No job. No woman No dog No brats No house No furniture No money (No tengo trabajo, mujer, perro, tonto niños pequeños, casa, muebles, dinero) And, "I ain't got no friends, and all the others, they hate me!" What else is there to do but to head to South America? My budy Nate has been trying to get me to go along with him all year. My reply was pretty consistent - "ah dude, I gots a good job. Maybe next year?" We got a new VP where I used to work. Not long after he got there I got an email - "Arno, let's have a chat tomorrow." Lol, being a veteran of the Oracle Wars, I knew exactly what this meant, so I cleaned out some crap out of my desk and went home. Sure enough, the next day he, the HR rep, and I are sitting in a little office and he says "Sorry Arno, but I've eliminated your department, so you have to go." and he then got up and left me alone with the HR rep. She was a little distressed and feeling really bad for me. I told her, "are you kidding, don't feel bad, I'm going to South America!" Nate, I'm comin' to South America with you, buddy! My ex-company gave me a pretty kickin' severance package, so the next step was to find a suitable bike. I chose the new BMW F800GS. I started a blog here about it. I haven't updated it much but I might move the info over to my current blog, here. This will be my first ride report that I will maintain in real-time. Up until now they've all been after-the-fact. Let's see how this works. I'm leaving next weekend from Portland, OR, to Dallas, then Houston, then Presidio, Texas, where I'll cross into Mexico and head for Copper Canyon. Then I'll head back to the US/Mexico border to pick up Nate. Pretty much after that I'll be navigating by compass point. The only hard schedule I have is to make the sailboat in Panama to get to Colombia in time for the Colombia Libre party. That's one party I am not going to miss. I'll beat-feet for Ushia/Tierra del Fuego before it gets too cold, but after that, who knows. I'm hoping to spend a couple of years down there. I'm sure I've read every word of every trip report on CA and SA, but regardless, I will sure welcome any and every comment/tip/advice that anyone throws my way. Hablo un pocito espanol and I study everyday (so help en espanol is welcome, too!), and I'm pretty fluent in German (but I don't suspect that will help much). Lay it on me brothers and sisters! My brain is already hurting.
Sub-fuggin-scribed. Be well. You will be missed around these parts. Keep my number - you need help with a part or anything else - give me a call.
Drrags So you sold the dirt bike, Jeep and trailer too? Glad to see you are packed and ready to ride. We talked about your upcoming adventure at SALARR in Colorado. Ride safe and long, brother. Practica diario su Espanol con las chicas bonitas, y las feas tambien. On the way home from SALARR I decide the 1150GS was not exactly right for me for SouthAmerica. Sold it and bought an 1150GS Adventure in Minnesota. Now I have the wheels to catch up with you in Ushuaia. My plans are still to get there late January 2010. Hope to meet up with you down there, share a beer or two, with stories. If you need a place to stay in Houston, or place to change oil, tires or whatever, let me know. Can set up both for you. CCjon Jan Daub cell phone: 361-EightOneThree-7374
Only advice I have without dredging up the photo is.... Keep your fucking clothes on if there is a camera within 10 miles.... no, really... But other than that take lots of pics (with you wearing clothes and the hot chicks optional) I know you are going to have a fantastic time. +1 on what Sean said... keep my number too and it you need anything, we will do what we can to make it happen. Listen to your spidey senses... trust your instincts, and take a bath from time to time (without a camera present thank you very much). You probably already know about seperating your money, credit cards and making copies of your documentation and having an extra bike key or three. Stay hydrated... consider taking a water filter and purifier. Take a case of Immodium with you I'll miss having you around to pester with calls from time to time. I could hold onto that Huskey for you and excercise it from time to time of you want I think we still need to have a send off party... Subscribed and looking forward to sharing your adventure
Nice situation! That musta been some severance package. I'm leaving for a couple months by moto myself. I've still got a silly job, and no severance packages, so I gotta come back. Too bad. Maybe next time I won't have to come back. Way to turn lemons to lemonaid!
Nicht wirklich. And most of those who will understand (*) are the ones you should've avoided in the first place. (* – excluding fellow riders whom you may meet on the road, of course.) Sounds like a great plan. Godspeed! (Now where's my @#$%ing popcorn??!? I know I set it down right here, next to my keyboard.)
Have fun Arno, we'll miss you around here. I'll be keeping an eye on this and clicking on the blog ads. Good luck in Texas too.
Stop on by again on your way to DFW if you need anything. I didn't know you were headed back to the U.S. border to hook up with Nate - if I can work a week away to join you for the Copper portion with sheep shagger... you think you look depressed in those pictures.
Awesome! I am in the midst of my similar plan. Though, being more transient and a contract worker, no parting gift for me. So I will split Mexico and CA north of the Darien into one trip and leave America Sur for another year. Sounds like you have planned thoroughly, and even liaised with those who have gone before. I am envious of your new steed, and I hope it is the perfect companion for this trip. Perhaps we will cross paths on this trip. I am in Mexico, and will probably be in Guatemala until late September, in escuela de espanol. Buen suerte!
Hey my friend I will be following along on your not so sojourn. While you are South of the equator I will get things in order and make plans for a trip to Whitefish when you return. Be safe, have fun and RIDE RIDE RIDE.
Be safe and have fun! The PNW will miss you for sure Now, on with the preplanning, packing stuff part.....
Wow, look what I woke up to this morning! Thanks for all of the comments and support so far, I really appreciate it! What a motivator to write a quality report. I won't let y'all down. Damm straight I'm keeping the numbers, you just never know... CCJon, good move on the bike swap, and it would be killer to cross paths with you down there. How cool would that be? Mr Fisherman, I will get naked at some point on this trip, and I have two video cameras on the bike and three hand-helds. Yes, naked and embarressing will be the name of the game here. Brad21 - most people don't like pictures of themselves, but that one is probably my all time favorite picture. I have to laugh everytime I see it. Thanks Thanks again, all of you
I read that report. Try to keep the rubber side down this time OK? I'd hate to see you destroy a perfectly nice BMW like you did your KTM.
I have two POV.1 video cameras mounted on the bike. One facing forward and one facing rearwards. I had naively thought of posting a lot of cool video to the RR as I progress, thinking I would use my Blackberry as a tethered modem to the laptop. Man, did that turn out to be a bad idea. I had no idea just how messed up the cell phone situation would turn out to be. So, I've abandoned that particular technique. My second thought was to wardrive my way down (wardriving is intercepting wireless), but that turned out to be a little more complex than I'm willing to endure. Now, I don't know this first-hand of course, but I keep reading about how crappy the internet cafes are - slow speeds, constant disconnects, no available computers or connections, etc. So... I'm hoping I can hook up with people along the way who have decent connections that I can borrow to get the vids up. I won't know how I'll be able to repay, but I'm sure we can work something out. Any volunteers? Or am I wrong about my perception?
Arno, here's wishing you safe travels and Great Adventures. We PNWet FFs will miss your company, and envy your travels. Post often- inquiring minds want to know. And, don't be gone forever.
connections aren't terrible. I was able to get solid connections at 90% of the internet cafes we stopped at- both to download videos and to upload pictures.