A brief history of the build up
2 May 2003
It started a few years ago as a vague idea when I bought a copy of 'The Adventure Motorcycling Handbook' by Chris Scott. For a long time it was just one of those dreams that most of us never follow through on, especially after I sold my first bike – a Yamaha DragStar 650. But it only took a moment for it to become a reality. I told Jo (my sister in law for those who have stumbled across this site by mistake) casually, over the washing up I believe, that I was thinking of quitting work to go on a bike tour, and suddenly there was no going back.
It had become a serious consideration for about a month beforehand. I hadn't planned to say anything that day ( sometime in mid April) but looking back at it now I think I knew that if I got it out in the open it would be much harder to back down. This was my biggest fear at first, that I would find a reason to convince myself it was a bad idea, and by doing so take the easy way out. There were, and still are good reasons. The war in Iraq made everybody nervous, even if we knew it was really a foregone conclusion. The spread of SARS, a weakening property market, the risk of not finding a job when I came back penniless.
However it was the act of convincing my family (i.e. Mum) that though I knew it was not the most sensible decision I had ever made, it was the right one; that sealed my fate by convincing me. Sometimes it pays to be an argumentative git.
So why? Why give up a well paid job and halt the march of my career? Why sell the house I had just bought as well as most of the stuff (at least all the bits that could not be palmed off on the family) I had accumulated with my hard earned. Why cash it all in to buy a motorbike, load it up with the least amount of stuff I think I can get away with, and head for the horizon? Why swap the security and routine of a wage slave for the uncertainty and risks of an open road? Are you crazy? Boredom vs freedom? No contest.
Yet I can't lose myself in the romance of it too much. I haven't left yet and there is plenty to do in a short time if I am going to leave when I want to.
There's the boring stuff, ie paperwork, such as Carnet, visas and various types of insurance – in the modern world it seems freedom is relative. Or maybe it was always like this, its just the nature of the barriers that has changed. It used to be that money was the biggest barrier to free travel, now its bureaucracy.
Then there's the good stuff – buying and kitting out the bike, and other toys like a laptop and camera. Making shipping arrangements. Then there's the stuff I have little control over – selling the house and contents to pay for it all.
Yet the fun has already begun. For the past week or so I've begun offloading the general rubbish that I've accumulated over the years. I'm a hoarder by nature, one of those people who keeps hold of every little piece of crap just in case I can find a use for it one day (even my use of scatological language is indicative of my anally retentive nature), (the obsessive use of parentheses (ie brackets) is probably a bad sign as well!).
I've gotten better recently. Two relocations and 4 addresses in as many years will do that to you (in fact since I started work I've had 8 addresses in 11 years), but even so some of the stuff you just wouldn't believe. Just one example. I've owned an electric guitar since 1988. If you don't already know this each string has a little brass ring on one end, maybe one or two millimetres in diameter. I have a tin where I have kept the rings from every single set of strings I've had.
Chucking stuff out though brings a great feeling of liberation, and I can highly recommend it. Especially when it comes to the things that I was never quite able to get rid of before – like those brass rings. Again I am aware that this is an anal trait, but it's the last time I'll mention it I promise. I have an oral fixation as well – but that's another story.
Two key signifiers of a breakthrough, and which I feel are indicative of my commitment to the cause, are tapes and books. For years I've been carrying round all these music cassettes from pre-CD days, and I NEVER PLAY THEM, despite the fact that I still have a tape deck courtesy of my mate Adam who off loaded his on me when he went traveling. I am now listening to then throwing them away one by one. Okay I am recording the good ones onto the PC first, but I am throwing them away.
The books are not going in the bin but to Oxfam along with a couple of boxes of other useless (to me) knick-knacks. Most I am keeping but its the really scrappy old paperbacks, old textbooks from university and a few newer items I'm generally embarrassed to have on my shelves (like a Catherine Cookson – another story). The breakthrough came when I included the books I'd been responsible for during my years working in publishing. Its a real break from my professional past, and a great moment.
17 May 2003
Welcome to the real world. Today was both a good and a bad one. On the good side I picked up the bike from the BMW dealer, a brand new F650 GS Dakar. It looks and feels great although there is still a fair amount to do before it and I are ready. I've got a couple of Haynes manuals I'm poring over to get a basic understanding of how it all works, I've got a BMW maintenance manual on CD and I've found a few good web sites, the best of which is www.horizonsunlimited.com an extremely valuable site for any over land traveller to remote locations. With the arrival of the bike it feels as if everything is getting much closer, although the biggest barrier now is getting the house sold.
Oh, and the Saints lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup final. I guess you can't have everything.
28 July 2003
Just been on a two day 'Off Road Skills' course run by BMW (www.worldofbmw.co.uk) near the brecon beacons in Wales. It was a lot of fun and I reckon I learnt a lot of skills that will be valuable on the trip, especially as I move out of the US and get more off the beaten track. In fact I would say it has given me more confidence to seek out more remote areas when the opportunity arises. I know that I can even ford small rivers if I need to. We were lucky that BMW decided to shoot a promotional video of the course this weekend as well. The guy doing the filming is a news biker for the BBC – though this is something he was doing freelance. I was in the advanced group and for the two days he came around with us filming everything we did. He's promised to get in touch and get copies of the completed video to everybody involved, which will be great.
I've also accepted an offer on the house! Its a little later than I would have liked but at least it means things are really falling into place now.
1 September 2003
August was a long and frustrating month. I still haven't exchanged contracts on the house – which means it could still go tits up. However I've decided to take a little risk anyway, and a leap of faith, and give notice at work. Today was anyway my last chance to take up a redundancy option following the company move to Brighton, so although it doesn't mean a whole lot of money, it does crucially mean I will be able to sign on the dole when I get back if I have to – which would not have been the case if I had resigned.
Pretty much everything else is in place. Thanks to Dad's connections I have got a shipping company lined up who it seems will be able to work at short notice (www.sbsworldwide.com) They have been extremely helpful, and patient, and also have the added bonus of an agent in the US who can handle customs clearance for me. They ship to Chicago once a week – so as soon as I can exchange on the house, I can get moving.
Everything else is really in place. I just have to get the Carnet issued when I know I have a leaving date. I know who to go with for insurance, I have all the luggage I am going to buy this side of the Atlantic.
My major disappointment has been that I will no longer be able to go to Alaska, which I had really wanted to do – but it is just too late in the year now.
27 September
Yesterday was my last day at work. Usual booze up type stuff. But I STILL haven't exchanged on the house. For a whole month now its been the same message from the estate agents – they think it can happen any day but the buyers solicitors are dragging their feet. I am very nervous, because everything relies on selling the house. Most of the furniture is already gone – and the rest I'll sell off over the next few days. I've got to stay hopeful, but also have to face the possibility that it could fall through, in which case I'll be looking for a new job and have to put the trip off until Spring next year. Time is slipping away, and the weather is only going to go downhill from here.
8 October
Yessss! Finally exchanged contracts on the house today. Huge relief. Now its all happening. I've been jumping round the empty house half the afternoon after getting the call from my solicitor. I really didn't realise how stressed out I was about it until that moment. Sometimes it can be good to not know what you've got til its gone. Also had to get a lot organised as well. I'm taking the bike to SBS tomorrow so they can pack it ready to sail on Monday. I've also booked my flight and a hotel for the first couple of nights. I needed to do that so I could give details on the US customs forms. I'm flying Monday 27 – less than 3 weeks from now, Scandinavian airlines Heathrow to Chicago via Copenhagen. Moving out this weekend to stay with mum and dad.
15 October
House sale completed – the money is now in the bank, all systems are go.
20 October
This time next week I'll be in Chicago! Insurance is now all sorted out. Bike with Campbell Irvine, travel with STA. US third party via www.motorcycleexpress.com . There is now little to do but wait. I've got a Spanish course on CD-ROM to start working through and of course I am poring through the travel guides – but really this is just time filling.