OverlandSphere
Overland Travel, Expedition & Adventure Information for 4x4, motorcycle and truck overlanders
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And so it begins… On Sunday Gaila and I uneventfully (for the most part) crossed the Mexican border back into our wonderful homeland – good old U.S. of A. Despite my concerns the US border guards were pleasant and efficient, if not welcoming. Once we turned the corner and started our pleasant ride down the twisty Hwy 94 towards San…
Has it really been almost six months since we have been in our own country? Yes it has. Nov 2012 was the last time my feet were on US soil. Perhaps that is why I am so anxious about today – Sunday May 5th. I have barely slept as my brain keeps tossing and turning about the logistics of our…
Well my goodness, the last three days sure have been different. Wonderful each in their own ways. (Actually Sat, Sun & Monday. Wifi & WordPress sketchy. Today is Friday May 3rd :-) I will begin with what started great, then turned to shit, followed by great. That would be Saturday the 27th of April. We were all fired up to…
In the 6 months we’ve been on adventure through Mexico and Central America, we’ve been stopped plenty of times by police and federals. Here we go… prepare to do some bullshitting and strategize how not to get suckered into paying a bribe. In Honduras, on two separate occasions we were motioned to the side of the road by Federal police. …
April 15th means exactly one year on the road for Gaila and I. 12 months, 365 days, 525,600 minutes and what seems like a whole new lifetime spent traveling. Not to mention 35,600 or so miles of adventure. Significantly more than enough to circle the globe. Oh the things I have seen from the seat of my motorcycle and the…
As our overland adventure continues, we landed in Guatemala during the most celebrated holiday of the year, Semana Santa (Holy week). This is a huge celebration in Central America, think of it on the scale of the US Christmas week. Our friends Julio and Luisa live in Antigua, so it made for a very pleasant stay for the holiday. Antigua…
From Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday April 8 -10, 2013 As long term travelers we are very good at being “on the move.” Indeed, it is normal for us now. Yet, it is the quiet moments, the still moments that I often appreciate the most. Like right now. I am sitting in the center of San Jose del Pacifico – a…
After finishing two days of volunteering workshops at Centro de Espranza Oaxaca Grassroots Infantil that we were leading on geography and global citizenship with 8 – 16 year olds (Thank you Muskoka Foundation) I was ready to get some lead out today. And that is exactly what I did – even though the original plan got slightly modified in route.…
Why is that I never have any pictures of us in the heat of the moment, when my moto is laying on its side, mirror spun around, GPS kitty wompass and my pannier dented to hell? It’s because when you have a knarly wipe out, the immediate reaction is to get busy picking it up and assess the damage. I’m…
Just a few weeks ago I was able to visit, and briefly travel by motorcycle with my Dad (Tad), and Gaila, in Costa Rica. It was an amazing time just being there, but of course they went out of their way to make my visit an especially fun time, so I wanted to share some of the highlights from my…
Yikes, way too much effort to get this post up. Sketchy net connection means no supporting video just yet… So these last few days have been interesting. Sometimes quite eventful and sometimes just dull & boring. It is 8am on the El Salvadoran pacific coast and we are prepping for a simple breakfast listening to the endless waves breaking onto…
Figured I would do just a quick post. This morning our plan was to leave Jeff & Monica (www.overlandtheworld.com) at our wonderful stay in Playa Gigante and head towards Masaya relatively early then maybe get to Managua too. No such luck. Actually today has been a very nice day, but we got a slow start as I had to change…
In one week we will have been traveling for 11 months. Today was one of the best & worst days. Let me explain. It is not that today was so much different than other days except that I didn’t have any particular place to go. I rode myself as Gaila and the http://www.overlandingtheworld.com/ crew (Jeff & Monica) lounged by the…
Did I say I love my motorcycle? Lucille, my 2011 BMW F800GS is the perfect tool for this most wonderful trip. Today was proof of that. Gaila and I had the luxury of sleeping in a little bit (we did yesterday too:-) and that was nice after a very busy week with my son Elliot here for 8 days. More…
If you’ve never had the opportunity to take career break and experience life on the road, it’s difficult to explain how it feels. How do you put into words a motorcycle adventure that has taken you 30K miles overland across deserts, mountains, coastlines, jungles, islands, prairies, canyons, tundra and pine studded forests. By the time we’re done we’ll have clocked…
Today was big for three reasons: We went as far south as we are going to for the trip. We have now turned around and are heading north again. We simply had a very special day riding We did full on legitimate lane splitting through Panama City and Gaila did great. So let me elaborate. Yes, we would so love…
Well……. today was a very mixed bag. First, Gaila and I left Gary Clegg at Angel Valley B&B, just north of San Ramon Costa Rica. What a great stay and super interesting guy. Hope we can go back soon. Angel Valley B&B Not only did we have a super comfortable stay with great food and conversation, but Gary (fellow BMW…
Many of you reading this are over the age of 27. Why is this important you ask, well of late Gaila and I have been trying hostels to save money. I think the average age is about 22 to 25 but who knows. Haven’t really asked, just observing. But safe to say I have definitely been one of the more…
Today was a special day for Gaila and I. Talk about unexpected pleasures. Yes we were certainly looking forward to our hike with a guide in Nicaragua but we had no idea how special this little slice of heaven would be. We are part of a small group of travelers who ever make it to this great site and experience…
Preface: Yesterday I sat down to write this article for one post. As I sat and the words spewed forward I could not fit it all into one post. As such, I am going to come back to it with a second section. OMG, each days ride is SO amazing… Well, here I sit 9 months and 5 days into…
When Gaila and I started into Mexico, we had a couple of expectations: 1. Diving into the local culture as much as possible 2. Eating as many street tacos as we could find 3. Appreciate the beauty of this wonderful country – from cities to mountains to beachs, etc. 4. Find fun roads and ride dirt whenever it made sense.…
We’ve been in Guatemala for 5 days now and it’s been nothing short of adventure. It’s captivated our attention from the get go. Crossing the border took 2 dreadfully long hours, not because it was difficult but because it was so grossly inefficient. Guatemala border crossing. Gettng stopped at Police check in Belize Crossing borders importing a vehicle requires multiple…
If you’re thinking about touring Mexico and Central America and want to camp along the way but are uncertain if it’s smart or safe, then you’re like us and likely haven’t found any much information on the subject. And because of that the little information we could find led us to the conclusion it just wasn’t the best idea. We…
Day 3 in Belize turned out fantastic, starting with a 1.5 hour ride from San Antonio Rio Hondo to Lamanai ruins. Every road we’ve taken is dirt because that is all there is – no pavement to speak of so far. They’re hard packed dirt with good size potholes and our BMW GS’s are lovin’ the action! Between dodging whoop…
First, I will take a moment to say Thank god for dual sport bikes! Within a few miles of entering Belize, we’ve been on are densely packed dirt roads with gazillions of potholes – and that’s the main road! Not sure what to expect for the rest of Belize, but if this is any indication, we’ll be getting plenty of…
Leaving Mexico was a somewhat chaotic as you have to ‘check out’ of Mexico before you can enter Belize. The border was a zoo (surprise!) with traffic jammed in every which direction (not unlike almost everywhere else in Mexico!) We planned to cross all borders early, but lollygagged too long at Chetumal, the last Mexican town before crossing, so we…
We’ve had a white sand Christmas parked at the beach town of Mahahual on the Yucatan. The hot sun and awesome beaches are just what we needed after our 2000+ miles of hauling A through Mexico in the Maya “End of the world” Rally. Which we placed 3rd BTW!! More on the rally (which had a little good, a little…
Arriving in Guanajuato put us one step closer to meeting Katie, our volunteer coordinator from the Muskoka Foundation http://www.dogoodasyougo.org/ We’d been talking with her for a while prior to getting to Mexico, but we didn’t know what to expect in terms of our volunteer time. She had some projects lined up that would also involve other Overlanders participating in the…
We are really enjoying our extended time in Guanajuato. We arrived just over a week ago dropping into the mountain city from route 57 through a national forest with awesome twisty roads and miles sweeping vistas. Our first glimpse of this incredible city was the beautiful cathedrals and colorful homes nestled into steep hillsides. We found a cozy 1 bedroom…
So, when we started thinking about this adventure trip, doing some volunteer work along the way is something that came to mind. Doing research Gaila and I found an organization called The Muskoka Foundation. www.dogoodasyougo.org Early in our trip we went to the Overland Expo and met other cool like-minded people and the founders from Muskoka. Since then, we did…