D - 500 Days

On April 15, 2010, I will leave New York City and spend 100 days (give or take) seeing the country (and a little bit of Canada) on a motorcycle.

That's right - with 30 days and barely more than 200 miles of city riding under my belt, I'm preparing to ride over 12,000 miles around the country. If you don't do it big, then what's the point?

This is a Dream that I've had for a long time, which morphed into an Idea a few weeks ago and has finally become a Plan.

As of today, I've got 500 days to prepare for my trip. The excitement that is already starting to make it hard to sleep at night makes me want to make it happen sooner than that, but the logistics dictate that I take the proper time to prepare and to assemble the gear I'll need.

And really, the timing will be perfect. Early spring feels like an appropriate, if rainy, time to embark on something fresh, new and big. My lease will be up. It'll get warmer, in general, as I go. And my hunch is that up to five of my closest friends in Park Slope will have just left or be on the verge of moving out of NYC. Meaning that I will be about ready to try someplace new as well. Meaning that it's the perfect time to make big changes, and by "make big changes" I mean QUIT MY JOB!

This initial blog post is going to be a catch-all of a lot of high-level information about the trip. I want to get the thoughts that I've jotted down on scraps of paper and the back of a Verizon statement or typed into an email to myself consolidated in one place, and then to elaborate on these main topics over the coming months as I hash out details in my mind and on the backs of more Verizon statements, etc.

The Route
The Plan is to travel about 12,000 miles in about 16 weeks. From NYC I'll blaze a roundabout trail down the Atlantic Coast, seeing the Manning Farm and friends and family in the DC area and the Carolinas, down through Atlanta and all the way down the ocean coast of Florida to Key West, then back up the Gulf Coast and then west across the lower half of the country, up to Colorado and then back down and over to Arizona. I'll bang a right and head up the coast of California and see my friends in the Bay area, then in Portland and Seattle on my way up to Vancouver. Whether or not I head further north to experience Alaska and the Yukon will depend on how things are going. The last leg will bring me back across the northern states and home to Brooklyn.

Objectives
1) Get out of Dodge. After six years (seven by the time my trip starts) of living in NYC and working in big offices, I'm anxious to spend time somewhere else and do something different.

2) See ballparks. I love everything about baseball, including seeing games in new stadiums. But I've only visited six parks. I want to add six more on this trip.

3) Scout new places to live. Five good friends have left Park Slope in the last couple of years and I think five more will in the next two or three. That's most of 'em. I still love New York City most of the time but I don't see myself staying too long after all of my oldest friends start enjoying greener pastures. Ahh, pastures. Over the next year, I'll create a short list of towns that might be Next, and plan to see them on my trip.

4) Meet new people. It would be remiss to leave this off the list. I think that travelers support other travelers and The Road (outside of NYC and DC and L.A., of course) is a very friendly place.

Accomodations
Camping, camping, an occasional motel, camping, friends' couches when possible, and more camping.

Budget
This is the other benefit of giving myself a lot of time to prepare: 16 months to save money. Right now, I'm figuring my expenses like this:

1) Gas: 12,000 miles at 50 mpg means 320 gallons of gas. At $3 per, that's $960.
2) Travel costs: A friend who went cross-country in a car recently said that his non-fuel costs averaged $40 a day. I'm going to budget $50 a day for accommodations and food. That's $5,000 for 100 days.
3) Insurance: Without a job, I'll have to buy health insurance. I think this costs about $500 a month. Ouch. So $1,500 there.
4) Motorcycle: This is the big X factor. I'm going to budget $10,000 for now, which would get me a great and powerful late-model bike. Whether or not I carry a loan on it depends on a lot of things. For planning purposes, probably better to assume I'll pay for it in full when I get it.
5) Gear: $1,500. It's a wild guess. Details will follow.
6) Bills: I think I'll be able to sublet my apartment or simply not renew my lease. I won't need data services from Verizon but I'll have a $50 cell phone bill and a $120 student loan payment due each month. So that's another $510. I hope the gym will let me quit.

So that's close to $20,000. Yep. Good to have time to save up. And all the more incentive to do a good job asking for a decent raise in January.

Packing List
This will be a work in progress until the morning I leave. I'll add to it as I think of things. I welcome your suggestions.

- Laptop and power cord
- Camera
- Sleeping pad
- Sleeping bag
- Tent
- Camp stove
- Phone (with GPS, or separate GPS) and charger
- Flashlight
- Map book
- Pocket knife
- Minimal cookware
- RAIN GEAR

The Bike
I visited three motorcycle dealerships with my Dad on Saturday: a Kawasaki and Yamaha place; a Honda and Suzuki place; and a Harley dealer. It was fun to throw a leg over the sport touring bikes (including the Kawasaki Concours) but I just can't reconcile its shape against what I feel a motorcycle should look like. I sat on an orange Vulcan 900 Custom and had no such difficulty imagining myself riding it for months on end. I'm intrigued by and anxious to see some of the Triumphs, especially the Speedmaster as well as a Victory (the idea of seeing America on an American-made motorcycle is appealing). The Yamaha FJR didn't feel bad but, again, isn't quite my thing. And I will definitely check out the BMWs that are said to be exceptionally durable and comfortable for long rides. But yeah. The Vulcan is the front-runner right now.

OK...I think that's it for tonight. Many more details to come.