January 14, 2009

My first blog



I'm the man on the mountain, come on up. I'm the plowman in the valley with a face full of mud. Yes, I'm fumbling and I know my car don't start. Yes, I'm stumbling and I know I play a bad guitar.

What a great start to a new year! So I finally rolled back home to Hotlanta last night after 3 months of meandering through the northwest. It was kind of surreal to finally pull into my parents house with the Subaru that has been my home base for the past 3 months. I finally unloaded the rubber totes, folded the curtains one last time and placed them to rest on top of the spare tire. It's time to do something different! Although as I was unpacking my bags last night, I kept having memories from my road trip flashing through my head. What an awesome 3 months...here's the first set's shenanigans.

Anchorage -> Barge -> Seattle -> Portland -> Eugene, Redwoods -> San Fran -> Redwoods -> Tahoe, Salt Lake -> Moab, Denver -> New Orleans -> Anchorage -> Denver -> Vegas (after a few hurdles and one large boulder) -> Denver -> Atlanta -> Denver -> Louisville -> Atlanta. Some serious sandwiches....here's some
pictures.

On to the second set...so in 3 days, I've got a one way ticket to Bangkok. The plan is to cruise around SE Asia for the first month and a half; climb and explore through Thailand and Laos. Then in early March, my buddy Charlie and I are going to shoot down to Singapore and pick up our bicycles that we've been tweaking for the past few months. Then we begin pedaling towards Laos, where we will reunite with Spencer and Breckan (who are currently teaching English in Bangkok). Then we will join pedaling forces; stand in a circle and touch our chosen pedals together and out of a whirlwind of smoke, summon Captain Planet...well not exactly that cool but you get the idea, we're going to pedal further. So we've kind of adopted a philosophy of no preconcieved routes or schedules.....well more like a kind of hot spot/push pin tour with no concrete route or schedule getting there. The kind of play it by ear mentailty that is lacking in too many bicycle tours in my opinion. i.e. If we arrive in Tajikistan and beautiful women greet us with palm leaves and peeled grapes, we might just stay for a while (just an example). Anywho, I'm excited about the simple interactions with people, breaking the language barrier with a smile, swimming on pristine beaches, seeing and riding through extremely cool terrain, eating a diversity of international food, riding elephants, getting in shape, laughing, getting to know Charlie, Spenc and Breck, and the list goes on. So that's the idea behind the blog. I'll update this with pictures and stories as the travels unfold. And sorry if my writing sucks...it's the engineer in me.

3 comments:

  1. Hey Kyle!!!! Wow, have fun. I am so excited for you! For sure it's great that you keep up posted!... I wish for you to be greeted by beautiful women with palm leaves and peeled grapes in every village you will visit!!!! Have fun and enjoy your self!
    Sending you lots of luv and warm thoughts! xxxx

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  2. You certainly have a way with the English word Kyle. Who knows what this adventure will do for you/to you but you are bound to soak up everything there is to soak up about what lies ahead. I look forward to checking in with you to hear what you are up to. "Via Con Dios" my friend. big hug - not too big - ouch
    Katie L

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  3. You have done well in the past and are bound to do better in the future. May the force be with you old man.
    The young one.

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