycle makes you much more approachable to strangers. You have many more opportunities to interact with the locals as you pass through, and I believe that traveling in this manner makes you more likely to take advantage of these opportunities. On a motorcycle, traveling overland, you really get to experience a slice of life everywhere you go. It’s far different from flying to an exotic destination thousands of miles away; you’ve passed every mile of landscape between “here” and “there” and understand the land and the people in a way you couldn’t if you were just dropped into it by plane.

I’m a traveler; I’ve traveled since I was two years old, and my passion is seeing the world. And I can’t imagine a better way to do it than by motorcycle. My motorcycle is a passport to destinations beyond my imagining. It’s a way to transform all of the abstract “other places” in my head to real, concrete countries and people and landscapes.

The jungles of Central America; the Andes mountains of Colombia; the Peruvian desert; the Bolivian highlands; the driest desert in the world; the wind-swept pampas of Patagonia; the massive glaciers in South America and the bottom of the world at Ushuaia – all of these are real places in my head now. I’ve been there. They have substance and meaning. I’ve tasted the foods; I’ve spoken with the people; I’ve fought the winds; been thirsty in the desert; tackled the infamous Routa 40 and walked among penguins. And my motorcycle took me there, to each and every one of those places.

And even though I’ve seen these exotic places, and they’re more than just an abstract concept in my head now; there’s so much more out there. I’ve seen 14 countries, but there are almost 200 countries in the world , the vast majority of which I have yet to explore. So now here I am, sitting at home, accumulating money for the sole purpose of doing it again. There’s so much more world to see. Every day I’m back in my old life, I am working toward the goal of continuing my travels. I long for it. I yearn for the road and my motorcycle. I daydream of all the places I have yet to see; all of these abstract concepts and places waiting to become reality and memories in my head. Every day at home, I die a little inside, as my soul cries out for the road and travel.

Motorcycles aren’t just for riding. They’re a way of life. My motorcycle is my passport to see the world. Adventure riding is literally what I want to do with my life. It’s my purpose and my passion. Because to me, adventure riding means experiencing the world in a way I would never get to do otherwise, and I can’t imagine anything more fulfilling.