Welcome, welcome. I\u2019m planning a big trip \u2013 which I\u2019ve talked about to a lot of people over the last year or two \u2013 and it feels like time for me to uncloak more widely.<\/p>\n
In March of 2011, I plan to ship a motorcycle from the US to Europe and spend the next 18 months on a solo adventure through most of Europe, North Africa, Central \/ East \/ Southeast Asia. I\u2019m simultaneously delighted and terrified by the prospect!<\/p>\n
This trip is a long time coming \u2013 the path to the decision has followed an odd route through more than half my life. I remember being 15 or so, reading a lot, staring at atlases and globes and thinking, \u201cI want to see every continent. I want to know the world\u201d. A few years later, I find myself on the far side of my collegiate experience, steeped in wanderlust, reading \u201cZen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance\u201d, and seeing a possible future.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward from 1990 to 2005: my first act after nine years at Microsoft was to take off on a ten-day solo motorcycle trip through WA and OR, no clear idea where I was going, just wanting to ride. I got myself into a few misadventures along the way, taking my very obvious road bike onto some of the thin gray lines on the map, and loving it. The next two years found me in the saddle again for a week or so, off by myself seeking clarity, beauty and solitude.<\/p>\n
I think it was 2007 when I first saw \u201cLong Way Round\u201d. That\u2019s when it clicked. I like traveling by motorcycle. I want to see a lot of places. Perhaps I should combine the two. So I started thinking about it, and then mentioning it to a few people, trying it on for size. I came to realize more and more that this is so completely what I want to be doing with my life.<\/p>\n
So, then. I\u2019m doing it. I\u2019m about to buy a bike, trick it out for crazy adventure travel, learn its ins and outs. Take it out into the woods.<\/p>\n
Along the way, I plan to write more about my plans (and some about previous travels), and post photos from various trips and places. I\u2019ll write about what I\u2019m riding and taking, where I plan to go, some of my goals for the trip.<\/p>\n
I hope you\u2019ll stick around for the ride \u2013 and maybe, if you\u2019re inspired, come meet me somewhere along the way. Introduce me to folks I should meet out in the world. Tell me about that one magic place you went and always go back to when your heart travels.<\/p>\n
Come along. It should be fun.<\/p>\n
cheers,
\n~stuart<\/p>\n
PS: Please pardon the dust while things settle out here. I\u2019ve got things to say, and don\u2019t want to wait until I have a perfect blog site to start saying them.<\/p>\n
* h\/t Lou Reed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Welcome, welcome. I\u2019m planning a big trip \u2013 which I\u2019ve talked about to a lot of people over the last year or two \u2013 and it feels like time for me to uncloak more widely. <\/p>\n
Please pardon the dust while things settle out here. I\u2019ve got things to say, and don\u2019t want to wait until I have a perfect blog site to start saying them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/updegrave.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}