Picking up from where I left off 7 months ago...

RTW ‘Take 1’ took several months of planning and prep. It started, and ended, in March 2020.  :(

In total denial, I left Seattle on March 13th thinking I’d never see it again (we were selling the house, moving to Tucson.)

I made it all the way… to  Oregon, one state away. With California closing down, a WHO certified Pandemic, a crashing economy, and a family (mine) that would be better off sheltering together than apart, it was time to accept reality. This RTW trip was over, at least for now.

Sticking around Oregon, though, was attractive. I hated the thought of going back to Seattle. Not after all those months of preparation.

I found a bargain-priced Airbnb cottage in the tiny community of Rockaway Beach, Oregon. The beach—with huge rock formations, tidal pools, and surfable waves--was only a 100 yards away.

“Come on down!” I told my wife and boys. If we had to quarantine, at least we’d do it in this amazing place. What an end-run I’d pulled. I felt a bit smug.

However, the next day, a swarm of spring breakers arrived from Portland and swamped the beaches, the parks, over a long weekend. They ignored the signs, huddled together around bonfires, and reverted to pre-covid behavior.

The locals went ballistic. Community meetings were held, town councils met, and by Sunday, resolutions were in place up and down the coast: Visitors not welcome—Get out now!

I didn’t blame them, but it still hurt.   My landlord called and told me to be out of my monthly rental by noon the next day.   In the local paper, the sheriff was quoted saying he’d go door to door to check that no one remained.  

So back to Seattle on a freezing and slushy day I went. Depressed inside, cold on the outside, fingers so numb that I suffered some minor frostbite, my RTW was over.

For us as a family the pandemic turned out to be in part a blessing. I missed my trip but bonded more, worked through some issues with my two 20-year-old boys. It was still a roller-coaster, but we ended up in a better place than we were before.

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I never gave up on the RTW.    I’ve just been waiting for things to normalize, whatever that means during these times, to get back on the road. 

So now, with my sons back at college, and wife pushing to get to Tucson,  I’m not delaying anymore.    A surging coronavirus,  a US civil war, wildfires, near flying asteroids be damned—I’m out of here!        

Plus, the highway’s open and visitors are tolerated—in some places even welcome—along the way.  It’s an easy leg to cover, one of the very few possible,  in these times of No trespassing/ Keep out signs that countries have erected worldwide. 

I’ll take Highway 101/ Route 1 for much of the way, hugging the Pacific Coast through Oregon and California. If it’s possible, I’ll cross over to Tijuana, and then turn left and ride across the desert to Tucson.   I'm not going to rush it though, I'll visit some friends along the way, soak up the sunsets, and make time for what I hope will be long conversations with friendly strangers along the way.

After that, I’m hoping that by January either Mexico to Argentina, or a route through Europe, or the way across Russia, will be possible.     I own two Honda CRF250s, one with me now, and one in storage with the MotoFreight* guys in London. So I’m ready to go, at least on two continents, wherever the world opens up first. 

I hope I’m not the only one trying to do this during these crazy times. I don’t want to be the only fool on the road.   

* MotoFreight: These wonderful, experienced, knowledgeable folks handle motorcycle shipping around the world. They were helping me get my bike from the UK to Cape Town when the Pandemic hit and I had to cancel. They then provided storage for me—and for many other stranded riders’ bikes—for free!   If you use them, you’ll find they respond immediately and are sincerely interested in providing the best, lowest cost solution available.   Motofreight.com