Written by:
1/12/2011 5:04 PM 

I used to do this for a living.  No carry on bag as I broke the cardinal business traveller rule and checked my backpack.  Carry on bag dropped on the table.  Two bins.  Laptop out, damn, shoes have laces.  Almost forget my belt and cell phone.  That’s right, cell phone.  I went from not wearing socks in 12 months to having an iphone (Thanks again for the donation Lilly).  Delayed.  Looking out the window I am in a winter wonderland.  I had both a white Christmas and a departure snow in the megatropolis of Springfield, MO.

Obviously, I weathered the gale and made port in Whangarie, New Zealand.  I can’t explain why I haven’t blogged since that landfall, but it certainly has something to do with the hustle of civilization.  Every sailor I know got tied up somewhere in New Zealand, looked around, and said something to the effect of, “lets get moving again”.    Few did.  Most gave themselves time to settle in and get plugged back in at least moderately to the first world.  Personally, I hated Whangarei.  The people are friendly and kind, but Jargo floats motionless in a marina birth in a brown river 4 hours from open ocean.  it is not at all unlike Kemah, TX where I started this odyssey two years prior.  Something about giving up the freedom of the last two years and digging out the dock lines triggered an old angst within me.  Move.  Now.  All I could think to do and find my freedom again was to move.

Enter the Yamaha FJ 1200 motorcycle with touring luggage.  I bought a second hand motorcycle and began riding.  Just locally to start then on a few longer rides getting used to the powerful bike and the curvy kiwi roads.  I didn’t have long to learn my new ride before my departure date caught up with me.  Home.  Hard to process, but I am going back to the States.  December 22nd found me taking three busses and three planes to complete the 32 hour journey back to Missouri and my family.  A very pleasant week passed before hitting Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston to see old friends and new for the New Year.  It all went too fast and sitting in the terminal now feels like a dream I’ll wake from tomorrow on Jargo.

it is hard to measure change when you have no yardstick.  Being back in the thick of civilization I can feel just how much the last year has changed me.  Surrounded by the fastest wifi in the world I just wanted to unplug and go offline.  Returning to Jargo I’ll not be able to sit in the little town by the river on my boat.  I need to move.  The FJ calls and the roads reach out in front of me.  A few days checking on Jargo then I’ll ride to the northern most point of New Zealand and spend the next six weeks riding to the Southern most point.  It’s time to start cruising again even if it is the two wheel kind.  Two wheels, a bed roll, and a hammock.  The tarmac is calling.

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