When I graduated from the University of Colorado in 2001, I started working for a company that makes electrical test equipment. When I first started I had fun learning about the market and all the stuff that we sell (thousands of products) but the romance quickly wore off and I started wondering what the hell I was doing with my life beyond work now that college was over. I sat down and made a big list of things I'd like to do before I kick the bucket.
I wrote down a bunch of stuff that ranges from going to the local library to doing an Ironman. The first one I crossed off? "Buy motorcycle and go on a journey." I bought my bike and went on two "journeys". My first one took me through New Mexico (White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns) and west Texas. That was in July 2003 with my buddy Arek. (Arek is a med student living in Denver.) The following year, we decided to up the stakes and do the Grand Canyon, Vegas and Death Valley. I don't know what kinda drugs we were on (Death Valley on a motorcycle in July?!) but we decided to call it quits in Vegas and head back. I loved that trip...without doubt it was one of the best times of my life.
The idea of all this long distance riding stuff came from reading a book called "Ghost Rider" by Niel Peart, the drummer for Rush. After his daughter died in a car accident and his wife from cancer, he set off on a 25,000 mile trip around North America to find a reason to keep living....not exactly light stuff. Anyhow, the idea of walking out of my apartment with a bag stuffed with clothes and a helmet, leaving everything else behind, was infectious. Talk about freedom!
I've been working on applying to b-school since about April last year (an experience in itself) and started thinking about what I wanted to do during the transition period between work and school. My first idea was totally nuts. My plan was to ship my motorcycle as far north as possible...like Prudhoe Bay, Alaska or something like that, and then drive down to the tip of Argentina and Chile. I rolled the idea over in my mind a few times but never really got that serious about it. I remember thinking..."Well, I think I can make it through Mexico, but I saw Russell Crow and Meg Ryan in Proof of Life and the Columbian FARC looks like a mean bunch of hombres. Maybe it's a better idea to stay in the Northern Hemisphere. The Canadians are more my speed." I figure I have much better odds dealing with Smokey in Alaska than with armed communist rebels. :-)
So that's where the Alaska idea came from. "Travel the Trans-Alaskan" highway is also on my big list of things to do. I'll scratch that one off soon!
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