Så småt igang.

Jeg er nu påbegyndt forberedelsen af næste etape.

Mit nye telt er købt via nettet i Tyskland - et Tatonka Greenland 2.

Ruten rundt i USA begrænser sig til ca. 9000 km i de vestlige stater - hovedsageligt i Rocky Mountains området.

Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay og Brasilien udsteder 90-dages visa ved grænsen.
Belize giver 30-dages visa, men Honduras og El Salvador vurderer ved grænsepassagen, hvor mange dages visa de vil udstede.
Ingen af landene kræver et Carnét.

Af vaccinationer mangler jeg kun vaccinen mod gul feber.
Alm. malari-piller køber jeg i USA.

Jeg har indtil nu kørt rundt med en værksteds-reparations håndbog (kopi), men den er for omfattende og teknisk, så da jeg lige har tjekket markedet igen og opdaget, at tyskerne har udgivet en alm. reparaturanleitung for Suzuki dl 650 v strom, er den bestilt.

De 9000 km i USA forsøger jeg at køre på de nuværende dæk og kæde - så skifter jeg til TKC 80-dæk og fornyer kædekittet, inden kursen sættes mod Latinamerika.

Horizons unlimited

Jeg har lige mailet med Eddie og Louise - et canadisk par jeg mødte i Yukon Territoriet.
"Ed-n-Lou" kalder de sig - hun er hans 3. kone.

Hver gang mine tanker går til Ed-n-Lou, kommer James Richmonds smukke tekst også frem i mit sind - for specielt Eddie og hans liv "er" teksten.

Food for thought


'Why do you do it?' friends often ask, perplexed,
Brows raised, minds sorely vexed.
'The world out there is dangerous!
Aren't you scared? Why do this?
You need steady work, a house, two cars!
You have only a motorbike, and sleep under stars!'


Dear friend, if you must ask, you cannot know
This curiosity that drives me so.
To you it is hidden; in me rises unbidden!
But one day the world I'll have ridden
By iron steed, then perhaps this need
Will have vanished, finally vanquished!
That day will find me on deathbed,
With no regrets for the life I led.


Will you be able to say the same?
Or will you despair a life worn plain?


I will stake my Himalayan memories
Against your estate of a thousand trees.
Pit my Thai sunset
Against your private jet.
Weigh my horse rides at sunrise
To your Italian suits and ties.
I'll rejoice in friends before I go,
Not the figures of my stock portfolio.


And, amazingly, there are more like me;
They reject slavery, and are truly free.
They took the chance we all had,
And honestly it makes me sad
That you didn't.
You thought you couldn't...
What?
Live without the luxuries
Of all our modern amenities?
You choose the bonds of mortgage, but claim to be free,
Wasting a lifetime absorbed by TV.
Why watch it? but live it!
One life's all you get!


Don't put off 'til morrow and continue to borrow
The lives of strangers; 'tis the greatest of dangers
To the soul
Which grows old
Before its time.


Hercules, Columbus,
Guevara, Odysseus,
Champlain, Agamemnon,
The list goes on...
What have they in common?
Regardless man or god,
The soil of continents they trod,
Not in search of gold but adventure!
Not growing old 'cause they ventured
Far from safety; but far be it from me
To Judge...


The pitiless pity us
With souls black pitted.
Pray! save it for those less spirited.
For us... our horizons are unlimited.


by James Richmond, Canada