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The only thing we will guarantee is that somewhere, sometime you will have a problem of one sort or another. It may be a punctured tire, a border guard who wants to demonstrate his importance, a bureaucrat doing the same related to the issuance of a visa, a shop mechanic who is not qualified to be doing the work who botches the job at hand; oh stop! This could go on forever. Rest assured that the old adage, “if it can go wrong, it will” is going to be part of your life. So, what to do? If you are not a patient person you will experience your share of frustration. There will be times when you will be convinced that the world is conspiring against you. If you are from North America or the European Union you have become accustomed to a high standard of living and having access to a plethora of goods and services that just does not exist in many other places in the world. Some have suggested that you can tell what part of the world you are in by the number of things that you can get done in one day with one thing a day being the most you can hope for when in a country in the slow world. We agree and have found some places in North America and the European Union that also qualify. We have had another person tell us, “don’t have high expectations and don’t have high hopes” and everything will be OK. Others say, “to hope for the best and expect the worst.” Whatever problems you encounter will be different and they will be the same as those who have gone before you. The only thing we are convinced of is that all you can do is try to minimize the opportunity for problems to happen. Many of the variables associated with this are totally out of your control and you are better off right now accepting that. If you cannot accept that your trip will more than likely be a miserable one. If you only remember one thing from this site, let it be this: you will never allow enough time to get things done and the pressure you feel will be determined by the time you feel you are losing. We can guarantee you will hear this from every traveler you talk to. We think that there are very few things that you can do to manage the issue surrounding problems. But, having said that, we believe that having a plan is your best chance. Your plan will not solve all of your problems but it should identify the options that are available at the time the event occurs. Things will not always go according to your plan no matter how good it is but you will do much better if you have a plan because the process of making the plan will have forced you to look at alternatives and make decisions about many different things. In order to minimize problems we think that having a plan is very important. The time you spend working on your plan could serve you well down the road because you have allowed for potential problems. We think that planning is the most important thing you can do. Have we been repetitive enough? Get it? Cool! Shift gears. Once you have your plan, don’t be in love with your plan. We view our plan as a living, breathing entity that will change as needed in relation to what is at hand. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you have a plan everything will happen as planed. The best advice we’ve ever been given is, “remain flexible”. No, this is not in reference to you body parts. It is about your plan and how you handle adversity during your travels. Adversity will be your constant companion and your happiness will be directly impacted by the way you deal with it. An illustration may help. If you have not planned for fixing flat tires on a trip to Alaska you will probably have problems. Not because we say so. Because everyone who has ever ridden a motorcycle there says this. By taking nothing more an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) tire repair kit on a trip to Alaska you are asking to have your motorbike trucked back because you will:
Get it? It’s this simple. What you do tends to have cumulative effects that involve others near you as well. The best planning in the world will not solve problems. It can help reduce risk. Hopefully it will make risk manageable. These last two are critically important things to be considered. But, reducing risk and trying to make it manageable do NOT eliminate risk. Planning only helps by identifying things that you may encounter. If you do NOT identify risks in your plan you certainly will NOT be prepared for them when you encounter them. What you plan for is as critical as having a plan. So, work hard on your plan. Use all of those cold winter nights to think about the things you might encounter. Read books by others who have gone before you to see what they recommend. Talk to people who have traveled. The fact that you’re reading this means you have access to the Internet. Use the power of the Internet to your advantage and get more information! The possibilities for obtaining information about planning and motorcycle travel are almost limitless today. Take advantage of it - you’ll have a good plan which will help ease some of the frustrations during your trip because you will be forewarned and as a result enjoy your travels much more. |
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Copyright © 2000-2007 Jim Seavey and Verna Norris All Rights Reserved |
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