since i was a kid, i've always been an outdoors person. not really an true ourdoorsman, but more of an adventurer, an explorer. i grew up with a huge forest behind my house, that if i followed a certain path, and crossed a singe road would become a state park.

i'd spend all my free time exploring. i knew all the paths, trails, & bunkers of that park & forest. i found solace walking or biking in those woods, getting lost, and eventually finding my way back home. over time, i found dozens of places to hang out, that i felt were my own. i'd go to those places, and just sit and think. mull over my life, and where i wanted to go.

as i grew older, i found myself exploring less, probably because i had less free time. friends & activitites kept me pretty busy, but I inevitably i would find myself alone, with time to kill and be drawn to see what was around the next corner. My cueious nature was never satisfied.

just out of college, i moved to cambridge, ma, and the explorer in me took over full force. any available time that i had found me outdoors, in a city that i had grown up essentially next door to, but with new wonderment. i would wander or bike through the streets, alleyways, parks & parking lots... trying to get lost, just to prove i could find my way home. i would form a mental map of the city in my head, always trying to find a new ( or more interesting ) way to get from a to b. over a very short time, i got to know the city's ins and outs, any the explorer in me was satisfied.

two years later found me on the eve of an opportunity of a lifetime; the chance to move to the other coast. i'd lived in the boston area all my life, but i had the undeniable urge to see more, to do more, to get out of my sheltered zone and experience another part of the country. so, i took everything i owned and packed it into a uhaul, and drove across the country ... which was an adventure in itself.

i landed in the bay area, the silicon valley, ca, and started to make a life of my own. i was alone, with only a few people in the local area whom i knew before i got there. everything was new, everything was something to explore, no matter how mundane it would seem to others, it was exciting to me. every day i would go to work, leaving as early as i could... just to forcibly get lost on the way home. some nights i would find a quicker way home, some i wouldn't get home until almost midnight, i was having so much fun getting lost and learning the area.

later that same year, things took a turn for the worse for me, and i was laid off. i fell into a huge depression, and lost the desire to do pretty much anything. for years after that, even after i started working again at my dream job... i was still stuck. aside from a random weekend every once in a blue moon, i didn't get out much. i was content (for the most part) in my own little world, with no desire to get out and explore.

... until i got the motorcycle.

after i got the bike, and started to get my confidence in me, i started to really look at the maps of my surrounding areas, looking for the really twisty curvy roads that are so much fun to ride on a motorcycle. i started joining motorcycle-based forums in the area, seeing where other people liked to ride. this led me to pashnit.com, which has both a great resource of motorcycle roads, and some amazing user-generated ride reports, w/ pics, pics, pics. i spend days upon days reading about other people's trips, the amazing places they'd been, living vicariously through their reports.

somewhere along the way, i found advrider.com, and something inside just clicked. adv has the same style ride reports (the forums also have the "w/ pics, pics, pics" name as pashnit except they're almost all off road in some form or another. for me, the adv ride reports are on a whole 'nother level. there's something about dreaming of being off of the major roads, getting off into the dirt that makes me feel like a kid again.

these days, i'm addicted to the adv reports. to fend off the stressful and boring moments as i go through my day i read through people's reports, see all the beautiful pictures of far away places that i may or may not ever see. my imagination lives vicariously through these other adventurers, giving me ideas for the future. most reports are filled with photos, which are probably a large part of it for me. the reports combine many of my favorite things into one adventure... photos, motorcycles, and exploring.

i feel like the tides have turned, and the explorer that lay dormant in me all these years has returned. the adventure down the open road (hopefully off-road) is calling me, and the only thing stopping me now... is that i bought a road bike. now, dream of the places i'd like to go, and of the dual sport bike that i hope will get me there.

the explorer within me is back... with a vengance.

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