Just Say "Go"

© Voni Glaves

I'll admit that even though I was excited to be realizing a long-held dream of riding my motorcycle from the USA to Tierra de Fuego, Argentina, I was also nervous. I didn't realize it at the time, however, and only now that I've been on the road almost three months I am beginning to get some clarity about the beginning of my trip. 

I arrived at a friend's house in Texas, and kept asking if I could stay "Just one more day." I still had a long list of things I need to clear up before leaving the States. And the list seemed to be growing faster than I was able to check things off. For some reason, I was having a difficult time wrapping my head around leaving the States and actually crossing over into Mexico.

I think fear of the unknown is the reason most people never take those trips they dream of. And even though I had been thinking, planning, researching and dreaming about this trip for over three years, there were certain unknown quantities that were weighing on my mind and preventing me from taking that final step over the border. I can look back on it and laugh at myself now, but at the time I did not recognize it for what it was: a reluctance to step off and into the abyss. In Texas, I could not see beyond my ever-increasing list of loose ends that needed to be tied up before I no longer had access to US phone lines and Internet.

I reached a point, however, where I just said "Enough. It's time to go." I drew a line in the sand with myself. And the next day I headed for the border. I was full of trepidation, wonder, and was a but tingly once I crossed over and was riding the Mexican highway, but I was finally on my way!

Guess what I found in my notebook today?

The same silly list of things that were so very important to be accomplished before leaving the USA. 

Somehow, that list is no longer important.

Previous Article Next Article