It is not an adventure until ……

“It is not an adventure until things stop going as planned”  or in my case It is not an adventure until you lose your concentration.

A trip of this nature takes concentration all the time, while riding, when packing, in everything I do. I am a stranger in a strange land, each day my surroundings change, there is no familiarity. I get comfortable or frustrated and forget this. Most days are exciting, some are boring, all are different and road will always curve.

I lost my concentration yesterday and because of this, for the second time this month I have lost my bank card, forgotten in the ATM machine.  Now I have no access to cash except what I have on hand, which will last long enough. The first time I lost my bank card I went to Plan B, now Plan C is in motion; there is no Plan D.

I lost my concentration on maintenance and ended up with a damaged chain and sprocket. Shouldn’t have happened. The replacement parts I ordered have been stuck in “international shipping” for over 12 days now and this frustrates me as there is nothing I can do.  Fortunately I was able to source a chain locally, but no luck with the sprockets. I am still able to ride.

 I am in a tourist town, Cusco Peru, and find this both comfortable and frustrating.  Comfortable because I can buy familiar things, speak English and make friends easily. Frustrating because I pay 10 times the price as the locals for the same things, I sit at the back of the restaurant to avoid the beggars and miss the views as a result, and say “no gracias” 10 times in 5 minutes to the never ending stream of shoe shine boys or trinket sellers.

But I shouldn’t complain, I have rode my motorcycle through twelve countries in the past six months, made some incredible new friends, seen amazing things and I am having the adventure of a lifetime. Things have a way of working out, I don’t worry much anymore. The bank card will get replaced and Plan C is already working, sprockets will be found, my boots are shinny and most importantly lessons have been learned.

I blame my new beard for my lack of concentration, too much scratching. I have never had a beard before and once I get a bit more cash in my hands I am going to buy a new razor.

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