Before I move on to the exciting world of Central America, I feel the need to express something. Mexico is an amazing country with stunning landscapes and incredibly diverse natural beauty that is only surpassed by its loving people. It’s obvious that I hold a positive outlook on life and towards the places I travel but the message I feel the need to express goes beyond my attitude. I’ve seen firsthand what the media slander concerning the dangers of Mexico have done to the country and how their tourism is directly affected. I understand a drop in economy has taken a toll however in the first 5 months of our travels all we received were warnings, sometimes absolutely ridiculous, about the concern for personal safety in Mexico and those warnings generally came from people who have never even been to the country. After riding for nearly 2 months around Mexico, we can honestly say we felt just as comfortable on the roads, in the towns, at the bank, in the markets and around the people as we do in our home country of Canada. As long as you are always aware of your surroundings and have a decent amount of common sense then we’d recommend Mexico to everyone as a safe country to travel in.

We entered Guatemala rather easily and I found it strange that I had no anxiety, butterflies or bad thoughts of any kind crossing the border. In my experiences border crossings always seem to hold a certain amount of tension but for some reason there was none. Maybe I had become accustom to the process and realised if you got nothing to hide then you really shouldn’t have any problems. (Upon completion of Central America I will post a Travel Log concerning all the logistics of the border’s we’ve crossed.) Our first night in Guatemala was spent in a small town approximately 30 km’s from the border of which we entered. Upon first impressions Guatemala didn’t feel any different from Mexico but I did feel a sense of accomplishment being in another country. It was like I was one step farther from home and one step closer to achieving my global dream.

As we rode farther and farther Guatemala expanded into dense, humid jungle, covering the mountains and volcanoes. It’s definitely a country visually far different than Mexico. We made our way through a valley following a system of crystal clear rivers and within 30 minutes we found ourselves climbing out on a series of switchbacks passing trucks as they would crawl up the hills and choke us out with their deathly exhaust smoke. Upon my stomachs request we stopped at a beautiful hillside restaurant situated high in the mountains surrounded by pine trees. The air was cool and carried the smell of the pines throughout the restaurant. Our hosts were very generous and brought us more than enough food for two people even though we had ordered one meal to share, explaining that we were on a tight budget. After a couple complimentary Jello cups for dessert and a quick photo shoot of the restaurant owner posing with the bikes we were off again heading to Atitlan Lake.

Atitlan Lake turned out to be an incredible destination surrounded by small towns, mountains, farmlands and Volcanoes.  As we descended towards the lakeside town of Panajachel I felt right at home. It has been some time since we’ve visited a lake as impressive as this and my thoughts turned to camping back home. I sat on the shore in the dark near our tent and watched the city lights flicker on the other side of the lake. It was a beautiful night. Not knowing what to expect, Guatemala has really surprised Erin and I. Everyday’s better that the last with excitement and adventure waiting around every turn. Stay tuned for more from Central America…

Well it’s a new year and that means new adventures.  Since leaving Puerto Vallarta and getting back on the saddle I found myself falling in love with my motorcycle all over again. We continued south riding along the coast winding our way through dense jungle and over soft green mountains stopping each day early enough to enjoy the sunset.  New Year’s Eve I spotted a sign for lake side cabañas and we pulled in to inquire about setting up our tent next to the lake. After a few broken sentences in “spanglish” we found out that their cabañas only cost 150 pesos ($11.25) a night. For that price it was barely worth unpacking our camping gear and besides it was New Year’s Eve… We went all out and enjoyed a fantastic dinner of fish fried in garlic served to us lake side under the palm trees. It was nice to have a break from cooking and we relaxed in the cool breeze of the evening and watched the sunset.

With an itch to cover some ground Erin and I took our first ever tolled highway. It branched off just before the city of Salina Cruz and was a beautiful bypass through open plains surrounded by mountains. The tolls totalled around $6 per motorcycle which doesn’t seem like a lot but in Mexico that’s a lot of money especially compared to the value of our amazing new year’s accommodations. As I accelerated away from the toll booth my thoughts on the tolls melted into a magnificent highway. It was smooth and wide with bright road lines, a large shoulder and almost no garbage. Almost all the roads we have ridden in Mexico have been in good condition but can often look like a landfill in many places. It doesn’t make sense to me why anyone would want to destroy the amazing scenery here by covering it in garbage.

We pulled off at a well maintained rest stop which reminded me of the rest stops in the United States that were always in excellent condition. We ate lunch and watched the clouds race by amazed at how fast they looked against their bright blue backdrop. The wind had been steadily increasing all morning and now presented a dark and gloomy horizon. Since entering Mexico 50 days ago we have not had a single drop of rain and I had faith Mexico would stay true to its lack of precipitation. As we continued down the highway the winds continued to pick up speed becoming more and more aggressive. Then on the horizon I spotted a field of wind turbines. We now had the bikes leaned right over and were fighting our way down the road. This was nothing new for Erin and I as we have faced winds like this many times already on our journey. We cleared the field of wind turbines and I hoped from here on things would calm down but as we rounded a curve in the highway the mountains reveal another much larger field of wind turbines.

The new larger field of wind turbines sat adjacent to a valley between the mountains which acted as some kind of wicked wind funnel.  Now we were in trouble. The winds hammered across the highway far surpassing the strength of anything we had faced in the past. A powerful gust sent me onto the shoulder and I leaned hard to fight it as my tires came only inches from going off the road. I recovered my lane position and my attention immediately turned to my mirror to check on Erin. She was hit by the same gust and I clenched my jaw as I watched her forced onto the shoulder. As she regained control she began to fade in my mirror and I could tell she had stopped.  I pulled onto the shoulder and waited as she caught up to me. We paused for a moment to let the line up of cars pass us that had been building up behind us. This was the fatal mistake in our situation… When riding in overly extreme winds never stop because you will lose all your stability and momentum.

When the cars passed the temporary shield they created was gone and the wind hit us hard once again. Despite Erin’s exhausting efforts the wind prevailed and took Erin’s bike down. She is unable to pick her bike up alone and as I attempted to dismount and help pick up her bike the wind prevailed once again this time taking my bike to the ground. Together we picked up my bike but it could not be left unattended or the wind would simply toss it to the ground again. I smiled as an SUV pulled over and a young local wearing a Deep Purple shirt ran across the highway to our aid. Together he and I stood Erin’s bike back up. I looked back at my bike to see Erin fighting to hold it up noticing the front tire was off the ground! What is this a hurricane!? The young man in the Deep Purple shirt told me there was a town 3 kilometres ahead, I thanked him and he ran back across the highway. We attempted to depart and once again the wind took Erin’s bike down. I managed to pick it up by myself but now Erin’s face was filled with stress and despair.

We were standing on the side of the highway bracing our bikes in an attempt to keep them vertical. I watched as the approaching cars swayed back and forth struggling to stay in their lane and the buses and trucks looked even worse coming up behind Erin. “We have to get out of here before we get hit!” I yelled. Just then the wind overcomes Erin again and her bike takes a third spill. This time with its position near the edge of the shoulder I don’t have the strength to stand it up alone. Once again the sight of a bike on its side attracted some help and a man and his wife pulled over to lend a hand and get Erin’s bike upright. As the man is getting back into his truck he looks back at us standing in despair fighting to keep our bikes upright. He pauses and we stare at each other for a moment and then he jumps in the truck. Moments later the door opens once again and he runs back to propose his plan of using their vehicle as a shield and escort us to nearby town. They back up and take position beside Erin and I take off leaning hard into the wind. In my mirror I watch as they match Erin’s speed and shield her from the relentless wind.

It’s truly amazing how people can come to each other’s aid in times of need. We managed to find a hotel in town and take shelter from the storm. Today the winds have actually become worse and even sitting here writing this in our hotel it sounds like Armageddon outside. Erin and I are both constantly watching the large windows as if they are going to shatter or have a tree branch tossed through them. So being only a few days away from the Guatemala border this will probably be our last post from Mexico. We will try and keep you posted through Central America and share some of the logistics with you concerning the many upcoming border crossings. By the way my faith in Mexico prevailed… still no rain.

Finally ready to leave the town of Sayulita, we loaded up the bikes and headed south once again. Having taken 6 days off we were eager to ride and decided to go straight through Puerto Vallarta and continue down the coast. Just as we cleared the metropolis that is Puerto Vallarta my bike died. It’s rather depressing to sit on the side of the road with your trusty motorcycle which was now nothing more than an oversized luggage rack.

With the help of a Mexican mechanic we quickly identified that one of my coils was beginning to fail and therefore continually blowing my main engine fuse. The mechanic charged me eight dollars which I gladly paid as electrical problems are not my specialty. This was a steal of a deal for two reasons: 1) a shop in Canada/US wouldn’t even look at the bike for less than $60 if not more and 2) the man worked ridiculously fast unlike some mechanics that seem to work on their own time. After a half a dozen phone calls my new coils are on route to Puerto Vallarta and Erin and I now have some time to explore this beautiful ocean front jungle.

Free of the initial negativity of the situation we realised that we had broken down in a perfect location and in fact my lifeless bike was a blessing in disguise. We continue to meet amazing people who truly reflect the kindness and the spirit of Mexico. We have been given a wonderful place to stay, so far for free, and have been invited to join their family for an outstanding chicken dinner. The city and the area surrounding Puerto Vallarta also has a lot of beauty and culture to offer which we would have missed had my bike continued to carry me south. We’ve also come to the realisation that we won’t be making it to the southern tip of Argentina this season.  With high mountain passes some above 15,000ft and the southern geographical location of Argentina, the summer months for a motorcycle are only Dec-Mar. So instead of trying to rush we are going to keep our focus on where we are and enjoy the moment.

Our freed up time in Puerto Vallarta has also given us a chance to look into some of the not so distant logistical hurdles like our choices for crossing the Darien Gap from Panama into Columbia as well as the seemingly overwhelming task of obtaining our Brazilian visas. I feel completely relaxed and stress free about the whole situation, I mean what’s the bad side? We have to spend yet another year travelling and exploring beautiful cultures before our window of opportunity opens up again in southern Argentina… it’s a hard life.

Hey everyone

I wanted to post this video a week ago but ran into some technical difficulties… Sorry its not widescreen but its the best i could spit out. We are in the town of Sayulita, Mexico. We planned on spending 2 nights and it easily turned into 5…

Erin had an awesome birthday with fresh margaritas and amazing food. Today we met some fellow motorcycle riders heading south and they invited us to a BBQ… life’s hard.

Hope you enjoy the video

The Sierra Mountains of Northern Mexico are without a doubt paradise for anyone with a sense of adventure. Located throughout the state of Chihuahua the mountains create a vast landscape stretching farther than the eyes can see. Well engineered roads maintained to near perfection seem to stretch on forever into the horizon.  They lead you from 2000ft above sea level to 7000ft and back down as you cross countless mountains and transcend what seem to be endless valleys. As you stand atop one mountain you can’t help but be amazed as you gaze back at the expanse you’ve just rode through.

Colourful little Mexican towns connect the dots between valleys without disturbing the natural beauty of their surroundings. Unlike most Canadian or American towns which often have a substructure that webs out in every direction these small communities are self contained and often have one road in and one road out. Life is simple in these towns and the pace is slow and comfortable. Elderly sit on the park benches while the children play enjoying the sunshine and the imagery everywhere portrays that of the Mexican cowboy. The spirit of Mexico and the kindness of its people shines bright even through the language barrier. A simple “Buenos Dias” is all you need to send a smile through a crowd of people.

The border crossing was almost a joke and literally took about 8 seconds to cross. We crossed from Columbus, New Mexico into Palomas, Mexico where a female officer pointed to a red line, I rode up to it and the gate opened and she waved me through. Erin got stopped behind me and the officer awkwardly tried to ask her a question in broken English. “You have any animals?” Both Erin and the female officer laughed and the gate opened once again and Erin was waved through.  We smiled at each other as all the anxiety of crossing a border melted away into a beautiful day in Mexico. I knew we had to receive some kind of paperwork for the bikes so we pulled into the parking lot of the customs building where we were greeted by a one legged man and his puppy. The man spoke English very well and kindly led us through the process of obtaining our tourist card and import documents for the bikes. We could have easily done this ourselves but thanks to ICBC putting the Insurance and Vehicle Registration on the same page the customs agent insisted that our registration had expired along with our insurance on Oct.19^th. This is where the one legged man came in handy translating as we had to go to another office and have a letter written by someone with seniority approving the whole situation. It’s obvious the one legged man was doing this in hopes of being paid but never once did he ask for money. When we were all set to go, helmets on and bikes running, I could see he would have just let us ride away so at that point I shook his hand and gave him some money. The whole ordeal took about 2 hours and I appreciated his time and help.

Everywhere we have gone we are treated with kindness, hospitality and respect. Worries of where to find food, water, gas or a place to stay are ridiculous. Every town so far has great cheap food and clean water, what appears to be a brand new gas station and kind people who will go out of their way to find you a place to stay. Our first night in Mexico we encountered two closed hotels and we were starting to get worried as the sun had already set. Two wonderful ladies at a gas station called around and found us a room at a hotel in town we hadn’t seen. If that wasn’t enough one of the ladies jumped in her car and escorted us to the hotel stopping along the way to point out her house. When we got to the hotel she made it very clear if we didn’t like the hotel or didn’t feel safe that we were more than welcome to stay at her house. For $20 the hotel was great and we met the owner and his wife who were both very kind and did their best to make us comfortable. The bikes were parked outside our room out of sight from the road and among the other guests staying the night were 6 police officers with machine guns and they parked their trucks next to our bikes. We felt very safe and slept like babies from the sensory overload from our first day.

Throughout our first 5 months of travel we’ve heard countless warnings from people about Mexico and how it’s not safe. The funny thing is this whole media caused fear of Mexico has even spread throughout Mexico itself. Mexicans tell us “Mexico is dangerous. This town is safe but be careful of the next town they will steal everything.” When we get to that town we meet nothing but nice people and they tell us the same thing about the next town and so on. So far the only thing Mexico has been for Erin and I is fantastic! The riding has been some of the best so far, both hotels and camping have been great and we have drank the local water every day and have yet to get sick. We are enjoying riding from one small town to the next and keeping are days short and carefree. The one piece of advice given by everyone that we are following is not to ride at night. We are currently in the town of Creel and are super excited to explore and share with you guys the famous Copper Canyon. So to all our followers, friends and family relax we’re safe and enjoying the beauty of Mexico.

Well there’s no doubt that winter has arrived and it took Erin and I by surprise. The morning of October 27th we woke up to snow in Amarillo, Texas. The official measurement was 3.1” at Amarillo Airport but it was even more in town getting upwards of 4 inches. It was a wakeup call that screamed in our faces “Time to head south!” but despite winters warning we headed north on a road trip with my father and his friend up to beautiful Colorado. Having spent nearly a month in Amarillo, possibly the flattest place on earth, we couldn’t wait to get back into some mountains.

I rented a car Saturday morning in Denver and took off with Erin, heading north towards Rocky Mountain National Park. As we wound our way through the steep mountain passes my thoughts turned to my bike. I’ve become so attached to it and it felt wrong to leave it in pieces 500 miles away while I have an affair with a car. These roads and stunning views were perfect for a motorcycle… or so I thought. The wind soon picked up and the road conditions deteriorated to a slushy mess. Never mind trying to keep a bike upright, it was a battle just to open the car door against the relentless winds.

Amongst all the chaos was a beautiful winter wonderland filled with wildlife and surrounded by the epic Rocky Mountains.  The harsh winds painted a beautiful picture as they swept the snow off the tops of the mountains.  The wildlife didn’t seem to be bothered by our presence as we saw Elk, Deer and Fox closer than ever before. It was a perfect day in the mountains for us and we lingered around the park long enough to see the sky change colors as the sun set. We were lucky enough to have a friend of my father’s offer her place to us and we enjoyed a night to ourselves in a beautiful mountain home. It was an awesome weekend adventure and on the way home we were privileged to see a Da Lorean! (Everyone better know that’s the car from Back to the Future…)

Erin and I have really enjoyed our time in Amarillo with my father and all my family here. It’s been great spending quality time with all our new friends here in Amarillo and we want to say thanks to all of them for all their generosity. We look forward to returning to Amarillo and sharing all our adventure’s with everyone.  So with that said we are finally ready to head south and look forward to exploring Mexico and beyond!  By the weekend we should be crossing the border… it’s okay mom(s) we’ll be fine.

With parts showing up at our door step everyday work has finally commenced on our motorcycles. Although, its an odd feeling to see your bike, the one you are supposed to be riding around the world, look like this…

I started feeling bad that it had been two weeks since I posted a Travel Log so I thought I should get writing. Texas has been a great experience with awesome food, beautiful weather and best of all family. Erin and I are staying with my father in Amarillo, Texas and feel right at home here getting to know my aunts, uncles, cousins and many other new friends. Our days are filled with preparation for Mexico and South America including ordering spare parts, tires, camera equipment and going over a whole list of things to do. We now have Texas insurance on our bike’s and to our surprise we get to keep our BC plates. Everyone back home will be blow away to hear that a years insurance for BOTH bikes was only $97. Crazy! In Canada they would probably be $97 a month…each!

We get to spend our evenings and weekends with my father Rolly doing all sorts of good things from American 10 pin bowling to a short road trip out to the town of Canadian. We had an awesome day in Canadian and got to enjoy their fall foliage festival, partaking in free wagon rides and the beauty of Autumn.

The temperature has started to drop here in Texas going as low as freezing at night but the signs of their overly dry summer are everywhere. They had temperatures reaching 111F (44C) and it basically lasted all summer with no rain… even in the two weeks we’ve been here we’ve only had one tiny rain overnight. Its nice for Erin and I to be rain free but Texas could really use some…

I’m finding it really rewarding to work on the bikes and take pride in all the money we are saving. Today we changed Erin’s steering head bearings, a job that would cost around $500 to have done, after parts and tools it only cost us about $50. My manual gave this job 4 out of 5 wrenches on the difficulty scale but it only seems to be time consuming rather than difficult. It feels really good to take care of our bikes and doing it ourselves is that much better.

Hey check it out a dog in a tree!! The neighbors dogs are awesome and this one loves to jump.

Talk to ya guys soon