This story begins on May 9, 2023. Victory Day, in more aspects than one. We finally had all our essential belongings packed on our motorcycles and headed out with no specific plans to return. My jacket pocket where I usually kept the house keys and the garage door opener was empty. It was no longer my house or my garage. I have long considered myself a citizen of the world. I was about to finally live it, full time.
This really was a beginning not of the story itself, but of a new chapter. There were so many chapters that had to happen before that. A few days prior, as I was heading home from work for the last time I was overcome with emotion. I felt free in ways I did not expect, and had a hard time explaining it. It’s not that I did not like my job, or felt constrained by it, quite the opposite. It was the most amazing experience that was at once fun, rewarding and opened so many other doors. Yet to make the choice to leave, to be able to make that choice with such confidence, that feeling was indescribable. That chapter was ending.
When I was a kid, no other idea gave me butterflies like the idea of traveling and seeing the world. Of course, back then I had a different understanding of what that looked like. Shaped by books and TV shows, it looked glamorous and fantastical. And unattainable. Something I could only dream of. After moving from Ukraine to Canada, I came to a point where I could actually experience some of that. Perhaps I could go on a weekend trip to Quebec, or to one of the thousands of beautiful lakes in Ontario. Perhaps an overseas trip once a year. Perhaps if I saved my pennies diligently, I could indulge in this activity for a short while, and dream about it the rest of the time.
A pivotal point came when I watched Long Way Round, a show about traveling around the world on motorcycles. Nothing about it made the affair look realistic. A movie star and his friend, a public persona in his own right, armed with gifted bikes, gear, a whole support crew and a professional videographer – I couldn’t possibly re-create that. Yet the seeds were planted into very fertile soil. I was already enjoying road trips on motorcycles. The sense of unity with the landscape it provides is surpassed only by hiking in remote wilderness with your own two feet. I had all of the internet to help me figure this out.
Together with my partner in crime, Alex, we found a community of like minded people who showed us that you don’t need to be a rich movie star to explore the world on two wheels. We did several trips, including one that lasted over 5 weeks. Nobody died, so we considered it all a success. We started planning for real. We started planning for a long one.
We ran some numbers. We saw some numbers others posted. I know I said you don’t need to be rich, but generally speaking, money definitely does not hurt, at least when you spend it right. We had a target number in mind. The plan was to save up that amount, then take off, and continue until we ran out of either money or roads we wanted to take. By our estimates, it would last at least a couple of years. In the meantime we prepped our bikes and ourselves. For the bikes, long range fuel tanks, improved suspension, comfortable seats, luggage. For ourselves, regular training sessions in the nearby riding areas, by ourselves, with friends, and even with world class enduro instructors when the opportunity arose. So many of the fun roads are still unpaved, and poorly maintained, especially outside of the US and Canada. You can’t enjoy it if the sight of a dirt road gives you shivers.
We did more trips centered around off road riding to locations such as Baja California, Utah, Death Valley. We realized that off-road training cannot be underestimated. It saves you time when the going gets technical yet you can still ride fairly fast through it. It saves you the time, hassle and expense of dealing with mechanical issues since you crash less often. Most importantly, it can save your health and life. Aside from the financials, we had a few targets to reach in off road skills. It took a little longer. Other activities got in the way of focusing on riding 100%. But eventually, we reached those targets too. Weekends spent at a small motorcycle park practicing over and over seemed tedious at times, but it paid off.
We ran out of reasons to wait. It became a matter of just how quickly we can get rid of everything in our home, pack our bikes, and point them into the direction of favorable weather. After an unusually cold and wet Californian winter, we set out north along the coast, the sun shining brightly, our minds still spinning at how unreal it all felt, with only a vague notion of where we may end up that day, open to anything and everything.
