Epilogue

It's now a couple of days that we are home again and friends and family have asked questions such as "would you do that again?" or "why did you do that?", and the answer is not a quick one.  Why did we, or better I ever got the idea to travel with the motrcycle to Alaska?  Was it perhaps that I watched to much of the Discovery Channel's series "Alaska, The Last Frontier", was it perhaps Ewan McGregor's and Charley Boorman's "Long Way Round", I don't know.   What I do know, is that sometime last year after our return from Nova Scotia the idea was on the table, and since no resistance from my wife came up it manifested itself in a steady planning and preparation process.  Not sure about the endeavor itself with my new bike, which was considerably heavier than my old one, and still I didn't feel one with it, I asked the question sometimes myself.  But I was determined, and knew that I will "beat the beast" and that we will be friends at the end of the day.  Now there have been many opinions and views on why one travels, and I would be lying in not admitting that some sort of adventure was also part of it, but it was foremost the opportunity to travel across the United States of America and Canada and to see a huge part of those two countries.  Even so we had been traveling the US a lot already, the western part still has a great attraction to us and so it was clear that we would spend a lot of time in the West and "rush" through the East and Central portion of the country.  The motorcycle by all means of transportation is still the best suited vehicle to travel.  Not only that this vehicle will immediately spark interest from strangers when you park it and opens conversations with local people as to where you come from, where you're going, why and how long, and much more, it also lets you be much more connected with the environment you traveling through.  And I don't mean that you are not sitting in a protected cabin when it rains, but the elevated seat position allows for a much better view of the surroundings, one smells the air unfiltered, one feels the wind, one is "in touch" with the land.  It provides a unique and direct experience, one perhaps only a cyclist can share too ( by the way, those people are my heros who do journeys like that by sole muscle power).  The motorcycle also let's you bond with other riders much easier, people who come from where you're going, or have a nearby or the same destination as oneself, we share information about the road, the weather, gas stations and places to rest, conversations never ever happen when traveling by car.  We ride together some distance, split, and perhaps meet again somewhere at a later time, a loose bond of people sharing the same passion of traveling by motorcycle and enjoying the wast country wer're riding in.  We also decided on tenting as much as possible, and only using a motel in extreme need or when unavoidable, not only to keep our budget in check, but of the opportunity to interact with people and to share our experience.  And it has been the right decision and a great experience, meeting people not only giving you advise and tips on what to see and where to travel too, but meeting people in the midst of pouring rain offering you their hospitality to have a hot shower and to dry out, to join them for dinner, and without any thoughts of personnel advantages, just plain helpful and friendly, a virtue not very often found anymore in our hectic business world.  Those people, total strangers when first met, we became instantly friends of a special kind, a special bond only this kind of travel provides.  Of course we have seen a lot of those two big countries, different landscapes with glaciers millions of years old, forests with trees several hundred or close to thousand years old, wildlife of different kind on the ground, in the water, and in the air.  We have seen great country, we have seen great emptiness, we have seen great cities, we have seen small settlements, poverty and wealth, and so may other images which will be in our memories forever.  We have experienced dimensions we had no idea of how big is Big, how far is Far, how wide is Wide.  We also have met people living in this country, First Nation People, Farmers, Vacationers, ordinary people making their living one way or the other, Adventurers, Gold Miners, and many others.  And it was interesting listening to their stories, where they came from, what they were doing and how they see their country, a place we only visited for a short time, of which we only could get a climpse, a snapshot in time.  Even so the museums in many of those towns provided a good view into past and development of the place, the stories told gave a different aspect and personal touch to it, and made it much more connected.
Now as we have returned one asks has all this changed the traveler.  And the answer is "of course it has", otherwise we have traveled with closed eyes.  It has opened our eyes to be more sensitive to our surroundings, to respect nature, to be more in harmony with your environment. It showed us that less can be more, that riches are not measured in collaterals, that happiness is in the simplest things.  We also achieved some things we are pretty proud of ourselves, personal achievements of special significance, and that combined with the impressions of the total journey, the answers are definitely Yes, we would do it again, and It was a great idea to do it.

“... we’ve come this far, & people’s faces have changed & people’s houses have changed, & people’s beliefs may have changed, but ultimately we’re not any different from one another, you know? we all love our kids, we all need somewhere to sleep, we all need some food… we’re not all that different.”  - Ewan McGregor, Long Way Round

Ralph & Elke Mayer, Granby, CT 2014

PS: Stats and other Info still to follow