Hello and greetings from Salt Lake City, Utah, I wanted to introduce myself as a freshly minted member of the Hubb and hopeful overland traveler.

An earlier company in my career made the mistake of allowing me a pension I can start collecting in a few years time. That and a house that has appreciated ~200% doesn’t hurt. Now this princely sum may not be enough for a life in the USA, but life in S. America is much cheaper and some might say better. So the plan is to move to Ecuador in ~2012 all things willing. My wife is from there, so we have family and friends already.

In the process of planning for this future I have come to the realization that I do not want to get on and off of an airplane, as it will not be any sort of transition, no journey to arrive at my destination, no celebration of this change in my life. You think of life’s transitions and the ceremonies that accompany them: weddings, graduations, quinceñaeras, and other cultural celebrations. I really feel the need, maybe even a compulsion to know the road between here and there, a need to celebrate this transition from full time working slave to semi-retired ex-pat. I realize now the importance of these celebrations.

One of the triggers for this event was reading GatoGato’s blog at JourneyRider, as I usually search for and read news and blogs from Ecuador semi-frequently (thanks Google), an entry showed up from his post while riding in Ecuador I subscribed on an RSS feed and read the remainder of his trip. Then the other day I was in my local library and found “Lois On the Loose”, which was devoured in a one-day reading marathon. This has started my mind obsessing on this idea of a journey to celebrate this transition in my life. I have to “connect the dots” between here and there.

Small problem, don’t currently own a motorcycle and haven’t really ridden seriously since college. Prior to that I rode a motorcycle starting when I was 15, borrowing my brother’s Suzuki (please don’t tell my Mom, she still thinks I rode my bicycle) to get to my first job as a dishwasher until I finished at the university and moved here to Utah.

My plan at this point is to take a locally offered motorcycle safety course, actually get a motorcycle license this time , buy a bike, outfit said bike, take more riding courses (Rawhyde etc), many trips to sort out bike and gear, and when the time comes be ready to ride from here to Ecuador (well except for that bit at the bottom of Panama).

I am reading all of the forum entries and I have to give a huge thanks to all of the people who post such incredibly knowledgeable entries. I am in the “What Bike to Buy” phase and really appreciate all of the freely shared knowledge and expert opinion here on this forum.

Thanks for taking the time to read my introduction and I look forward to meeting you on the road.

Saludos,

Martin