Thirsting for Adventure

A funny thing about adventures - you can't have just one. And subsequent adventures are usually ever more thrilling than the first. Once an adventure is over, boredom sets in quickly and the adventurer dreams of the next outing.

Going back to normal life after a mild adventure is bad enough, but going back to a normal routine after a big adventure is hell. After getting back from our Oregon trip (the biggest adventure we've had in a couple years), Lady Luck and I were both in a foul mood until just recently.

As Lady Luck told a friend, "I've seen the truth, and this ain't it."

Most people - normal people - avoid adventure and unknown experiences. It's a basic survival thing: stick to activities which haven't killed you or anyone you know, and it's unlikely you will die. This kind of thinking is why Applebee's and Disneyworld are huge successes.

Motorcycling, I think, opens doors for the receptive. There are those for whom motorcycling is too scary, too risky, too real. There are also those - us - who get it. Riding gives us a taste of the possibilities waiting for those of us willing to step outside the day to day mediocrity and do something different. And after a little bit of adventure and real living, the natural response of the newly-liberated is to seek out more adventure, and more genuine experience.

Enough time on a bike, and silly fears fade away. The only thing left worth fearing is loss of freedom. We get to determine the course of our own lives, and we must not let someone else choose our path for us. Our path is adventure and real life, and we get to blaze our own trail.