Monthly Archives: December 2011

Morale has been low this week, but something always comes along to stir up the embers. Last night over numerous beers and Cuban food, a newly made friend said (to the best of my understanding and paraphrasing): “When you die — and, I mean, not soon I hope, but some day — when you die, … Continue reading »

How can I say this? It seems as if written information is not reliable here. All written information. I feel bad to level such a sweeping critique, but lately I’m having to adapt to it. A store has five separate OPEN signs hanging in its windows, but it’s closed until next week. Four consecutive hotels … Continue reading »

You may reach a point in any given day at which you are too totally beaten to go on. You may look at your map and know the name of the next town, but you know you couldn’t pedal one more meter toward it if you tried. It’s impossible. Your every cell tells you this. … Continue reading »

Here’s my current inventory, totaling roughly 65 pounds (30 kg) by my reckoning. These are boring mundane details, yet potentially interesting in that they make up the entirety of my earthly possessions for the duration of the voyage. Some overkill may be apparent. 

It’s now been three months since I left Seattle and a month since I crossed into Mexico, and more than three thousand miles of pavement have passed under my feet. For five days I’ve been enthralled to find out the mainland is a whole other thing. Every breath is unwieldy with humidity. Every town is … Continue reading »