Gallivanting!
Hmm.... it has been a long time since I’ve posted in here. Mostly I haven’t felt the need because things have been good and I’ve been blogging about my motorcycle-related stuff over at my motorcycle blog, and that’s been consuming pretty much all of my attention.
Which brings me to my point - I’m about to go gallivanting off on my motorcycle!
In a month, the partner and I will be leaving for a 3-4 month trip on the motorcycles. Logistics are still up in the air about which direction we’re going, but we’ll be traveling overland between Boston and Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego - the End of the World. We’ll either be flying our bikes to Buenos Aires and driving up from there, or driving down and then flying home from Buenos Aires. (It’s remarkably difficult to ship a motorcycle from Boston, which is what’s tying our logistics up.)
20,000 miles overland on the motorcycles. We’ll be traveling through South America, Central America and North America. We’ll be hitting at least 14 countries and maybe more (some smaller countries aren’t in our direct path but we might wander into them) and having what we hope is an amazing trip. I’m sure there will be moments of “WTF?!” and perhaps some danger, although I hope not too much.
We’re totally psyched. We’re working on putting together an iPad magazine, and we’re doing a website with video and pictures and stuff. When we get home, we’re gonna put together a print magazine from the trip.
Hopefully this will be the first step in a new phase in our lives. Personally, I’m getting burnt out on some of the writing stuff I’ve been doing. It’s hard to stay motivated to write about the same old stuff over and over again, and my biggest client right now is a bra seller. Bummer. Hopefully the magazine will give me a new direction, and we’re thinking about parleying it into an ongoing publication if we can get sponsors/advertisers and a decent circulation. There may also be a book out of the trip, and hopefully we can use the trip to somehow make money to fund the next one. (Africa? Around the world? No idea yet - one trip at a time.)
The partner was under the impression that unpaid leave would be available from work, but that didn’t happen (corporate BS) so there’s job-quitting. I’m a little apprehensive for what that’ll mean for our lifestyle once we get home - me without my regular clients for 3-4 months and the partner without a job entirely. The current apartment is a bit pricey and I certainly can’t afford it solo with what I make writing, so we’ll see what happens when we get back.
But things are falling into place. A lot of stuff was up in the air for a while - paperwork, passports, money, etc. that is starting to all click into place at once. I think we’ve got all of the important paperwork covered, and we’ve got cash either tomorrow or Monday to buy the remaining stuff we need before the trip. If we didn’t both have work obligations, we could take off ASAP - but we both have to wrap things with our respective jobs, and wait for the things we’re ordering to arrive.
I am sad that we won’t see our friends for 3-4 months. There’s Christmas and one of our friends has a birthday while we’re gone, and I’m bummed that we won’t be there for him. We’re planning a holiday thing before we leave but it won’t be the same. I’m also vaguely apprehensive about the dogs. We’ve invited a couple of recent college graduates to come stay here with their dog and take care of the dogs while we’re gone. We get dog sitting/someone to live in the house so it’s not empty while we’re gone for 3-4 months, and they get free rent and utilities in the Boston area for 3-4 months. Seems like a win-win, but it’s hard to really be sure after meeting someone once. It’ll also be the longest I’ve been away from Ben, and I’m a bit worried about how he’ll take it.
And this is me. I’m simultaneously psyched about the trip and at the same time thinking about all of the things that could go wrong. I wish I could just be happy without worrying, and I’m sure I will be once we’re on the road, but there’s still a lot to do in the next few weeks before we go.
Super psyched, though! (And if you want the website so you can follow along, let me know and I’ll pass it on to you.)
Which brings me to my point - I’m about to go gallivanting off on my motorcycle!
In a month, the partner and I will be leaving for a 3-4 month trip on the motorcycles. Logistics are still up in the air about which direction we’re going, but we’ll be traveling overland between Boston and Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego - the End of the World. We’ll either be flying our bikes to Buenos Aires and driving up from there, or driving down and then flying home from Buenos Aires. (It’s remarkably difficult to ship a motorcycle from Boston, which is what’s tying our logistics up.)
20,000 miles overland on the motorcycles. We’ll be traveling through South America, Central America and North America. We’ll be hitting at least 14 countries and maybe more (some smaller countries aren’t in our direct path but we might wander into them) and having what we hope is an amazing trip. I’m sure there will be moments of “WTF?!” and perhaps some danger, although I hope not too much.
We’re totally psyched. We’re working on putting together an iPad magazine, and we’re doing a website with video and pictures and stuff. When we get home, we’re gonna put together a print magazine from the trip.
Hopefully this will be the first step in a new phase in our lives. Personally, I’m getting burnt out on some of the writing stuff I’ve been doing. It’s hard to stay motivated to write about the same old stuff over and over again, and my biggest client right now is a bra seller. Bummer. Hopefully the magazine will give me a new direction, and we’re thinking about parleying it into an ongoing publication if we can get sponsors/advertisers and a decent circulation. There may also be a book out of the trip, and hopefully we can use the trip to somehow make money to fund the next one. (Africa? Around the world? No idea yet - one trip at a time.)
The partner was under the impression that unpaid leave would be available from work, but that didn’t happen (corporate BS) so there’s job-quitting. I’m a little apprehensive for what that’ll mean for our lifestyle once we get home - me without my regular clients for 3-4 months and the partner without a job entirely. The current apartment is a bit pricey and I certainly can’t afford it solo with what I make writing, so we’ll see what happens when we get back.
But things are falling into place. A lot of stuff was up in the air for a while - paperwork, passports, money, etc. that is starting to all click into place at once. I think we’ve got all of the important paperwork covered, and we’ve got cash either tomorrow or Monday to buy the remaining stuff we need before the trip. If we didn’t both have work obligations, we could take off ASAP - but we both have to wrap things with our respective jobs, and wait for the things we’re ordering to arrive.
I am sad that we won’t see our friends for 3-4 months. There’s Christmas and one of our friends has a birthday while we’re gone, and I’m bummed that we won’t be there for him. We’re planning a holiday thing before we leave but it won’t be the same. I’m also vaguely apprehensive about the dogs. We’ve invited a couple of recent college graduates to come stay here with their dog and take care of the dogs while we’re gone. We get dog sitting/someone to live in the house so it’s not empty while we’re gone for 3-4 months, and they get free rent and utilities in the Boston area for 3-4 months. Seems like a win-win, but it’s hard to really be sure after meeting someone once. It’ll also be the longest I’ve been away from Ben, and I’m a bit worried about how he’ll take it.
And this is me. I’m simultaneously psyched about the trip and at the same time thinking about all of the things that could go wrong. I wish I could just be happy without worrying, and I’m sure I will be once we’re on the road, but there’s still a lot to do in the next few weeks before we go.
Super psyched, though! (And if you want the website so you can follow along, let me know and I’ll pass it on to you.)