Getting Ready

When I was a little bit younger my alarm would pierce the darkness at 4:30 a.m. and by 4:40 I'd be out the the door en route to a distant climbing site. Actually I was en route to Dunkin' Donuts because it could always be easily arranged that one of these fine establishments was ALWAYS on the way to any climbing site in the northeastern US. (and yes, they are open that early). As it turns out, preparing and planning for a ride to South America isn't quite that easy. The quick recipe is: come up with loads of dough, buy a motorcycle, become a motorcycle mechanic, learn Spanish (didn't do so well at this one), buy maps, buy guidebooks, become more of a tech junkie, get some shots in your arm that make you feel like crap for a week, learn about the current events in 12 countries, figure out which comes first Peru or Bolivia, become a neat freak so you can actually fit all of the junk you probably wont need on your bike, ride the bus alot cause' you sold your truck and bought a motorcycle in the middle of winter, say yes anytime anyone says do you want to work on anything, pretend you lost your license, registration , and title so they'll give you new ones, and maybe the most important...break in your motorcycle boots so you can walk more than ten feet before your heels are bleeding.

And then, if you want to know what really makes a trip like this one come to fruition look around at all of those people around you that offer you their love and support.