January 31
I sit here at the airport in Buenas Aires watching the sun come up as I prepare for my journey home. I will take a slight detour by Miami for a couple of days to visit my brother. My bike is at Dakarmotos waiting shipment. We anticipate 6 weeks +/- for it's "safe" return to Dallas by container. I don't pay for the shipment home until I receive the bike so I'm not sure what it will cost, but we are planning on it being around $1500.

My trip has been a dream come true. I had ridden to Mexico a couple of times, but had never even thought about a trip more south until the Motorcycle Tourer's Forum (MTF) had suggested and planned a ride south. I became a part of that planning two years prior with my focus and contribution on El Salvador. We gathered data from different countries and compiled it together so each one of us wasn't burdened with gathering too much data. My many thanks to those that contributed with information or inspiration. Unfortunately, most of the MTF was not able to go, but I continued on my plan. I'm so glad I did.

We would all like to have unlimited time and money to pursue our interests, but that's not possible for most of us including me. I allowed myself six weeks for the trip and am fortunate to be able to maintain that time frame. There are many variables on a trip like this, and any one thing could have changed that. I can't comment on a "best" time frame for anyone else to take the trip, because it is very individual. I can't imagine taking any longer for my first trip, because I can just digest so much, and be away from my family for so long. It is also an enjoyment factor. The first snickers is pretty good, but that 10th one isn't near as good. For me, I'm still on my 3rd or 4th snicker so things are still good, but I don't need any more right now.

I have a good overview of the countries I traveled so I could choose to come back to any one of them and do more extensive stuff in that particular country, but that's just a distant thought at present. I could see coming back to Buenas Aires and traveling up through Brazil for another extended trip. Meanwhile, I will probably be thinking of something over in Italy, Spain, Tuscany, etc.

Nicaragua was the most undeveloped country that I went to and Argentina was the most developed. However, that has no bearing on my enjoyment. I'm glad I visited both. All the border crossings were definitely a pain and very time consuming, some more than others. However, in most cases, it's not very expensive. I was very fortunate with the weather. I would definitely recommend this time period as a good choice. I was very impressed with Ushuaia. It was much nicer and larger than I expected. It's definitely a place you could make as a destination for your family, whether it be by boat or plane.

I can't say enough nice things about my bike. I had a blast with my bike. It is definitely made for this type of journey. My rear drive problems does not play a negative impact on my trip in any way. I'm so fortunate to have received this bike as a gift from my cousin, Dan Christie. He felt my passion for travel by motorcycle and made an unsolicited surprise contribution so I could experience travel beyone my normal realm. I thank you Dan, and I'm sorry you're not here to read this.