2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

Wanderlust definition: A strong desire to wander. Not necessarily needing to go anywhere in particular, just not wanting to stay in one spot.  Wanderlust, for me, isn't just about getting on a plane, as it is for some. For me, wanderlust is about going, doing, seeing, and exploring the unknown. Completely submerging myself into unknown territory, unknown cultures, and unfamiliar experiences. I have seen amazing things and met amazing people along the way.  I don't travel to run away from anything. I travel to run WITH something. Something that is bigger than I am. Every single day, I day dream about traveling. Before I fall asleep, when I am riding or driving somewhere, when scanning social media, during phone conferences, while making something to eat, literally every day, I am living in Wanderlust.  Brains are wired to remember new and novel things and experiences. Instead of just reveling in those moments, I am constantly on the hunt for more. I have retained the same ...

L ast weekend , I had a much needed, unplanned 3 day days of riding to reset my mind.  I left Thursday after work from MN and had to be back home Sunday evening. I didn't have a destination, aside from looking at the weather radar and deciding to head south and west because, well, that's where the sun was!  I hit the Iowa border just as nightfall started to creep in, which lead to an amazing sunset up ahead. From Thursday at 4:30pm thru Sunday at 9pm, I rode 1,970 miles thru 7 states. And I came back feeling like a new human!!!  I don't prefer to ride at night, but I don't let night stop me from going. I like to get behind a faster moving vehicle and 'borrow' their headlights along the way. Everyone always says, "Look for deer!".. to which I always reply, "And then what?". I don't blatantly look for deer. I know they are out there, but I don't intentionally LOOK for them...because the end result is the same whether I know they are the...

 Summer is so short, I try to make the best of it. Sometimes I think if I have a free weekend, I should stay home, relax, hang out, see (non-biker) friends. But then, as that weekend nears, I just have to go! Two wheels literally call my name at any given second and I simply can't walk past the three bikes in my garage on a nice weekend day, simply to relax, when riding IS relaxing to me. So, two weeks after Sturgis, I had an open weekend. I tried to stay home and get stuff done, and I made it through a Friday night. But by midnight on that Friday, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to roam. I googled "Live music in the USA this weekend", and I found an outdoor social distance concert at the I80 speedway in Nebraska. Good enough! Rodney Atkins was playing - in less than 24 hours from the moment I found it on google. It was only a 7 hour ride to get there. A quick weather check confirmed my idea was solid gold! I sent out a late night memo to the girls to see if anyone ...

 The biker community is one of a kind - filled with people from every background - all genuinely there for one another, whether complete stranger or not. Case in point - my buddy was on his way to Sturgis when his wheel bearings on his 2002 Victory V92C went out and shredded his back tire. He was 200 miles from the destination (Sturgis). He found a shop for the bike, but they didn't have a wheel for him. He managed to get a ride from the shop, all the way to Sturgis, from a couple who lived near the bike shop. But then, he was bike-less. His girlfriend let him use her bike and she jumped on the back of my bike. There had to be a way to help him out - so I went onto Facebook and put a shout out to anyone near Sturgis who might happen to have or know where to find a rear tire for his bike. Within an hour, someone tagged someone in my post, who happened live 10 miles out of Sturgis and who happened to have a rear wheel for his bike. What are the odds??  The next challenge was fig...