Happiness. A word full of words, an emotion trapped within a smile, a glint of light reflected on the subtle wrinkles of our eyes, a deep rooted tickle, so difficult to grasp. – D.L.C.L.

I’m not really sure where it all began, probably after watching Che’s Motorcycle Diaries and discussing it with a couple of friends. Even though none of us had ever ridden a motorcycle, we would dream of riding south to the lower tip of the world in search of adventure, discussing how many bikes where needed, what was the best route, how we would save up for the trip, and eventually would set a tentative departure date. That day would come and go, and our lives just kept on going, some got married, others moved on, but we all still dreamt of that trip.

Still, every now and then we get the gears going again, although it always turns into one making fun of the other for not having the time, the money, or the liberty to take such trip, and the topic just dissipates into another tentative departure date. I guess the older you get, the less control you have over destiny. The decisions you or someone else makes for you earlier on in life are bound to have a great impact on the years to come.

With that in mind, let me make a decision right now, I will ride the mighty Yamaha from New York, down the Pan American Highway as far as I can go in an effort to bring our dream trip to reality.

The “Route”

Honestly I don’t have exact coordinates of where i’m heading, all I know is I want to hit the following countries in this general order:

NY ~> Mexico ~> Guatemala ~> El Salvador ~> Honduras ~> Nicaragua ~> Costa Rica ~> Panama ~>…. (Darien Gap)… ~> South America

Most of this route shares a main artery called the Pan-American Highway (CA1 or CA2) but in an effort to submerge myself into the different cultures I will try to stick to local roads where possible.

Latin America has had some really bad rep in the past years as it struggles with drug trafficking, gangs, unemployment, corrupt governments and more. I will dedicate part of this trip to sharing with the world how beautiful these countries are, how nice their people are, and how small the dark side is when you look at everything as a whole.

The Steed

I will be riding a 2014 Yamah XT250. This is the new fuel injected version and so far has been great. I wrote a quick review of the bike here. On a side from the basic back and side racks from Happy Trails, a 1 Gal RotopaX, and a windshield from National Cycle, I won’t be adding or removing anything from the bike as It’s already a well put together (mini 🙂 ) adventure bike.