Daryll (born 1971)I grew up and studied in South Africa where I worked in the Health Club industry. After a few years of climbing the corporate ladder, I decided to spread my wings and see what the world had to offer and moved to the UK. I was fortunate to continue in the same industry for a few more years which gave me the opportunity to travel. It was at the turn of the millennium (2000), when I managed to travel for seven continuous months through Scandinavia, Russia and down the East side of Africa. At the end of this trip, I knew that it wouldn’t be the last extended travel that I’d do.
I then moved to Toronto, Canada and started to work in the Spa industry where I met Angela. We later relocated to Vancouver and decided what better way to move across the country and purchased a mini-van, took a summer off and camped across this spectacular country. And the cycle repeats itself; by getting caught up climbing that silly corporate ladder again. Luck on my side, I managed to find work in the Spa industry, managing Spa’s and later getting involved in the manufacturing and distribution side of the business.
Angela & I married in 2005 and later that year, I purchased my 1st motorcycle. I’ve always wanted one and considering I didn’t live in one place long enough to actually own one, I thought what better time. It was a ’05 Honda CBR 600RR, a sport bike that could easily reach a top speed of around 220km/h without hesitation. I hear people cringe at this! I later sold it for something completely different, a dualsport, a ’07 BMW F650GS. A bike that could perform equally well on both paved and unpaved roads. In the summer of 2007, I took some time off work and did my first motorcycle adventure, a trip to Alaska and back, a total of about 10,000km. This was definitely not going to be the last.
Angela (born 1976)“You can take the girl out of Barrie (Ontario) but you can’t take Barrie out of the girl!” ~ Meaning I’m always up for a good-time and for new experiences, to gain a better understanding of the world and the people in it. As for including motorcycles in my raison d'être, I guess it began when Daryll started adventure touring. Even though I've always been passionate about travelling, camping and Daryll, I wasn't really excited about sitting on the back of his motorcycle for extended periods of time. I decided I'd be much more engaged if I were operating my own bike. My first few months of riding were full of tears, and getting over fears, but in the end, I too have become addicted to exploring new towns and gazing at new skies, while a myriad of changing smells (wet pavement, sweet grass, camp fires, morning dew, moss, ferns and salty ocean air) bring back a flood of memories of days gone by. These hypnotic days of riding, inspire me to think new thoughts, and make me so blissfully and utterly thankful.
Today, on this quiet morning, as I painstakingly string my sentences together, I reflect on how not having the comforts of home will affect my ability to contribute to our blog. How well will I be able to frame the truth of our experience in an internet café, on a three legged back-less stool, during rolling electricity black outs, on a keyboard with missing letters T through P? On a daily basis we will be struggling with foreign languages, finding adequate food, obtaining shelter from the blistering hot sun or grueling cold winds and missing our family, friends and loyal dog Echo. We will contend with wet clothes, cold feet, border guards, bureaucratic paperwork, bike gremlins, dehydration, and a frustrated (and quite possibly weeping) spouse.
While reading my upcoming posts, I ask that you refrain from perceiving me too harshly, as I know what sort of person I will become under the stress of travelling. As I craft my worded snapshots of our journey’s experiences, I will likely offer whiny, selfish, ungrateful ramblings and harsh judgments of people or altogether fail to express anything constructive, in a moody bout of rebellion against chaos. Please be gentle with the travelling me as I strive to understand my changing environments, and trust in the fact that I will grow to appreciate my freedom to explore and will eventually recognize that the most difficult challenges and people, will provide the most valuable lessons.
