SO... I get a Sabbatical. I even learned how to spell it. I have been fantasizing about it for a long time and now it's finally come to be. The plan was to ship my motorcycle, the 06 KLR650 to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then... Ride Home. However, shipping to S.Am from the US turned out to be prohibitively expensive. So F**k it I'll just ride south. Sometimes the solutions are simple :-) The departure date is on or around the 22nd of Feb. and I need to return to work on May 19th. 12 weeks of me on the KLR just riding south. It will be a TOTAL departure from the normal routine and I can't wait. I need it. I'm ready. There is no real destination, just some points of interest along the way. I think I'll return from Santiago, Chile but even that is somewhat open.
I got a fresh set of MEFO explorer tires for the KLR delivered today; nice durable German rubber, not the cheap stuff I normally buy. I'm hoping to reduce the amount of maintenance I do while on the the road. I just want to ride, ya know. It's a vacation and an adventure.
I got most of my vaccinations done (one more Hep shot on Mon). The bike is in good shape and ready to go. I'll put fresh fluids in it just before I hit the road.
I still have a lot of work to do and only 3 weeks to finish... but it's totally doable. Still, I'm feeling a little stressed and anxious. Not a problem :-) Got to set up some travel Medical Insurance (just in case...) need to add some maps to the GPS and there are a few odds and ends to pick up, but the broad strokes are there (devil is in the details). I set up auto-bill-pay while I'm away and I have a separate checking account for the travel funds. I made lots of copies of my important documents and have online back-ups too. I have learned very little Espanol but I know I'll be learning along the way (uno empanada por favor). (< -delusional maybe?)
Time to get in WAY over my head. Maybe you only know that you bit off more than you can chew when you start to choke, but in this case, I want to go BIG. I get a sabbatical, if I wasn't using it fully then its an opportunity missed. Not this time. I've been trying to decide if its a midlife crisis thing but I don't think so. here's why: I've been thinking about this type of adventure all my life. As a young boy I was fascinated by people who through-hiked the Appalachian Trail and I thought to myself "I want to do that". There have been many things like that over the years, cart racing, MTB racing, bike travel, even touring by RV. Some things came to fruition and many did not but I always had an eye on the bigger excursions. The great divide race, Moto the trans america trail, etc etc. I read a book called Lois on the Loose, by Lois Price and I thought "I can do that" (delusional? maybe) but I'm gonna give it a go. in my own way. wish me luck.
