© Alisa Clickenger / RumBum.com
Alisa Clickenger recently quit her job, rented out her house in Connecticut, and hopped on her motorcycle. She doesn't know where she'll end up, or even where she'll be from week to week. No matter where she is, you can follow along with Alisa's travels through Latin America and beyond each week in Have Bike, Will Travel.
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 24, 2011 at 03:56AM
I was really pushing my luck this time. My chain was loose, my sprockets were shot, and the chain was slipping. The good news was, I had no idea how dire my circumstances were. I was on my way home from the Women's ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 10, 2011 at 03:35AM
“Just go with the motion,” Carolyn explained to me. “Oh, and keep your weight back and hang on tight.” I'd worn my motorcycle gear as a jest, but as I was pitched forward and backward, over and over again, I was secretly ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 03, 2011 at 03:59AM
“I bet this isn't something you've ever seen before,” Carolyn said to me as we walked up to the fence. “No, I haven't” I replied. “What exactly is it?” It was a badge of honor. A testament to patience. A show ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 27, 2011 at 04:08AM
It had been quite a while since I'd seen Cindy's trail of dust in front of me, and I was beginning to think that was a bad sign. Carolyn and I were riding River Road with her in Big Bend National Park, and we had spread out in ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 20, 2011 at 04:31AM
The first thing I noticed was the musky smell. Then I heard the shuffling, grunting noises that seemed to surround me. And when I came fully awake, I saw them: small, pre-historic creatures that resemble a cross between a pig ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 13, 2011 at 03:33AM
“Better check on that, the roads might be closed,” said our campgound host. “Not too sure if you can get through from here. Fires all around.” This was a supreme disappointment, and could put a real wrench in my ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 06, 2011 at 12:16PM
I've never been a big fan of riding the same road twice or covering old ground. I always try to go in a circle in order to see something new. But there are some special places that I always love going back to, and the area ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 29, 2011 at 04:19AM
Blazing temperatures. Fifty mile-per-hour wind gusts. Blowing sand. Gobs of tourists in RV campers. It wasn't quite what I'd pictured in my mind's eye when I first envisioned heading to White Sands National Monument. The ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 22, 2011 at 05:15AM
Converted 4x4 military vehicles littered the roadway. Camper vans, trucks, and RVs were already set up as far as the eye could see. A sea of high-clearance vehicles with camper tops stretched to the horizon. And a field of tents ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 15, 2011 at 06:10AM
Silence is a eerie thing when you're riding a motorcycle. Silence when your engine should be humming away underneath you is unsettling. Silence is downright dangerous when you are riding the LA freeway in rush hour traffic after ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 08, 2011 at 05:21AM
Summit 3000 feet. Brrr. It is cold, even though I've dropped 1800 feet since leaving Idaho Falls, Idaho. It was in a mad rush to leave this morning – the weather forecast changed last night, and was now telling me ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on February 18, 2011 at 05:28AM
“Do you smell smoke?” I asked my boyfriend through the headset as we were going up the last of the big hills in Western B.C. “I don't smell anything,” he said, at the same moment I looked down and saw my pant leg covered ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on February 11, 2011 at 03:39AM
I hadn't really considered how lucky we'd been with the weather until it turned. And I don't mean a turn as in slight change in the weather, I mean a torrential, front-end-washout with a complete soaking of all your gear turn in ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on February 04, 2011 at 04:49AM
Gold Fever. Alaska and the Yukon Territory were crazed with it one hundred and twenty years ago. Respectable gentlemen, schoolteachers, and Jack London all took part. Even future U.S. President William Taft got caught up in the ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on January 21, 2011 at 05:19AM
Normally I'm always up for an adventure. But I'd been back on US soil a scant two weeks from my South America trip, and I was a bit road weary. The weather had just cleared in the West, and now my boyfriend, Edward, was eager ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on August 13, 2010 at 03:31AM
“Donde Estamos?” I asked when the touchdown of the overnight plane jolted me awake. The gentleman in the seat next to me cocked his head and gave me a blank stare. My mind did several sleepy clicks and calculations ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on August 06, 2010 at 04:11AM
It was a Monday and there wasn't a soul around. I started walking in what I thought was the right direction, and then, RRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRR! RROOAARR. Roar. Now I knew which way to go. Curious thing about travelers, we all ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on July 30, 2010 at 02:37AM
The burglary at the Paraguay/Argentina border forced several things to a head. I'd been on the road for over six months, and was feeling a bit worn-out. Responsibilities back home were mounting – and were getting harder ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on July 23, 2010 at 03:33AM
It took several moments for my eyes to translate the scene in front of me into coherent thought. It was morning, and I was going to the motorbike to pack up and travel for the day, yet my panniers were already open, the contents ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on July 16, 2010 at 03:58AM
“What is that road called again?” Mom asked. “Um, the locals call it the Yungas Road,” I told her. No point in telling her it was internationally known as the “Bolivian Road of Death.” “I'm riding better now since ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on July 09, 2010 at 04:04AM
For some travelers, it's the destination that makes the trip. For others, it's the method of travel itself – motorcycle, plane, train, automobile. Yet for others it is the sights seen, foods tasted, sounds heard, or ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on July 02, 2010 at 03:59AM
I was devastated. I had just landed in South America and heard the news: the Peruvian government announced that Machu Picchu would be closed for several months due to landslides. I began to cry. There were about five “must ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 25, 2010 at 02:17AM
Well, if I had to crash at least I picked the most scenic place possible, I thought to myself as I looked at my downed bike. I'd been staring at my mangled hand for the past 10 minutes, when I finally turned my attention to ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 18, 2010 at 04:16AM
Cars and trucks fired up, engines raced, and vehicles jockeyed for position just like the start of an Indy Car race. I thought it a bit silly since we had all been parked behind a sawhorse blockade at a construction zone, but it ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 11, 2010 at 02:09AM
My stomach was rumbling, but there were enough distractions to keep my mind from acknowledging it. I was on the Ecuadorian side of the Colombia – Ecuador border waiting for customs to clear my motorcycle, and things were ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on June 04, 2010 at 04:52AM
As you travel along there are certain landmarks that you look forward to that not only mark the passage of the miles under your wheels, but also mark a psychological point of your journey. For me, reaching the Equator was ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 28, 2010 at 04:03AM
The brakelights ahead should have been my first clue. The second clue should have been the traffic backup. Somehow, I missed both clues because I was “in the zone” – riding in that space somewhere between joy and blissful ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 21, 2010 at 10:56AM
“Naked Indians!” It wasn't the most eloquent nickname, nor the most politically correct, but between ourselves that was our label for the village we were trying to find. We'd heard that there were a group of indigenous ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 13, 2010 at 07:44AM
Rick flagged me down yesterday as I'd ridden into Uyuni, a tourist town and home to Bolivia's majestic salt flats. He was expecting to meet up with a fellow moto-traveler on a DR650, and when I rolled by (on my DR650) he ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on May 07, 2010 at 05:16AM
“That's very dangerous” said the border official. “Why?” I asked. “”Tigers” was his reply. “Tigers?” I asked, incredulously. “Yes, Tigers”, he answered. “Tigers. TIGERS?” I repeated. ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 30, 2010 at 04:47AM
I have just eaten an aphrodisiac. I am not wearing any panties. And I am in one of Latin America’s famed “auto” (pay by the hour) hotels. How did my innocent search-for-self / pilgrimage across the Americas come to this? ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 23, 2010 at 03:18AM
As I pull up to the border crossing, there are eighteen-wheelers lined up on both sides of the street. I dodge a couple of men pushing a cart of wood over a speed bump. I swerve around two dogs fighting over the contents of a ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on April 16, 2010 at 02:26AM
Ever since I began conceptualizing this motorcycle trip three years ago, the route, in my mind, has always been from the USA to very bottom of Argentina. My home in Connecticut always seemed like the natural point of departure, ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on January 22, 2010 at 07:37AM
Yesterday I rode through the lush and mountainous farmland in the northwest of Honduras. I was leaving Copan Ruinas, headed for the capital, Tegucigalpa. It was early in the morning; the air was rather cool, and I was enjoying ... More »
-
by Alisa Clickenger on January 15, 2010 at 12:35AM
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 ... More »
