Ever since I read Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in high school I have been enchanted with the idea of hitting the open road and exploring the old and forgotten. I enjoyed Robert Pirsig's commentary on "quality" but i fell in love with his descriptions of the world through the senses of one riding a motorcycle:
You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.
The dream of hitting the lost and forgotten roads of America never left me as I graduated college, married, and moved to LA but nothing ever came of it.
This is what the 2 Wheel America Challenge is all about. I figure that if I don't do this now while I am young and able I may never do it. But the facts remain: I don't have a route, I don't have a bike, I don't have a motorcycle license, and I don't even know the first thing about riding one. This is the largest portion of the challenge; being able to even depart.
Now this all might sound crazy but here's the kicker: I'm hoping to not spend a dime...heck, even a penny. I'm planning on traveling the lost and forgotten by extending my services as a filmmaker and through marketing of products.
My wife and I have been able to enjoy several resorts and cabins throughout southern California using this very method. We would create web promotional films in exchange for free stay and sometimes even food. I don't see why this same method wouldn't work for the 2 wheel America Challenge.
My plan is to document the whole trip, each and every day, through photos and short films in which I would showcase products, businesses, and explore them through daily blog posts. Thanks to the iPad and iPhone, I can shoot, edit and deliver to the web on a daily basis.
I've given myself a year to prepare. Hopefully this enough.
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