Are You Crazy Or Something?

I’ve been getting this a lot lately.  Seems everyone wants to know why I would want to hop on the back of a motorcycle and go to Alaska.  Planes can get you there a lot faster and if Alaska is the goal then why don’t we get there so we can spend more time seeing all the sights.  Why go through the trouble of driving there?  Why camp along the way?  Why suffer the cold?  Why?  Are you crazy or something? 

Simply put, yes.  Yes I am. 

These are just a few of the comments I’ve been getting since I announced that I would be going with Ed to Alaska.  At first I would laugh along with them and say ‘yeah I guess I am a bit nuts.’  But the more I thought about this the more it occurred to me that I’m really not.  This is a perfectly sane thing to do.  Getting to Alaska and the Arctic Circle is a goal of ours.  But it is not THE goal.  THE goal is the ride.  It is the journey.  It is about enjoying the slow way to Alaska, the sights, sounds, tastes, meeting interesting people and experiences along the way.  This is a journey not a destination.

In other words I changed my mind.  What can I say I’m a woman and we tend to do that.  It’s all part of the big plan guys.  We do it on purpose.  It keeps you on your toes. 

A few years ago Ed and I made some changes in our life.  We found that we want to travel more, see the world and experience it and we want to do it together.  We also found that there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING like being on a bike.  It’s just a better, more amazing, and more awesome way to travel.  You see more.  You smell more, and you feel more alive.  Personally I feel more connected with nature and I feel this connection with the road.  How do you explain that to a non rider?  I guess its like trying to describe the color red to someone who has never seen it and never will.  For those who don't ride they just don't get it. 

My few regrets about this trip are that we can’t take more time to explore.  But we are young(ish) and still have our three wonderful kids at home.  Finding someone willing to take them on is challenging especially for three weeks!  Also, Ed and I do have to work.  It would be nice if we could just pick up and leave for five or six weeks but we do have to pay the bills and we do enjoy eating.  So we will be grateful for the three weeks we are getting and enjoy what we can.

Ed has also told me that many guys have told him that their wives would never, ever take a trip like this with them.  I find that to be so sad.  What a loss for those ladies.  Three weeks with my wonderful, super, great husband.  It will be three weeks of just us, no distractions, no one to bother us.                              Ummmm….wait what the HECK WAS I THINKING!!!   

Seriously I am beyond thrilled to spend it with Ed.  I can hardly wait to try this adventure with him and I would tell all wives to go out and do it.  Be adventurous, be courageous, try something different.  After all you might find that you love it.  I swore I would never, ever get on the back of a bike, I used to be someone who didn't get it. 

To have missed out on this would have been my loss.  How happy I am that Ed showed me these colors that I had been blind to.  How lucky I am to have such a great guy in my life.