Question...
“When you finish a long adventure ride, have you experienced strong emotions that you hadn’t planned on? If so, what were they and why?”
-- Michael Boton (from the LinkedIn online forum 'motorcycle journalists')
Many years ago, at age 43, I took three months off and rode 17K miles from Minnesota to Mongolia and back, via Siberia, China and Japan. I experienced this ride with another rider and learned a lot about myself, geopolitics and people. (1, 2 and 3…)
At a basic level, I gained increased proficiency in many ‘adventure’ riding and camping technical skills, since most of the Asian parts of the trip involved long days of dirt roads, trails and rail line right-of-way’s, plus weeks and weeks of continuous camping. A lot of work but tremendously fun.
Meeting daily-encountered-strangers as half of a pair of travelers was also a great self-awareness learning experience. Watching how people responded to each of us was a kind of comparative case-study experience which would never happen if one was a lone rider or were traveling among a larger group.
Returning home brought what felt almost like a secret (and maybe childish?) kind of superiority, though not in a condescending way. For a couple of weeks processing all the familiar routines of everyday life was a bit more vivid.
Lastly, every additional night I slept in my little tent caused it to become a larger and larger dwelling. By the end of the three-month trip it had grown in size to feel like almost a mansion, with abundant space for my every possession, thought and activity. This still occurs -- even after only a night or two on the road, and also when wilderness camping.
Your little tent, and all it contains, becomes almost a palace.
--- Mr. Subjective, 2-14
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