My next walkabout.

Traditionally, a walkabout was considered to be a rite of passage for a young Aborigine man to spend a given amount of time alone in nature to both gain an intimate understanding of the world, and to come back considered an adult.

The high school I attended, the Linworth Alternative Program, had a program called Walkabout, in which for half of the senior year, we were able to spend time interning for a possible future career, help in non-profit organizations, or simply take a trip to a place we've wanted to go. We're left to set up the majority of our plans for Walkabout including housing, funds, experiences, etc. There are virtually infinite possibilities, but there are obviously limits. For clarification (lord knows you FF's need it), sitting at home would obviously not be accepted. There weren't any written rules on what we could do with our time. We chose something that inspired us, gave our reasoning behind why we thought it would be an educational experience, and it was approved, or not. Usually approved though because, at least my class, wasn't full of idiots.

My mother attended this school and chose to kayak the coast of Baja. My older sister chose to intern at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. A couple of my classmates spent time interning at a dolphin tours company in Hawaii, or a primate rescue in South Africa. I don't remember any more, but that's enough examples so whatever.

I chose to intern at a motorcycle shop owned by a couple friends in downtown Columbus, 10 miles away. I know, really going for gold here.

I remember a time near the end of my Walkabout when I was talking to my sister and I said something along the lines of "I wish I could just do Walkabout forever" and she replied with "you can!". At the time I thought it was just a nice sentiment, but in the past couple years I have realized just how discontent I am.

I graduated in 2012. Since that time, I've worked a few shitty jobs, paid some bills, had my own apartment for a while, and I'm not satisfied. I don't want to spend the rest of my life working food service or really any other job that is currently available to me. So my apartment lease ran up in February and I've been staying in my mom's basement trolling losers on the internet. I've saved up some money and will be taking my bike "out West" for hopefully at least a couple months. I've informed my current employer that I'll be quitting at the end of the month and hope to be leaving within a couple weeks after that.

What I'll be doing with this time, I don't know. I could get all cliche and say "I'll scale mountains, and return a MAN!", but neither is likely. I have a few places I plan on going but I'll probably just plan my route as I go. I also have no idea what I'll be doing when I come back home. The Air Force is a possibility.

So don't subscribe to this thread if you are looking to live vicariously through regularly updated, well written posts of perilous endeavours in Argentina. I'll probably just be using this thread to talk to myself. Or dump pictures. I mostly just wanted to get it in writing so that I can't back out.

But please feel free to leave suggestions as to great rides, beautiful places, good food (I'm on a budget though), and whatever else you have.

And so begins the journey of not-being-old-enough-to-get-into-bars!

And I'll leave a pic of the bike I'll be taking. Highway jaunts will probably need to be avoided if possible.

Spent yesterday testing the bike with all the luggage on. Cramped, slow, heavy, and lurching at constant throttle. Everything's in order.



Oh and then it rained a lot so I hid.








Sent from an iPad aspiring to be a laptop.

In! Ride safe and I hope you find what you're looking for (even if you don't know what it is yet).

I'm in.

Me too. I wish I could have done it at your age.

Either find the book or download it for your Ipad but, you need to read Mondo Enduro. It's about a group of friends that loaded up 7 DR350's and rode around the world! Don't discount your bike. It'll do everything you need it to as long as you take care of it! Good luck on your journey and ride safe!

Ahh, I watched the movie, maybe I'll get the book as material for quiet nights! I'm not too worried about the bike. I beat the crap out of it and have the skills to repair it, but I figure every single broken part or failure is perfectly justified for a 24yr old bike.

"Well it was nice working with you."
"Yeah I would imagine so."

And that's when I was struck with the sudden realization of exactly why I don't have any friends.

Enjoying my first weekend off in roughly 6 or more months with plenty of riding. I'll be doing this ride tomorrow. Planning on leaving in roughly about approximately a week and a half from now after my last paycheck comes in.

I, too, wish I had started the trip when I was your age.. so good luck with your trip, wherever you are gonna go!

Question: What is the # of pelican case you have on top rack? It looks like a perfect one I will need to storage my Macbook and few other things such as camera and so on. Thanks!

Not a pelican case, cheap knock off. Currently they're on backorder but they have a few different sizes and I'm sure you could find something similar. I've not heard good things about keeping laptops in boxes. They apparently self destruct from the vibration. I don't think a camera would be an issue, but I'd probably recommend keeping the laptop in a backpack.

Thanks for the reply and the price seems reasonable.. I didn't know there were bad cases of having laptop in box causing it to break from vibrates and all.. I rode TAT 2 years ago and my laptop (inside laptop bag) was in pelican case.. and it survived the whole trip.. haha I guess it depends on how you pack? Anyway, thanks for the head-up because now that's something to be aware of.

Skills refresher complete. I didn't bring a camera which is probably good because there was a thin layer of dust over every surface of the bike and myself. So these pics are stolen from Krumgrinder and B-mac.

Dicked around and ate into my savings more than I would have liked. Also probably quit a little earlier than I should have. It's strange how having no priorities makes everything seem like it needs to be finished first.

I think I'll need to leave within the next couple days if I want it to last long enough to be remembered.

Chased down a squeak in the suspension last night. Continued the project this morning and found one of the worst things I could find.



A chain or two in 1,000 were neglected to be tensioned and ate through the swingarm and got all the way to the bearing. The bearing rotates albeit poorly. What I need is an entirely new swingarm but that's not exactly in my plans. I'm going to do the best I can with it, but it seems the problems are suddenly piling up trying to prevent me from leaving.

This is why I love this website. Hopefully I'll have a swingarm waiting in California for me. Now I just have to get the bike back together and get on the road.

This is from yesterday but didn't want to leave without a picture.

Plus you don't want to see it right now. I dont even want to.

Hey man,

I just wanted to say, that I think I get where you're coming from. I'm starting to find myself in a similar position. I love my day job and the volunteer firefighting gig that I do on the side. I'd say I'm pretty happy... but I'm not content.

Good luck with your walkabout,

Chris -CJ5K

Well I guess we're in the same boat, but the fact that I hated my job was what prompted me to make a change.

Thanks for the wishes.

Welp, that's over with.

All packed and ready. Only thing now is to do some route planning. I'm trying to avoid the majority of the heat for now. My loose itinerary is meeting the 90 near Chicago, and taking it to somewhere around Yellowstone. After which, taking the coastal route down to Southern California. Then, after getting my needed parts, heading back East a ways, ready to tackle back country.

I probably won't leave tomorrow. I like the day prior to a trip to be easy and uneventful. Besides, I'd like to fit in my last haircut and shower for god-knows-how-long.



Riding a crippled dirt bike across the U.S. Just makes me laugh thinking about it.

Looks like camping the first few nights will suck. Hardly any camp sites and the ones there are, cost ~$30 all said and done.


I sense a few Wal-Mart parking lots in my future.