#37 10,000 kilometres - Reece

For a long time before this trip we talked about the trip. So long in fact that it only became that, talking about the trip. Even after I'd quit my job, packed up the bike and even got on the plane, it didn't seem real. I couldn't believe we were actually doing the trip as all we'd ever done was talk about it. Then all of a sudden, you're on a windy backroad, in the hot afternoon sun, on the otherside of the world, not a person in sight and I´m suddenly thinking,holy shit, I'm really on a motorbike in South America.

So after 10,000km, what have I learnt?


I've come to fully appreciate my own insignificance in the world driving through the vastness of Patagonia. You look over a hill and look down on an infinity of flat land, where the horizon joins the land before anything rises out of the ground. You're on straight roads that go on seemingly forever, all the while the Andes stand next to you looking tall and imposing. Land stretches so far as you can see, different weather systems working across the land, pockets of rain, pockets of sun, thunderstorms in the distance. You feel alone in the middle of nowhere, but it's wonderful to experience.

Travelling on motorbike is all about extremes; it's a rare day when you're actually comfortable. We've driven in freezing temperatures, where I couldn't open and close my hands from the handle bars, where you pray for a petrol station just to get something hot to drink. We've driven in boiling hot temperatures, where the wind doesn't cool you down no matter how fast you go, where you pray for a petrol station just for something cold. We've driven in total about 2000km of gravel, with stretches so long you forget what pavement is like and all you pray for is a slightly better kind of gravel. We've driven through wind, oh the Patagonian wind, where your neck hurts from holding your head up, your arms hurt, your back hurts, all from battling to keep the bike upright. I won't even go into battling snow, rain and fog.

But it's amazing. Every day I feel lucky and blessed by what we get to see and experience. On a motorbike you get a full visual perspective.

You see everything through a visor, you experience the smells, the weather, the environment. You might have to drive for hours to get to the main spots, but you see things, stay at places and meet people that you'd never see in a 13 hour overnight bus. Our journey has been made by the places that you can't get to without a car or motorbike. On a desert pampa parked by the side of the road having lunch by wild horses, camping in a National Park on a lake with not a person in sight, stopping for a break and meeting locals who look like they've never seen a tourist before. 

If you are thinking of a trip, do it on a motorbike, if not on a motorbike, in a car.


It's interesting on how people talk about 'finding yourself' while travelling, something I've never understood. But looking at it now, I think what travel does is provide greater perspective by showing opportunities and possibilities. 


You see ways you could live your life through the places you visit and people you meet. That's not to say you won't go back to the same place and the same job, but you've been shown the 'what ifs'. And that there is a world of possibilities.

On a less deeper note one thing I'd never thought I would have to deal with is Charlotte falling asleep on the bike. It usually begins with a tap, tap, tap, on the back of the helmet before a full blown headbut to the back of my head as she falls asleep. And nowhere is safe - crossing the Andes, zig zagging on the edge of a cliff with giant trucks passing us on blind corners. Driving past stunning lakes and mountains. Gravel roads where I can barely keep the bike up. You name it Charlotte's probably almost slept through it.


On a final note, any travel is made with music. TV show's have theme songs, well my trip has a themesong. The song is Coldplay 'Life in Technicolour ii' - it always makes me feel good and puts me in the moment to enjoy the drive. Music helps lift the mood, add excitment and most often just makes you think: 'this fucking rocks.' Imagine coming over a hill and looking down on this huge lake that stretches forever with huge mountains on the side as Arcade Fire 'Wake Up' kicks off.

I could go on and on but if this gets to long, no one will read it (that's hoping that anyone reads it now). I feel lucky to be on this journey and excited for the next milestone - I suppose that's 25,000km. I'll finish in the words of another, 'these are the days of miracles and wonder.'

Wait a second, I can't believe I almost wrote this and didn't mention my beard, which is awesome. It's patchy, different colours and I am mostly described as Tom Hanks from Castaway, but I wake up every day loving it. If nothing else is enjoyable on the trip, I`ll still be happy as I got to grow (well attempt to grow) a beard. Did I mention the ladies also love the beard.