AdventureTrader.   What?  Who?  Why?

Let me start off by welcoming you to AdventurTrader.

Since this is my first real post on this site, please allow me to put forth an explanation of who I am and what this site is all about.  The "What, Who and Why".

I'll begin with the What:

In the fall of 2022, I plan on embarking on a two-year, around-the-world motorcycle adventure.  I hope on leaving the United States around October and travelling south through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia(if time and visa permits), Chile and Argentina.  From there I will ship my motorcycle to Spain for a counter-clockwise 5 or 6 months around Europe with a short stop off in France in July to be able to watch a couple stages of the Tour de France.  In the fall of 2023 I will head south along the western coast of Africa to South Africa and turn north again through the countries on the eastern edge of Africa to Egypt. Once I arrive in Turkey, I plan on shipping the motorcycle to India which will allow me to ride through India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and, if open to foreign travel, Australia.

Mind you, this is all tentative and I expect these plans to change somewhat as the trip progresses.

I am looking to purchase a KTM 500 EXC-F to take me on this adventure, but if expenses don't allow a purchase of this amount, I currently own a BMW G650GS Sertao that I will use instead.  The KTM would be preferred for two main reasons.  1).  Light weight.  The 500 only weights 255 lbs with a full tank of gas as opposed to the 425 lb BMW.  I am not a young man anymore and have aquired back issues over my lifetime.  If I did not have these problems or I was taking this trip with a few companions, the BMW would be a more than capable bike.  But, without companions to assist when the bike gets stuck in mud, sand, etc.  the lighter weight KTM is preferable.  2)  Superior off-road capabilities. While the BMW is designed to go both on and off road, the KTM is, first and foremost, a dirt bike.  I am looking forward to going places that are off-the-beaten-path and the KTM is a far superior bike to get me there.

The Who and Why:

My name is Ken.  I am 57 years old.  I currently live in Alaska, USA.  But i actually grew up in Nebraska, USA.  

When I was young, i loved to ride a bicycle.  I would ride that damn thing EVERYWHERE.  I even rode it to neigboring towns, on occasion.  But, when I grew into my mid-teens, I stopped riding and turned to cars as my main mode of transportation.  One day, while working in my parents bakery(this would have been around 1981), i just happened to see two adult men riding bicycles past the bakery.  First of all, adults didn't ride bikes where i grew up, it was reserved for children.  Second, the bikes were laden down with what i could only describe as "saddle bags" at the time and camping gear(tents, sleeping bags).  I watched them stop at the laundromat down the block and made an excuse to go down and check it all out.  

After a short conversation with these gentlemen, I found out they were travelling across the country, sleeping in campgrounds, with only what they carried on the bikes.  For some reason this stuck with me throughout my life.  Later, when I was in my 30's i got back into biking.  To the extent that i actually went several years without a car and commuted everywhere on my bike.  I loved it.  And the idea of travelling by bicycle was always there, in my mind, waiting to be acted upon.

In 2010 I finally decided to take the leap.  I bought a Surly Longhaul Trucker and rode from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California.  A trip lasting 2 months and covering just over 2000 miles.  When I returned to Alaska I had an idea for a round-the-world trip and started rolling ideas around in my head.

I knew right away that it would take a long time for me to save up the money to make such a trip.  And I knew I would not be a young man when it happened.  So I began thinking of alternate ways to cover the distance. Around the same time I began noticing motorcyclists showing up in Alaska on BMW motorcycles wearing, what i considered, weird looking gear.  Come to find out that many of these motorcyclist were making long journeys themselves.  Some riding up the ALCAN,  some making the trip to/from South America and, a few, going around the world.  A light turned on in my brain and my alternative mode of transportion was found.

8 years ago I decided to set my plan in motion and bought a 2004 Kawasaki KLR 250 and immediately went out and............learned how to ride it.  That's right, up until then, I had never ridden a motorcycle.  Oh, I had ridden on the back, but never ridden/driven one myself.  My plan at the time was to spent about 2 or 3 years getting familiar with riding and then upgrading to a BMW 650 GS.  With the GS I would begin making small(1 to 2 week) trips, complete with camping gear, etc., and familiarize myself with long-distance motorcycle travel.  After which I would upgrade again to a 800 GS, or similar, and begin my trip around the world.

Two things happen to delay my departure.  The first was a career change.  I was working as a salesman for a liquor distributor and had figured that I could afford the trip by the year 2020.  Without that income I decided I would need to put it off for a year.  The second thing to delay me was COVID.  With the shut downs that occurred, my finances took another hit.  So I delayed the trip, once again until 2022.

Back in 2019 while I was planning, I was looking for ways to possibly help fund the trip while actually ON the trip(just in case i couldn't come up will ALL of the money needed before the trip began).  I came across a few options.  One was to start a YouTube channel and try to make money that way.  I also found a website called Work Away which assisted travellers to find work in various areas such as hostels, farms, etc., while they travelled.  Most of these positions required minimum commitments of up to one month and, although it was a great opportunity for some, would not fit into my travel schedule.  That is when I stumbled upon day trading.

After researching day trading I realized that it would fit my needs better than any of the other methods.  With just a laptop and wifi, I could trade from literally anywhere in the world.  I set out learning trading.  Most everyone I talked to and every book I read claimed that it takes the average trader 3 to 5 years of trading to become a profitable trader and to expect to have to have a way to support yourself until that happens.  I decided to make the commitment and got a part-time bartending job working on Saturday and Sunday that made me, along with a rental house that I own, just enough money to allow me to trade Monday through Friday.  I am currently 3 years into my trading jouney and, although I hate to admit it, not quite to the point where I am consistently profitable enough to make a living doing it.

For a while it was beginning to look like I may end up postponing my trip AGAIN.  But I had one asset that worked in my favor.  My house.  With the dramatic increase in housing values over the past few years my house increase in value enough to completely cover the cost of a 2 year trip.....and then some.  As of today, my house is on the market.  When it sells, i will have more than enough to fund my adventure.

Back in April is when I began the countdown to departure.  I visited my health care provider and had lab work and a physical assessment done.  I began the regimen of vaccinations required for a trip of this magnitude.  I also made appointments with my dentist to clear up any issues I might have to lessen the chance of anything popping up while travelling.

So, here I am, sitting if front of a computer, typing this to you and waiting for a buyer for my house.  Once that happens, I can begin to finalize all of the preperations I have started and finally be ready to begin a journey that began to take hold, in my mind, all those years ago, in a small Nebraska town.

I truly look forward to sharing my adventure with you and my hope is that i can pass on enough of the wonder that I felt so, so many years ago that someone else out there will, someday, make the leap to fulfill a dream and, in turn, pass that wonder on to another.

The journey is about to begin............