Maybe this Trip was but a long site inspection… In my business years in the travel industry, I must have taken a dozen dozens of these trips. Let me explain, when my clients came to America in advance of their groups, to decide which hotels they prefer, which restaurants to include, to try menus, etc.. they traveled with me as their private guide, to see for themselves and chose the venues, activities, etc… that I had suggested, being the local guy in the know… So on these site inspection trips, when I wined and dined them, showing them America, I was giving them a preview on what to expect later on when their clients, or employees, would arrive. So in essence, as I was zooming and rushing through all these countries for the past three and a half months, I was checking out all the places I would eventually come back to with the lovely wife, some day… When we will travel together finally, it will be more comfortable of course, we’ll avoid the fleabags motels and our horse will have four wheels. There are definite places that need coming back to, San Miguel de Allende for instance, Cartagena, of course Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Paraty and Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires… But that’s about it. So I traveled solo, thousands and thousands of miles on a motorcycle as a preview for a future romantic journey? When I tell that to my Lily, she calls on my baloney of course! She knows my bullshit well… It is true though that I have missed her very much on this long trek, especially at the places I know she would have loved to see and be with me… And that is why we’ll have to share in the experience of our togetherness on so many future trips. I still cannot believe she let me go for so long, I owe her so much for the freedom she gave me, you know that corny Sting’s song, if you love somebody, set them free, well she did! Thank you baby…

I guess I needed freedom for a while. I got it. Freedom to push my limits, time to be by myself, alone and ready for anything that would come my way. As I am readying myself for the flight home tomorrow, I relish in this somewhat easy accomplishment. Of course I am lucky I survived unscathed, but frankly, it wasn’t too hard. I had fun most of the times. Perched on my young colt – beast of burden, I’ve seen so much of this earth, the villages and cities and countries I recorded with my eyes are now stored in my mind forever, taking space among all the other memories, ready to pop up when called upon in future geographic conversations, yes been there done that… Is that all there is? No of course not, there were so many little happy moments, so many smiles with strangers, so much sharing with anonymous new friends, even though we’re talking only minutes here and there… In the end, I’ve loved it all. And, I’ve made peace with solitude. For the first time in my life, I was alone with my thoughts for very long periods of time, on my own for days, weeks, months… Time to reflect indeed, why am I here, where am I going, to what purpose??? The motorcycling part of it all was just an excuse to go, granted, I’m addicted to riding, but why go really? A century and a half before this time, I would have been on a horse, crossing the plains and mountains in search of a new land or whatever but surely with a definite goal in mind, and certainly not wandering the continent as a hobbyist looking for adventure…

So yes, at some point during this absence of human contact, I yearned for my love and my friendships. It’s hard sometimes to go day in and out without meaningful interactions, there’s only so much that can be shared with a Peruvian gas attendant… Miles and miles of emptiness, phantasmagoric desert scenery with no one around to share the beauty with, you have to learn how to condense these feelings within yourself when you are by yourself. Your inner self is missing the warm embrace of conversation but the show must go on. These long hours of motor roaring scenery absorbing and sky gazing let you take in all these weird and wonderful thoughts you want to remember for later recollection… So many paragraphs to write later if you remember. I’m so grateful to myself for having decided to write about all this. At first I felt a little shameful about this writing exercise. I didn’t want this to be a longer version of my postings on social media, I recognize like y’all that it should be called Bragbook, and yes I’m guilty of it, that’s bragging. I know, this can become annoying, all these photos, look I’ve been there,
I’ve done that, look what I eat! That’s a little pitiful alright. But truthfully, there are a lot of people I really like throughout the world and with whom I want to keep in touch, so I should be excused a little bit ok? Now about these words salads, well, I think I needed a new hobby. Certainly something to do for this particular trip documentation. But if I decide to continue to lay words to tell stories, this may help in fighting the deadly routine living. I think that’s what I fear most in life, complacently falling in domesticated habits… My Wednesday Petanque, my weekend skydiving, this is Tuesday, yay, farmers market! Seven pm time to get the doggie out for her last business of the day… Even though I love my life, this blessed life, I can do whatever I want, see? My lovely wife even let me go like a bandit for as long as I want… OK ok, what am I complaining about? My worst metaphysical worry is to decide what country to go next to? Really ? All right, I should take a breath and enjoy, just enjoy this, relax…

I’m wondering if others also have these feelings… This morning at the Buenos Aires airport, I had an impromptu and delightful conversation with this English man, a friend of the guy in charge of shipping America back home. Somehow we had time to waste and he started to tell me a bit about his life. He’s my age, 65, damn, I hate to say that, but he looks way older than I do… Anyway, he was saying that he’d lost his wife/companion a couple years past and now that he’s going to get a pension from the UK, he’ll want to travel all over for his remaining years, he said, yes I should have another ten good years…. I think I should have fifteen at least, lol as we say now… But that’s it, when we realize we are not young anymore, we’re looking at our own mortality and consciously or not, we’re now counting down our last years like sand falling in the dreaded hourglass…

I will be home in a couple of days, I put America on a plane this morning, finally and this will be my last entry in this first unpublished mini book. I am happy, I will hold and love my love soon. I will see my friends soon, on the petanque courts, in the sky and on the ground.. I will make an effort and reach out to all those who are dear to me, family and friends, let them know I survived, no sweat, and how lucky I feel to have them in my life… Thank you all for indulging all this, until the next mini-series, with love ;-Daniel