September 19, 2018 – With only a week and a half before we begin, there seems an overwhelming number of things to be done. Hopefully, we get to most of these things before September 30 when we plan on heading out. There are piles of things in the bedroom and in our “basement packing area”, likely more than we can take! As a Type 1 diabetic, packing stacks of “stuff” for pen needles, insulin supplies, glucose monitor, etc, all seems to take up more space than it should. My only comfort is that along the way as I use things up I might find myself with a little bit more room to spare.

This weekend coming up (aside from working a few events as part of the University of Alberta’s Alumni Weekend! ) will see the careful double-checking of packing lists to  ensure we don’t leave any important things behind – sunglasses? malaria pills? corkscrew? We have our priorities! Hopefully we don’t run out of space or overlook too many things we will need along the way.

August  18, 2018 – Lots of work being done! New rubber, bearings, brake pads, heated grips, and throttle locks. It is a very good thing Tony is handy! We are six weeks from departure and we’re starting to feel a bit of pressure.

 

However our usual traveling companion, Jeremiah is ready to go. He’s always pretty laid back, is well organized, and is looking forward to our adventures.

 

June 2018 – We loaded up our bikes and headed to British Columbia for a 2-week test ride.

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For this trip we packed as if we were leaving for South America to test our selections and packing abilities. We didn’t leave any really critical items behind and we found a few that we probably won’t really need to take with us.

Good news – all of our rain gear worked.

Points to ponder – why does every electronic device have a different cable to charge it?

Thinking about this trip – The idea to ride from Canada to Mexico, Central and South America was planted in 2013 when we took a tour (https://www.horizonte-tours.com/ ) from San Carlos de Bariloche to Ushuaia. Great tour guide and company, great places to stay, fabulous food, and excellent pisco sours most evenings! And some amazing country to ride through. We also spent time visiting Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Santiago, and Valparaiso, although these trips were not by motorbike. There is so much more to see!

So we’ve been talking about making this trip for a couple of years, we negotiated time from our respective jobs (thank you to our employers!) so we can go on an adventure for 4 months. As we make plans it seems 4 months won’t be long enough! However, we are very grateful for the time we have.

How far will we get? We don’t know yet – our plan is to meet my brother in Tucson on October 5 and ride together through Mexico and Central America. Somewhere along the way, he will head off on his own to meet his goal of being in Ushuaia for New Year’s Eve. Tony and I will take our time without a destination in mind. We don’t want to rush, especially as “we’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt”. We will see where we get to in early January 2019 and will start making plans then to ship ourselves and the bikes home for the end of the month.