Fuel and Water Setup

Overview


Although the WR250R gets good gas mileage at around 50-60mpg, the available fuel tanks are not large by overland touring standards. The BMW F650GS single-cylinder motorcycle manages similar gas mileage but can be outfitted with Touratech gas tanks for a total load of 9.5 gallons. For the WR250R, the IMS tank is the largest at 4.5g, making for a total range of around 200-250 miles. There are some remote stretches of road that can require more fuel range, and so I wanted a flexible solution to carry additional gas. A rigid container, such as a Rotopax, seemed like an inelegant solution. Even when not filled with gas, it would make the motorcycle even wider, and add hard brackets that could bend in a crash.

After reading reports about riders using a variety of soft bladders, I decided that would be the best approach. The pennytech solution is a bladder taken from a Starbucks coffee box, while the MSR Dromedary is the more durable and puncture-resistant option. From the handful of reports I've read, an o-ring is not required to prevent leakage through the cap, and in fact the danger is that the gas can sometimes cause the cap to glue itself to the threaded opening.

I initially tried draping a pair of 10L Dromedary bladders across the rear side panels of the bike, under the saddlebags, but the heat from the center bolt on the exhaust melted a hole in one of them. It might have still worked with that bolt removed, but the mental image of 2 gallons of gas pouring onto the exhaust made me rethink the approach. As can be seen below, I simply strapped the remaining 20L bladder across the top. It'll make for a tight cockpit when full, but still OK. Should I need even more gas, I can use any of the water containers.

Although I have a water filter in my equipment, I wanted to be able to carry a fairly large amount of water, enough to wash myself and clothing and cook and drink for a day or two between refills. I settled upon the idea of using 5L Dromedary bladders strapped to my Giant Loop Tankbag and across the IMS gas tank.

Edit: I can no longer recommend placing MSR Dromedary bladders filled with water in contact with a plastic gas tank. The taste of gas will leach into the water. MSR bladders in contact with a plastic gas tank should contain only gasoline.

Gas


1 MSR Dromedary 10L Bladder for additional fuel
2 2x Nalgene 32oz Wide Mouth Bottle for water
3 2x MSR Dromedary 5L for water, can be drained and rinsed with fuel then filled with gas for maximum range. Dried ideally and blend first tank of gas with MDR Water-Zorb from marine supply store. They make very comfortable knee-rests and add positive control when you grip the tank.
4 IMS 4.5g Fuel Tank. The IMS gas tank does not fit well and required removal of all the locating dowels/bushings from the front and rear mount points, and grinding the rear subframe holes for the seat mounting bolts.

Water 


1 SAE 2-pin cable. SAE 2-pin cables can be difficult to find, but are available as accessories to battery tenders in both motorcycle and vehicle supply stores. I also found some in Radio Shack as part of Enercell product packages. I found short pigtails at Fry's Electronics as Vanco NVBL1 Quick Disconnect Bullet Leads.
2 Zip Tie with 75lb rating used to secure MSR Dromedary 5L Water Bladder to Giant Loop Tankbag
3 Zip Tie with 75lb rating used to secure MSR Dromedary 5L Water Bladder to Giant Loop Tankbag
4 Dorman Analyzer wire routed under MSR Dromedary
5 Mouth of MSR Dromedary 5L rests on the divot in the IMS 4.5g Gas Tank. Left side is mirrored.


6 Fasty Tie-Down Strap from IKEA used to cinch water bladders together and secure the mouth of the bag on the edge of the gas tank.


1 REI 32oz Bottle w/ Dromedary Cap, for water and also to better space the right saddlebag
2 REI 32oz Bottle w/ Dromedary Cap, for water and also to better space the right saddlebag
3 3x Oatey Heat Shield, 9x12", available at Home Depot, applied using 3M Spray Glue to exhaust and heat shield, protected with layers of aluminum foil
4 Wide Adhesive Velcro Strips, applied to side cover and to bottle sides
5 Narrow Adhesive Velcro Strips, applied to both bottles at touching surfaces and across the top

Yamaha WR250R Overview

Why WR250R?

Although I already own a KLR650 heavily modified for travel, I chose a Yamaha WR250R for my trip. The WR250R has a superior charging system, putting out 350W peak, which can charge my electronics, my heated jacket, and heated grips. It also has a much lighter weight, making it easy to pick up fully loaded without assistance. Additional benefits of the WR250R are fuel injection for worry-free fueling at all altitudes and a modern suspension.

The downside to the WR250R is decreased top speed and acceleration. While the KLR can hit 100mph on flat ground and cruise at 85mph all day after the modifications, the WR250R might have a top speed of 85mph loaded up, well below redline. It prefers to cruise at 65-75mph.

For my purposes, these downsides are welcome. On the KLR I often found myself focused on simply getting somewhere quickly, where quickly was measured as faster than surrounding traffic on the interstate.

I have no need to be anywhere in particular on this ride, so it is no loss to roll along at 65mph. I've found that 55mph is about the fastest I can go and still adequately see and process the things I see by the side of the road before they've sped out of my field of vision. If I ever get hasty and forget about appreciating the here and now, the bike will be there to remind me that there's not much sense in going fast, and it won't do it anyhow.

Pre-Trip Maintenance

I purchased the motorcycle used with 10,000 miles on the odometer. This necessitated some basic maintenance.

• Clean out OEM grease and repack steering stem and swingarm linkage bearings. Beware the linkage bearings, some of them are uncaged so the rollers can and will fall out if not handled with the utmost care.
• Check/adjust valves. Yamaha claims that the bike can go to 26K before the first valve clearance check, but this is inadvisable based on reports of tight valves from owners of other models of Yamaha motorcycles with the same published specification. My exhaust valves were tight and needed to be adjusted. My notes for doing the check and adjustment this are available here.
• New FMF Fuel Programmer settings (1.5, 2.5, 1.0, 8.0, 4.0, 4.5 per SheWolf)
• 112-link Tsubaki Omega O-Ring Chain with master link clip. The Tsubaki Omega chain is more pricey than others, but it is the only brand that sells bulk master link clips. I have standardized on the Tsubaki chain for both of my motorcycles for the ease of removal, cleaning, and reinstallation. 112 links with the gearing below places the adjuster at around 70% inward brand new. 114 links with the gearing below was near the limit of adjustment.
• 13T front sprocket,  48T rear sprocket.
• No-Toil Air Filter. I normally have two of these for every motorcycle, so I always have a clean one on hand. The dirty one can be washed in a sink with no dangerous chemicals involved.
• Spark Plug (NGK CR9EK)
• Rotella T 5w40 Full Synthetic Oil and OEM Oil Filter.
• Fuel Pump, best price from servicehonda.com.
• Fork Seals. A shop is installing these for me for an hour's labor because I hate suspension work after spending a week chasing the source of wobbles and weaves on my KLR.

Hard Parts

• Reinstalled OEM exhaust. The FMF exhaust is lighter, but the power gain is not great and small-bore motorcycles sound terrible with large exhausts. I don't mind thumping along on my KLR, but the WR250R simply sounds flatulent when piped through a free-flowing muffler. The OEM muffler is a baffle-type that never requires repacking and is fairly light to begin with. Failure to repack a muffler with fiberglass packing can cause the end cap to blow off. Repacking is a messy process that gets fiberglass all over everything as it flies off the packing.
• LED Turn Signals from eBay. Picked the kind with an orange tip for $15 a pair.
• IMS 4.5g Gas Tank in Natural (Translucent).
• Flatland Radiator Guard. Fit was not great with either aftermarket tank, the Safari or the IMS. Given the wrap-around design I am concerned that in a crash the gas tank could bend parts of it into the radiator that would otherwise be untouched. In retrospect I would have tried a Bulletproof Radiator Guard.
• Fuzeblock FZ1. The two-position fuse design allows for always-on and switched modes on each circuit. Each circuit can handle up to 10A with a maximum of 30A for the whole device.
• Flatland Racing Skidplate with mounting slots drilled through for oversize zipties and backed up by hose clamps through the holes on the wings.
• Tubliss Tubeless Kit Front and Rear. Eyeballing the inner bladder valve stem and having it stay in the same position when inflated is challenging.
• Suspension Setup. Once loaded, the rear shock is quite overburdened. At full preload the race/rider sag is 100mm out of 270mm, which is where I've left it.

Cockpit and Controls

• 1 RAM camera mount
• 2 Garmin GPSmap 76CSx
• 2 GPS RAM mount
• 3 Warm'n'Safe wireless controller
• 4 Casio Watch Face, water resistant and velcro'd to speedo cluster
• 5 Zip Ties, 24" and 4"
• 6 Killswitch, inboard of brake mount, to make room for throttle tube to make room for bar end weights
• 7 Progrip 714 grips
• 7 G2 Ergonomics Throttle Tamer, YZF250-450 (1998 & newer) model to reduce the snatchy fuel injection
• 7 Symtec Heated Grips with Hi/Lo round rocker switch. Dual wiring so low mode does not need to dump heat through a resistor.
• 8 Crampbuster Classic
• 9 Manic Salamander weights, to reduce vibrations but seem much less effective on WR250R buzz than KLR650 thump
• 10 Duct Tape and Electrical Tape, wound on handlebar
• 11 Baling Wire, wound on handlebar
• 12 Tusk Handlebar Mitts, inner stitching removed to allow easier hand insertion, a complication caused by bar end weights
• 12 Acerbis Rally Pro handguards
• 13 Aluminum Handlebar with less sweep, reduced sweep eases wrist strain by allowing both rocking and twisting motions of the wrist to operate the throttle, width accomodates bar end weights. Should be about 0.5"-1" taller but acceptable.
• 14 MotoMind, reflected in mirror of unknown provenance

Charging System for Batteries and Personal Electronics

Chargers
1 Outlet and Charger pouch in Giant Loop Tankbag
2 SAE 2-prong connector. SAE 2-pin cables can be difficult to find, but are available as accessories to battery tenders in both motorcycle and vehicle supply stores. I also found some in Radio Shack as part of Enercell product packages. I found short pigtails at Fry's Electronics as Vanco NVBL1 Quick Disconnect Bullet Leads.
3 Lenovo Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter 41R4493 Travel Charger, brick not required for DC, velcro used to secure plug in outlet
4 Radio Shack Enercell 3-Way DC Outlet to SAE 2-pin connector
5 Luminair LC-17C Intelligent Charger for Lithium and AA or AAA Batteries. Universal charger for camera, cell phone, radio and other lithium batteries, as well as standard AA and AAA. Takes 12V DC input and charges at a moderate pace, probably 1C, protecting battery longevity but takes several hours for a full charge. Also has USB 5V power out from DC source or battery source. Clasp has spring-loaded pad to press on battery; may not fit fat camera batteries but can be left open. A brilliant product that actually works. Lenmar universal charger did not detect correct charging voltage for my lithiums.



Charger Storage
1 Tinted Visor for HJC helmet
2 First Aid kit
3 USB cable from LC-17C charger to cell phone
4 Luminair LC-17C Charger
5 Scott OTG MX 87 Goggles and Grey Gradient Lens, for dusty off-road w/ helmet visor removed.



Tankbag Exterior
1 Counter Assault Bear Spray from REI attached to handlebar crossbar
2 Velcro Wire Wraps from computer supply store (Fry's Electronics)
3 Mini-USB Cable to cell phone
4 Altoid Wallet
5 Dorman Auto Charging System Analyzer/Tester, LED output from 14V to 12V in 0.5V increments to monitor electrical load
6 HTC Touch Pro 2, protected from rain with Zip-Loc bag
7 Leatherman Multitool

Power Distribution and Fuse Block

• 1 Fuzeblocks FZ1, has both switched and always-on fuse positions and fits comfortably under the seat. Switched power is off the AIS flapper wire.
• GPS Cable
• Heated Grips
• Voltage Meter
• Enercell DC Splitter for Luminair Chargers and Lenovo
• Heated Jacket
• Unused SAE 2-pin lead. SAE 2-pin cables can be difficult to find, but are available as accessories to battery tenders in both motorcycle and vehicle supply stores. I also found some in Radio Shack as part of Enercell product packages. I found short pigtails at Fry's Electronics as Vanco NVBL1 Quick Disconnect Bullet Leads.
• 2 Spare Fuses, one leg inserted into the unused always-on pole
• 3 12AWG to battery, short lead, no main fuse
• 4 AIS flapper assembly removed to create space for FZ1
• 5 Tip-over sensor detached from mounting posts to create room for FZ1, snug against main wiring loom with velcro applied to opposite end to help ensure a tight fit against airbox

Contents of Tool Tube

To the best of my knowledge, this is a complete toolkit allowing any work to be performed, short of removing the top end. Not pictured are my spare throttle and brake cables. They should be routed as normal next to the regular cables for easy installation in case of a snap, but I got them late and I am lazy so I simply placed them in a large loop inside the equipment saddlebag. I am also packing a spare oil filter and a few feet of 18AWG electrical wire and a pair of SAE 2-pin pigtails.

1 Rear wheel bearings, not in tube
2 Front wheel bearings, not in tube
3 Front brake pads, not in tube
Items above are not being taken and will be placed in a "care package" for routine maintenance.

4 8.5" tire iron, two 11" tire irons
5 Rare earth magnet epoxied to a length of baling wire
6 10" and 6" and 3" 3/8 extension. 6" and 4" 1/4 extension
7 Vise grips
8 Spare shifter lever
9 Spare brake lever
10 Spare clutch lever
11 Steering stem locknut and rear suspension collar adjuster
12 6mm allen key
13 Leatherman Wave
14 8/10/12/14mm wrenches
15 14T drive sprocket. Leaving behind, the 13T currently installed is perfect.
16 16mm spark plug socket
16 14mm hex for front axle
16 1/2 to 3/8 adapter and 3/8 drive that slides onto the 10" 3/8 extension
16 3/8 to 1/2 adapter
16 1/4 to 3/8 adapter
16 3/8 to 1/4 adapter
16 19/17/14/12/10/8/6mm socket
16 5/32 flathead socket
16 #2 and #3 phillips
16 4/5/6mm hex
17 Concrete floor because fuck renumbering
18 1/4 drive
19 Adjustable wrench for axle nuts, not in tube
20 Spare 14 link segment of chain
21 3 spare master links
22 Handguard bolts
23 Chain breaker and master link clips
24 Chain brush
25 Just kidding

Information Technology

Phone Carrier
Sprint
SERO 500 Plan, $40/mo
Costs in Canada are 60c a minute and $2/mb. 20/c minute with $3 Canada plan. Unlimited text messages.

Phone Device
Used Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2, $200
T7380/Rhodium 400/Qualcomm chipset
CDMA-native/GSM-capable (GSM unlocker at http://rhodium.htc-unlocks.com/)
16GB SD card, $30
3 OEM batteries, $30

Windows Mobile 6.5 NEODIUM ROM (http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/cdma-tp2-development/106231-rom-plutonium-neodium-titanium-21916-28244-a.html)
Garmin Mobile XT

Android Version 2.2.2 FRX06 (http://xdandroid.com) on SD card
US SIM card must be removed to get service. I taped it to the battery cover.
Experimental Bluetooth patch, BT works but no audio for me (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13986332&postcount=136)
Spot Connect application from Android Market

Radio
Used Yaesa VX-2 w/ VX-2 programming cable, $100, (www.ebay.com)
Freeband mod available (http://www.kc8unj.com/vx2.html)

The Yaesu VX-2 is a highly compact radio with "weather alert" capability. The stock SMA rubber duck antenna is very weak but I have not been able to find a good replacement for use on weather band in time for my trip. I do not intend to use the radio for transmit, but only to pick up weather band and listen to random shortwave chatter or otherwise. It could be used in an emergency situation in transmit mode, however the Spot Connect device is intended for that.

Camera
Pentax K10D w/ 18-55mm kit lens, $300, (www.pentaxforums.com)
Pentax SMCP-DA 18-135/3.5-5.6 AL (IF) DC WR Lens, $460, (www.ebay.com)
Hoya 62mm Hoya UV Optical Filter, $10, (www.ebay.com)

The Pentax K10D is an entry-level DSLR camera that is highly weather-resistant. The kit lens is not weather resistant, and has limited zoom, so a weather resistant zoom lens was purchased. The Hoya filter was purchased to protect the lens glass.

Portable Computer
Lenovo ThinkPad x120e w/ E-350 AMD 2GB RAM 320GB HDD, $450, (http://www.lenovo.com/ibmspp). No CD-ROM.
Lenovo Thinkpad External Battery Charger 40Y7625, $50, (www.ebay.com)
Lenovo Ultraslim AC/DC Combo Adapter 41R4493, $100, (www.ebay.com)

The Lenovo x120e is more of an ultraportable laptop than a netbook, with enough processing power to play 720p video smoothly and run any productivity applications I need. It can function both as a travel laptop and as a business laptop if one already owns a desktop. Battery life is well over 5 hours. The AC/DC adapter replaces the AC power brick and allows me to also power off of a DC power source. The external battery charger allows me to stow the laptop away securely and charge the battery while under way.

Other
Plantronics CS50-USB (www.ebay.com) runs and charges off of a USB power supply
Shure E2C Earbuds for computer and phone audio
Zoom H2 Audio Recorder, $150, (www.amazon.com).

This audio recorder can capture stereo surround sound and has better acuity than my own ears. Capturing audio is a great way to capture ambient sound and add sense of place to a still picture.

Computer Software - General
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with Cleartype fully disabled (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/get-rid-of-blurry-fonts-in-win7-office-2007/081fe793-0b34-4389-ba9c-56ed683f6072)
Comodo Internet Security Antivirus and Firewall (http://www.comodo.com/home/download/download.php?prod=cis). Do not enable SecureDNS, use Google DNS at 8.8.8.8 or Level 3's 4.2.2.2 if you are travelling and need reliable DNS.
LibreOffice 3.3. Open source Microsoft Office alternative, said to be better than OpenOffice.
Notepad++ is a good tool for writing minimally formatted drafts and lists and notes. Can keep multiple document tabs open within the app.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 allows tendonitis suffers to write without pain
Audacity 1.3 Beta (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is an audio editing software
GIMP GNU Image Manipulation Program (http://www.gimp.org/)
FastCopy (http://ipmsg.org/tools/fastcopy.html.en) allows copying for backup much more quickly than Windows can
Pidgin (http://www.pidgin.im/) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client
foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/) is a powerful audio library & playlist
ACDSee 4.0 for processing images and drafting image-based blog posts in IPTC Comments metadata.

Computer Software - Mapping
Garmin MapSource
Garmin West 24K Topo Mapset
Garmin City Navigator NA 2011 Mapset
Alaska Topo Map (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/302/)
GMapTool 0.6.0 (http://www.anpo.republika.pl/files/GmapToolSetup060.exe) mapset splitter
MapSetToolKit v1.77 (http://sites.google.com/site/cypherman1/) mapset builder software
cGPSmapper v0.96 free (http://cgpsmapper.com/buy.htm) mapset builder tool

Emergency Beacon
Spot Connect, $149.95
1 Year Subscription, $99.99
Track Progress, $49.99
Type and Send 500 Msg Pack, $49.99
Spot Connect tethers to Android and Apple phones via Bluetooth to allow text messages of up to 40 characters along with other functions. Only SOS button remains on device. Spot Connect uses GlobalStar network, be aware of degraded service: http://calltimes.globalstar.com/ and http://calltimes.globalstar.com/ for satphone.

On Farkles

Thanks to the generous 350W output of the WR250R's stator, I'm able to charge a variety of electronic devices in addition to a heated jacket. At first I wasn't sure I wanted to have any electronics at all. I reasoned I could leave all that stuff at home and just focus on the flow of experiences. But I can't get rid of my desire to make something of it all, to create a work product.

I am a bit disappointed in myself that I couldn't just let go, but my feeling is that there's no place in our world for drop-outs. As it is, there's barely enough space even for those who work 60 hours a week. Having a laptop around allows me to keep in touch with people in the business world or study advances in technology as I'm on the road. Losing even a few months can be a big deal in the fast-paced world of web software (SaaS/cloud computing).

More importantly, I want to feel productive even if I don't take a second look at business subjects. Part of the fun of the journey is packaging it into ideas and stories using pictures, audio, and text. It's a good way for me to reflect on what all these experiences actually mean, and perhaps learn something from it. As it happens, I also have a poor memory so documenting things is my way of remembering them. Being able to share with others through forums and this blog is a bonus.

I've read a lot of adventure stories, and what seems to divide those who thrive (Thor Heyerdahl, Roald Amundsen, Dick Proenneke) from those who fail (Donald Crowhurst, Christopher McCandless, Heyerdahl's imitators) is whether they're driven by a productive spirit or by the desire to escape. Those who desire to escape seem to find that the world has no refuge for them, and many do not even find good company in themselves.

Bernard Moitissier, a sailor of immense ability and reputation, spent 10 months circumnavigating the globe for the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968. He gave up the prize to continue his voyage and found himself close to nervous breakdown as time went on. By contrast Thor Heyerdahl set out with 5 fellow Norwegians on a 45' by 20' balsa raft to help prove that the Incas could have populated the Polynesian Islands. They seemingly remained occupied, sensible, and on good terms throughout the journey. Many amateurs have followed in his footsteps for no reason in particular, and found much poorer outcomes.

Criticism can and should laid at the feet of the human desire to go forth, to dominate the environment, and pack it up for consumption, but to abandon the productive drive entirely is to abandon a part of what makes us human. It's up to me to make something out of the trip and continue developing as a human being. In a technological society, that seems to require using technology.

The technical challenge of preparing the equipment became part of the adventure itself. In the end, I arrived at a setup that should allow me to indefinitely work with audio, pictures, and writing so long as I can pour gas into my motorcycle. A Lenovo ThinkPad X120e netbook found its way into my backpack, a Pentax K10D camera around my neck, and a Zoom H2 sound recorder into my pack. The Lenovo can charge while under way, with a cable running from the backpack down to the charger in my tankbag. I bought extra batteries for my other devices which are charged in a pair of Luminair LC-17C Universal Chargers. The end result is that I can take pictures or record all day, write all evening on my X120e, and recharge everything the next day. A great incentive to keep moving!

Luggage Setup

OVERVIEW
REI Medium Dufflebag, Trash Bag Liner, with Big Agnes 0 Deg Whiskey Park Sleeping Bag
REI Medium Dufflebag, Trash Bag Liner, with Big Agnes 25” Insulated Air Core Inflatable Sleeping Pad
Tent Roll, Nemo Losi 3P Tent with Kelty 12' Noah's Tarp
Sven Saw, stuffed between Dufflebag and Tent Roll. The Sven Saw can be used as a "trail jack" when placed under the right footpeg. It keeps the bike tilted onto the kickstand with one wheel in the air so it can be removed and the tire serviced.
Ortlieb Motorcycle Saddlebags with Oatey heat-resistant backing
Giant Loop Tankbag
MSR Dromedary 5L Water Bladder (pair)
IMS Gas Tank, 4.5g, natural



RIGHT SADDLEBAG SPACER
1 Flush! Not sloped against the exhaust pipe



RIGHT SADDLEBAG SPACER
1 Spacer Bottles with saddlebags installed
0 MSR Dromedary 10L bladder for fuel visible in the top of the frame



RIGHT SADDLEBAG SPACER
1 REI 32oz Bottle w/ Dromedary Cap
2 REI 32oz Bottle w/ Dromedary Cap
3 3x Oatey Heat Shield, 9x12", available at Home Depot, applied using 3M Spray Glue to exhaust and heat shield, protected with layers of aluminum foil
4 Wide Adhesive Velcro Strips, applied to side cover and to bottle sides
5 Narrow Adhesive Velcro Strips, applied to both bottles at touching surfaces and across the top

How to Pack Everything

RIGHT SADDLEBAG
1 Heavyweight Fleece
2 Summer Sweaters
3 Kleen Kanteen Stainless Steel Widemouth Bottle, 18oz, full of Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila
4 Platypus Water Filtration System, no pump, gravity flow
5 Towels
6 Midweight and Lightweight Fleece
7 Bag of Bags
8 Long Underwear
9 Briefs
10 Socks
11 Swim Trunks
12 Jeans
13 Wool Undershirts

LEFT SADDLEBAG
14 Staple Food (assorted grains)
15 Brut Deodorant
16 Toiletries (toothbrush, floss, razor)
17 Hydrogen Peroxide
18 Bike Liquids (chain lube, ethanol solvent, superglue, epoxy putty, threadlocker, lithium grease)
19 Baby Wipes
20 Personal Liquids (toothpaste, sunscreen, castile soap, vaseline)
21 Air Pump, 120psi, Lezyne bicycle pump
22 Maps
23 Adjustable Wrench
24 Motorcycle Tube, 21"
25 Batteries (AA, AAA, cellphone, radio, camera)
26 Spare Oil. Leaving behind, need the space. Will need to be extra careful I don't dump the bike in a water crossing.
27 Cooking (Coleman Exponent nested in REI TiWare 0.8L pot and capped by REI sierra cup). Added a second pot, not pictured, to nest the other end.
28 Pot Scrubber
29 Egg Container. Eggs are delicious but take up too much space, particularly given the low calorie density. Egg breakfast in a diner is where it's at, anyhow.
30 Flat Repair (Slime air pump, tire plug kit)
31 Large Zip Ties

Clothes for the Road

WASH AND LAUNDER
1 REI Camp Towel, Large, for body
1 REI Camp Towel, Small, for hands/face
2 Bed Bath and Beyond Laundry Bag, 17"x10" sweater wash bag, to be strapped to bike to allow for air-drying laundry while on the go

PANTS (waterproof, functional, and casual)
0 REI Ultralight Waterproof and Windproof Pants, 32(w) L(i), worn under Kevlar Air Mesh Pants and outside with or without street pants
3 Columbia Titanium Convertible Pants, S(w) 34(i), lightweight and fast-drying but require removal of boots to remove lowers
6 Joe's Jeans, 29(w) 34(i), comfortable and good fitting and darker color than most

MID LAYER TOPS (need to be pared down, just not sure which combos will work best)

SYNTHETIC (waterproof outer, functional polyester heavyweight, midweight, and lightweight)
4 REI Ultralight Waterproof Jacket, M, worn under or over Aerostich or outside
5 Heavyweight Columbia Fleece, M, full zip
5 Midweight Old Navy Fleece, M, quarter zip and does not hold odor
5 REI Lightweight LS, S, quarter zip and stinks to high heaven after a few hours

WOOL (casual/functional wool midweight and lightweight)
7 Midweight Wool Sweater, S, holds no odor
7 Lightweight Wool Sweater, M, holds no odor Leaving sweaters behind, I want some extra space. They are non-essential and look really stupid with hiking shoes.
7 Lightweight Wool Sweater, M, holds no odor
9 3x 1x Button Up Polyester Shirt, S/M, holds odor after 2 days

TOP UNDERWEAR
8 3x Ibex Woolie Short Sleeve, M, holds no odor and good skintight tall/slim fit but should not be machine dried, two for day use one for night, rotated

BOTTOM UNDERWEAR
12 1x Swim Trunks, also taking Swim Goggles, not pictured.
12 4x ExOfficio Briefs, S, odor resistant
12 2x ExOfficio Boxer Briefs, S, odor resistant
12 1x Smartwool Boxer Briefs, S, odor resistant

SOCKS
10 4x 2x REI Wool Sock Liner, L, smooth seams but loose fit
10 2x REI Polyester Sock Liner, L, smooth seams and good fit and fast drying and durable
10 REI Wool Light Hiking Sock, L
10 REI Wool Heavy Hiking Sock, L
10 REI Wool Expedition Weight Hiking Sock, L, not pictured, dries very slowly, poor choice

LONG UNDERWEAR
11 REI Heavyweight Polyester Long Underwear, M, for daytime use
11 REI Lightweight Polyester Long Underwear, M, for daytime use and smooth fabric reduces binding/friction when sitting or moving
11 Ibex Midweight Long Underwear, M, odor resistant but does not move well and intended for nighttime use
11 Smartwool Lightweight Long Underwear, S, odor resistant but moves very poorly and intended for nighttime use

MOTORCYCLE APPAREL
13 Aerostich Roadcrafter, 40L, treated with Nikwax wash for waterproofing but the process damaged the velcro and pilled the textile somewhat. Too much detergent or too much heat in the dryer.  It's finally summer, so time to stop fighting the cold war. Leaving this at home. Two-piece is MUCH colder than one-piece because the wind sucks at every opening and creates drafts that defeat insulating clothes. I can make my Roadcrafter pretty much airtight. As of right now, heatstroke is a greater concern than hypothermia.
13 Not pictured: Olympia AST Jacket, S, and Motoport Kevlar Air Mesh pants, combined with REI waterproof pants for rainy conditions.
14 HJC Helmet, old piece of crap that keeps my brain inside my skull
14 Clear visor has anti-fog Fog City adhesive film. Taking a tinted visor in my tankbag, and Scott OTG MX 87 goggles for dusty off-road conditions (also extra grey gradient lens for goggles in bright sun).
15 Warm'n'Safe Gen 4 Heated Jacket, S
16 Sidi Adventure Rain Boots, 10, they leak but I have overboots. Waterproofing wax applied to eliminate the squeaky ankle hinges

GLOVES
19 Alpinestars Drystar, backup insulated cold weather glove with no wrist cinch strap
20 Cortech Scarab, insulation and liner ripped out
21 Cyclegear Neck/Head Warmer, keeps down airflow into the neck of the jacket
22 Held Steve II Gloves
23 Nitrile Gloves, waterproof layer over Polypro Liner
24 REI or Cyclegear Polypro Glove Liners, insulate Scarab

SHOES
17 Flipflops
18 Steve Madden Shoes, 10, they compress well. Worn out, swapped with Merrell shoes below. 
19 Merrell Chameleon 3 low-top, not pictured. These are well-ventilated and made to get wet. They wear pretty well barefoot, OK with light hiking socks, but are made for a shorter and wider foot than mine so have a less than ideal fit unless laced up tightly. For really bad wet and muddy conditions I can rely on my Sidi Adventure Rain boots, which are walkable thanks to the hinged ankle and lugged sole.

Margaritas in the Wilderness

I am carrying a small quantity of agave nectar and 18oz of Gran Centenario Reposado tequila, two elements which will bond with lime juice to make seriously delicious molecules of margarita. The correct proportions passed down from Tommy's are 1 part fresh lime juice, 1.5 part even agave/water mixture, 2.5 part tequila, and ice. Making ice is an unsolved problem. I know chemical ice packs work by mixing water with ammonium chloride, which is available bulk in farm supply stores to treat UTIs in goats. The other option is a peltier-based chiller, or even some kind of ammonia absorption loop to use waste heat off the motorcycle exhaust. I think there was a book about someone who got tired of the bullshit of civilization, bugged out to Honduras to start a new life, and ended up trying to make his own ice in the wilderness--it was "The Mosquito Coast" by Paul Theroux. I forget how that ended.

Let's assume a styrofoam container of dimensions roughly 2"x2"x4", with a volume thus of ~8 fl. oz. and or ~240 grams by weight. Water temperature is ambient, so 25C, and desired temperature is frozen. Cooling 1g of water from 25 C to 0 C takes 25 calories. Freezing 1g of water at 0 celsius takes 80 calories (latent heat of fusion), giving a total of 105 calories. 1 watt/hr is 859 calories, so 1 watt could freeze 8.1 grams of water per hour. (Cit.)

Next we need to look at the relationship between the power used to run a chiller of some type (in watts), and the amount of heat it can move (in watts). Compressor-based refrigeration loops are the most effective, but run rather large. Peltiers are less efficient, but are very compact, taking advantage of some basic electrical properties of dissimilar metals sandwiched together in a fairly thin layer.

A peltier can move heat up to about 1 COP, meaning for every watt used it moves 1 watt of heat. Keep in mind that we are dealing with a heat pump, not an endothermic chemical reaction. The energy used by the heat pump to do its work is added to the ambient heat that's been moved on the hot side, so we ain't breakin' no laws of thermodynamics here. A 1 watt peltier at 1 COP is going to dump 2 watts of heat energy onto the hot side of the plate, which then need to be air-cooled. At larger temperature differentials between the hot and cold side peltiers become less efficient, so let's say 1 watt of input energy moves 0.5 watts of heat.

Using that number, a peltier drawing 1 watt can freeze 4 grams of water an hour. As noted above, we have 240g, so it would take 60 hours. But if we have a 60 watt rated peltier, we could freeze our 4"x4"x2" lump of water in 1 hour!

Delicious Food

I'm a skinny guy who's always hungry, so having lots of food on hand is pretty important to my happiness. Given the sheer indiscriminate quantity of food I need to consume, I'm not a picky eater... so you gonna eat those fries?

On the other hand, having a bit of delicious food on hand to cut the monotony of feedbag staples goes a long way. Instead of making pemmican, the consumption of which has been compared to eating bacon-flavored candles, I've included things I consider to be portable delicacies: sardines, herring, dry salami from Molinari's in North Beach, and high-quality Parmesan cheese.

I'm also taking retort food to help complete the dinner meal. Retort food is essentially a complete dish that's been stuffed into a pouch, which is then cooked so that the contents are sterile. Indian food is the most common to find in retort pouches at grocery stores, but cities with upper-crust grocery stores like Trader Joe's will have other stuff. Retort food tastes normal and I hope it takes hold in US markets. Next, shelf-stable milk in bags!

If I take most of the things on this list and eat a single serving of each, it adds up roughly to my minimum required daily intake of food (2500 calories). I am carrying about 4 days worth of food.

Type	Item	Serving Size	Servings	Calories/Serving	Total Calories
Snack	Dried Cranberries	¼ cup	4	100	400
	Almonds	½ cup	4	360	1440
	Cashews	½ cup	4	340	1360
	Clif Bar (Cherry Almond)	1 bar	5	240	1200
Breakfast	Quick Oats	½ cup	4	140	560
	Quaker Granola	½ cup	4	200	800
	Almond Meal	¼ cup	4	180	720
Lunch	Molinari Dry Salami	2 oz	8	220	1760
	Parmesan Cheese	2 oz	4	220	880
	Sardines	1 can	1	180	180
	Herring	1 can	1	330	330
Dinner	White Rice	½ cup	2	480	960
	Couscous	½ cup	2	325	650
	Retort Food		2	300	600
Other	Olive oil	1 oz	8	250	2000
	Salt
	Pepper
Drinks	Instant Coffee*
	Tequila, Gran Centenario Reposado
	Agave Nectar

* Tastes like roast butthole, how can people drink this crap? Need to replace with some tea.

Here is roughly how I have the staples packed; about 8 days of basic provisions are pictured. To cut weight I settled on 4 days.

Motorcycle, Health and Rescue Insurance

Insurance Overview

To help manage the risk of a serious accident I reviewed all relevant forms of insurance before setting out, including motorcycle insurance, health insurance, SAR benefits, and medical transport insurance. My motorcycle insurance required increased coverage to meet Canada minimum standards (supposedly 100/300, whatever that is), and a special proof of insurance card. My health insurance covers only emergency services out of the US and even then only as a reimbursement, so I'd need to be careful. To help mitigate some of the risks in a worst-case scenario I also purchased medical transport insurance through MedjetAssist after comparing it to DiversAlertNetwork and Global Rescue. Finally, since I was buying a Spot Connect device I also purchased the GEOS SAR benefit, which would provide coverage for private SAR services in case of an emergency.

Motorcycle Insurance

PSIC / McGraw
Provides coverage in Canada, requires special Proof of Insurance form to be requested and printed. Minimum 100/300 coverage in Canada is required.

Health Insurance

I have options through individual COBRA coverage and coverage as a dependent in California until age 26.

Anthem Blue Cross PPO
Provides coverage in the United States. Medical expenses outside the United States are paid out of pocket and reimbursed per their claim review process. Only covers services provided in case of an inpatient medical emergency. Does not specify the duration of the medical emergency from patient intake, so once you're stable it's probably a good idea to get in-network.

Preferred hospital:
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center
350 Hawthorne Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
(510) 655-4000

Kaiser Permanente HMO
Provides coverage in the United States. Medical expenses outside the United States are paid out of pocket and reimbursed per their claim review process. Only covers services provided in case of an inpatient medical emergency. Does not specify the duration of the medical emergency from patient intake, so once you're stable it's probably a good idea to get in-network.

Preferred hospital:
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center - Oakland
280 W MacArthur Blvd
Oakland, CA 94611

Search and Rescue/Medical Transportation Benefits

GEOS Search and Rescue
$13.95/yr w/ Spot purchase
http://www.geosalliance.com/sar/SAR-tsandcs.html
Helps cover the cost of SAR services, does not cover Government services (if charged). [Update: This appears to have changed! Per Barry Watters, CEO, "The limitation regarding Rescue by 'Government, Police etc....'...is no longer a T&C of our cover. It would seem that our web editor overlooked the changes when our policy was renewed last year."] Does not cover repatriation. Per Spot call center agent, SOS button response is handled by GEOS.

For additional necessary and reasonable search and rescue (SAR) expenses (including helicopter with prior approval from the GEOS IERCC), up to US$100,000 per subscriber in any 12 month period with a limit of US$50,000 for any one claim by a member who summons 911 assistance as a result of an accident or other life threatening circumstance by activating their Globalstar SPOT device. See Note below.

This entitlement extends for a period not exceeding 72 hours from the time of the call for assistance, which is necessary to prevent further injury or illness or danger to human life as a result of an unforeseeable emergency where the appropriate rescue authorities recommend the dispatch of a Search and Rescue team, and such dispatch is further authorised and provided through the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC).

The entitlement will not extend if the Rescue Service is provided by official Government, Police, Fire or Red Cross organisations

The GEOS SAR entitlement extends to: United States of America Canada Mexico Argentina Brazil Chile Ecuador Guatemala Peru all countries of the European Union Switzerland Indonesia Japan Malaysia Norway Philipines Hong Kong (SAR)Korea (South) Singapore Australia New Zealand. Entitlement will be extended to other geographic locations subject to acceptance by the GEOS Underwriters in writing, which will be provided after the application has been made, and if refused all premiums paid will be refunded.

MedjetAssist
$240 w/ ATTA code
www.medjetassist.com/rules-regs/StandardRR.pdf
Covers repatriation of member from a local hospital and vehicle. May cover rescue.

Return of the motorcycle to the member's shop or dealership of choice should the member be hospitalized, no dollar limit. Return of motorcycle if the member is treated on an outpatient basis, but diagnosed as "physically unable" to ride by a medical physician. When a member becomes hospitalized as an inpatient due to an illness or injury while traveling 150 miles or more from home, either within or outside the contiguous United States, MedjetAssist will arrange medical evacuation and repatriation services to the hospital of the member's choice by a MedjetAssist authorized affiliate.

At MedjetAssist’s discretion, remote evacuation may be provided without hospitalization. Remote evacuation to the closest appropriate medical facility for initial stabilization and evaluation will only be performed in areas where MedjetAssist has authorized air medical evacuation affiliates capable of accessing remote air strips in the regions they serve. Members requiring remote evacuations will need to meet inpatient criteria as determined by MedjetAssist prior to evacuation.

Global Rescue
~$600/yr for Medical Benefit alone
https://www.globalrescue.com/agreement.cfm
Covers field rescue and repatriation.

Call 911 then contact Global Rescue. How to coordinate Global Rescue response in case of Spot SOS? GEOS IERCC is in charge of SAR response.

GR will provide, arrange, and pay all necessary and ordinary expenses for Field Rescue, air and/or surface transport to the hospital of such Member's choosing, located within the Member's home country, for a Traveling Member who is Hospitalized or in need of in-patient hospitalization.

DiversAlertNetwork (AIG Travel Assist/Travel Guard)
$29/yr
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/membership/handbook.pdf
Covers transportation from known location of medical emergency to a suitable hospital. Covers repatriation of vehicle.

All covered benefits must be arranged in advance by DAN TravelAssist. All travel arrangements must also be coordinated through DAN TravelAssist. Repatriation means that, due to Medical Necessity, the Member or Covered Family Member requires transportation.

DAN TravelAssist will not pay Transportation to transport the Member or Covered Family Member to their place of permanent residence if there are closer medical facilities which are capable of attending to the Member’s medical condition. DAN TravelAssist will aid in arranging the return of the unattended vehicle and will reimburse the cost of returning the unattended vehicle to the rental agency or the Member’s current principal residence, up to $1,000 per event.

Altoid Tin Wallet

1 My old leather wallet wore out, but I discovered that an Altoid Tin happens to make a very functional wallet. Cards will fit inside perfectly, but have an interference fit past the rolled lip of the tin. The cards will not come out when shaken even with the lid off, and ID can be carried on top for display when making purchases.

After a few months of using this wallet I discovered an easy way to remove the cards. Removal of cards is accomplished by pressing at the base of the cards so that the tops emerge out of the tin below the rolled edges of the tin that would normally keep them in place. I typically do not carry cash in the tin.

[Correction: After more use, I have discovered that the correct technique is to press down on the cards with your thumb in one corner (not the middle as pictured) so the opposite corner comes free and cards can be removed with your free hand. If the cards do not pop free, tap the bottom corner of the Altoid tin into your palm so they sit lower and come free more easily at the top corner.]

1 Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. Great card for travelers, with no international transaction fees and points rewards to hotels and air travel. Currently 25K point bonus with 3K spend in first 3 months, and no annual fee for first year followed by $100 annual fee. Generous with credit limits. Made of a flexible plastic-coated metal and looks baller.

Budgeting and Payments

Budgeting

There isn't a real overall budget section to this trip since I am not budgeting for it. I've always been painfully frugal and saved up enough to allow for the time off. I've come around a bit on being frugal and my prevailing point of view is that if I'm going to do something at all I should do it right. If I can't afford the expense I figure I should focus on something that's inherently less expensive, like mopeds or bicycles. At least I'm not into cars or boats or planes, I tell myself.

I decided that I needed to take a trip this summer and in round numbers figured I could afford a used WR250R and bits and set about prepping. As for expenses on the road, we'll see. I'll try to save money by camping, I don't have extravagant tastes so food costs and such should be modest, and I'm in no hurry so I expect good gas mileage.

How and When to Use Debit and Credit (So You Don't Get Your Shit Stolen)

It is worth talking about the mechanics of paying for things on the road, especially outside the US. Since I made it through college without student loans, I've never had much interest in credit cards except to build my credit score. I was planning to pay for my trip as I went using cash and debit. Unfortunately, I got my debit card number stolen as I was getting ready to go and it took a while to dispute the fraudulent charge, get the funds back, and get replacement cards. If I had been using a credit card the dispute process would have been simpler.

On the upside, I learned a lot. Since modern debit cards function as both debit and credit, your PIN code is not needed to make a transaction. All a crook needs is your debit card number. Some banks issue old-style PIN-only debit cards, but I don't know of any that do so without exhorbitant fees when not used at their ATM machines. So don't use a debit card for anything except cash withdrawals; use credit cards with online merchants and at point of sale. It's also a good idea to have more than one debit card at your disposal in case one is stolen. In any case, I ended up replacing my debit card and searching for a second one. I realized very quickly that I didn't need to settle for the 3% transaction fees of my existing cards.

Best Debit Card for Travel: Charles Schwab "Bank High Yield Investor Checking"

I discovered that Charles Schwab "Bank High Yield Investor Checking" offers a debit card with no ATM fees internationally. That means that they reimburse ATM owner fees, and they also do not charge the usual 1-3% international transaction fee assessed by MasterCard or VISA. Despite the intimidating name, there was no minimum to sign up, and no annual fee, but they do hit up two credit bureaus with a hard pull so beware if you have a lot of those in the past 12 months. This account was a huge win for me since I can now get any currency in the world for only the exchange rate. I was also extremely impressed with the call center reps at Schwab, who were based in the US, quick to answer the phone, and responded to my questions competently.

Edit: They will not "enable automatic fraud protection" for the first 6 months of having an account, meaning that you will have to call each time they "detect fraud" and block a transaction outside of your home area. Make sense? No? I don't get it either, but this card is for cash withdrawals only so no big deal.

Best Credit Card for Travel: Chase Sapphire Preferred

I also applied for a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. Despite the $95/year fee, it has a massive 25,000 point signing bonus that can be applied to planes or hotels, a flexibility that is the key feature of the card. Like the Schwab debit card, it has zero international transaction fees. An alternative is CapitalOne, which has no international transaction fees on any of its cards, with no annual fee. However, I have heard from FlyerTalk.com forums that CapitalOne generally offers low credit limits and has poorer customer service. For people who fly alot, particularly on business, the Chase British Airways and Chase Continental Presidential Plus cards are also worth considering. I did not look at the APR on any of these cards since I do not run a balance. FlyerTalk.com forums are a fantastic resource for anyone looking to get the most out of their credit cards.

How to Get a Passport Quickly

Rather than way countless weeks to get a passport by mail, I learned that I could go to the local passport office without an appointment and request one in person. The passport office was the most professional government agency I'd ever interacted with. I came in an hour after lunch time, expecting the DMV, and left thinking operating room. They asked for proof of my travel plans, which of course I did not have given the nature of my trip. So I eagerly started describing in detail how I was going on a motorcycle trip and it would be really exciting and I'd go through Canada and camp on the way, and, and, and...the clerk's eyes glazed over and he desisted in his request for further documentation. My number was called not 15 seconds after I left the check-in desk. In any case, they were able to get my passport printed up the very same week. I got extra pages on the passport while I was at it.

This may vary by location, but my experience was consistent with other reviews I read on Yelp for the San Francisco passport office.

Planning My Trip

When I first started planning this trip, I drew a big circle on around the perimeter of North America and started dragging waypoints onto it. After reading all the impressive ride reports on ADVrider.com, I identified the challenge and excitement of motorcycle travel with long days on the road, with states and countries visited. But after talking with friends and fellow riders I started to realize just how much there is to see without leaving the West. For that matter, there's a lot to see in California alone, or even Northern California or Southern California.

When there's a fixed time to work with, expanding or shrinking the scope of a trip changes its character. If you pass through a major national park in a few hours, are you really seeing it? Maybe you get a general sense of its geology and ecology, but unless you're exceptionally perceptive you need to slow down to see the trees through the forest, the birds on their branches, the moss on their trunks, the clouds precipitated out of clear air by the mountain peaks. I can't say I've really been somewhere until I get a sense for its ways of being. If you stay a while you start to appreciate the more subtle processes, like the return of an evening breeze by the coast.

In most of the neighborhoods that I've lived in, it took me a few weeks to really get a sense of who lived there and what they did, usually while working on my motorcycle on the sidewalk. Sometimes understanding comes through a rare event, like seeing an ordinary city pigeon explode mid-flight in the claws of a falcon outside a San Francisco strip club. Sometimes it is in the details, in the perfect lunch at a little hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant, in a Chinese shop full of live fish gasping for air, or a constellation sinking behind the Transamerica Building as a conversation goes on, the rotation of the celestial sphere interjecting itself into our human affairs.

The classic short film, Powers of Ten, captures this well. At each level of magnification we are presented with a view that is vastly different than the last, but no less true and real. Often it takes no motion at all to change one's view, only a focusing of the mind's eye.

This is why I sometimes find it difficult to express where I'm going. Alaska seems sufficiently far away to capture the idea that this isn't a simply sightseeing tour. But do I really have any reason to go to Alaska? I've barely explored my own back yard, both literally and figuratively! I could write a ride report set entirely on my front lawn, stopping for every bug, or for each species of grass.

I guess committing to a motorcycle trip actually demands a certain scale to things. Riding a motorcycle around a small town reduces it to a fashion accessory, or an overgrown bicycle. A motorcycle comes into its own on remote roads and far-off trails, offering vantage points otherwise available only to ambitious hikers or bicyclists. Most motorcycles can go well above the speed limit, and you're going to have a radically different experience if you zip along at 75mph down the interstate or if you roll through towns and farmland at 35mph. Neither experience is better or worse, each is rich in its own way.

What I'm getting at is that it really doesn't matter where you go, or how fast you go, or how far you go. What matters is the inner road that you ride, both on the motorcycle and off. It's possible to go down the most remote goat path in Africa, but inwardly never leave Main St.

A GPS has no map layer for the mind, but at least it will tell me where the gas stations are.

Wind, Sand, and Stars

Antoine de Saint-Exupery's writings about flying the mail in the 1930s perhaps come closer to capturing the essential nature of motorcycle travel than any ride report that I have read. Motorcycling, like flying, is a technological adventure.

Traditional stories of travel and exploration lie at the intersection of man and a challenging environment to whom he may submit or over which he may prevail. At the core of this battle is his physical fortitude backed by his power of will, an unmediated battle of body and mind against the elements.

With Exupery, man has the boon of machinery bestowed upon him by civilization, machinery that has sprung not yet fully formed from the factories of the world. With it comes great power, and the vast expansion of one's physical ability and experience. But with that great power comes the mystery of being conveyed on a device whose inner workings are invisible to both sight and to the mind's eye. So in Exupery we find that strange bond of faith that forms between man and machine, between the thinking, feeling, conscious self and the mute and unthinking substance of the machine.

With this empowerment also comes responsibility. For Exupery, the obligation "to endure, to create, to barter this vile body" is what gives meaning and direction to life. Exupery's flying machines require vast resources in fuel and maintenance, and exist only thanks to the work they do in the hands of men. An equally great sacrifice is required of the pilot to complete the bargain, and he is burdened with the double duty of pushing himself to fly through the most challenging conditions to deliver the mail, and making a safe passage, lest he never fly again.

The following is a chapter from Wind, Sand, and Stars, titled "The Elements."

When Joseph Conrad described a typhoon he said very little about towering waves, or darkness, or the whistling of the wind in the shrouds. He knew better. Instead, he took his reader down into the hold of the vessel, packed with emigrant coolies, where the rolling and the pitching of the ship had ripped up and scattered their bags and bundles, burst open their boxes, and flung their humble belongings into a crazy heap. Family treasures painfully collected in a lifetime of poverty, pitiful mementoes so alike that nobody but their owners could have told them apart, had lost their identity and lapsed into chaos, into anonymity, into an amorphous magma. It was this human drama that Conrad described when he painted a typhoon.

Every airline pilot has flown through tornadoes, has returned out of them to the fold - to the little restaurant in Toulouse where we sat in peace under the watchful eye of the waitress - and there, recognizing his powerlessness to convey what he has been through, has given up the idea of describing hell. His descriptions, his gestures, his big words would have made the rest of us smile as if we were listening to a little boy bragging. And necessarily so. The cyclone of which I am about to speak was, physically, much the most brutal and overwhelming experience I ever underwent; and yet beyond a certain point I do not know how to convey its violence except by piling one adjective on another, so that in the end I should convey no impression at all - unless perhaps that of an embarrassing taste for exaggeration.

It took me some time to grasp the fundamental reason for this powerlessness, which is simply that I should be trying to describe a catastrophe that never took place. The reason why writers fail when they attempt to evoke horror is that horror is something invented after the fact, when one is re-creating the experience over again in the memory. Horror does not manifest itself in the world of reality. And so, in beginning my story of a revolt of the elements which I myself lived through I have no feeling that I shall write something which you will find dramatic.

I had taken off from the field at Trelew and was flying down to Comodoro-Rivadavia, in the Patagonian Argentine. Here the crust of the earth is as dented as an old boiler. The high-pressure regions over the Pacific send the winds past a gap in the Andes into a corridor fifty miles wide through which they rush to the Atlantic in a strangled and accelerated buffeting that scrapes the surface of everything in their path. The sole vegetation visible in this barren landscape is a plantation of oil derricks looking like the after-effects of a forest fire. Towering over the round hills on which the winds have left a residue of stony gravel, there rises a chain of prow-shaped, saw-toothed, razor-edged mountains stripped by the elements down to the bare rock.

For three months of the year the speed of these winds at ground level is up to a hundred miles an hour. We who flew the route knew that once we had crossed the marshes of Trelew and had reached the threshold of the zone they swept, we should recognize the winds from afar by a grey-blue tint in the atmosphere at the sight of which we would tighten our belts and shoulder-straps in preparation for what was coming. From then on we had an hour of stiff fighting and of stumbling again and again into invisible ditches of air. This was manual labor, and our muscles felt it pretty much as if we had been carrying a longshoreman's load. But it lasted only an hour. Our machines stood up under it. We had no fear of wings suddenly dropping off. Visibility was generally good, and not a problem. This section of the line was a stint, yes; it was certainly not a drama.

But on this particular day I did not like the color of the sky.

The sky was blue. Pure blue. Too pure. A hard blue sky that shone over the scraped and barren world while the fleshless vertebrae of the mountain chain flashed in the sunlight. Not a cloud. The blue sky glittered like a new-honed knife. I felt in advance the vague distaste that accompanies the prospect of physical exertion. The purity of the sky upset me. Give me a good black storm in which the enemy is plainly visible. I can measure its extent and prepare myself for its attack. I can get my hands on my adversary. But when you are flying very high in clear weather the shock of a blue storm is as disturbing as if something collapsed that had been holding up your ship in the air. It is the only time when a pilot feels that there is a gulf beneath his ship.

Another thing bothered me. I could see on a level with the mountain peaks not a haze, not a mist, not a sandy fog, but a sort of ash-colored streamer in the sky. I did not like the look of that scarf of filings scraped off the surface of the earth and borne out to sea by the wind. I tightened my leather harness as far as it would go and I steered the ship with one hand while with the other I hung on to the longeron that ran along-side my seat. I was still flying in remarkably calm air.

Very soon came a slight tremor. As every pilot knows, there are secret little quiverings that fore-tell your real storm. No rolling, no pitching. No swing to speak of. The flight continues horizontal and rectilinear. But you have felt a warning drum on the wings of your plane, little intermittent rappings scarcely audible and infinitely brief, little cracklings from time to time as if there were traces of gunpowder in the air.

And then everything round me blew up.

Concerning the next couple of minutes I have nothing to say. All that I can find in my memory is a few rudimentary notions, fragments of thoughts, direct observations. I cannot compose them into a dramatic recital because there was no drama. The best I can do is to line them up in a kind of chronological order.

In the first place, I was standing still. Having banked right in order to correct a sudden drift, I saw the landscape freeze abruptly where it was and remain jiggling on the same spot. I was making no headway. My wings had ceased to nibble into the outline of the earth. I could see the earth buckle, pivot-but it stayed put. The plane was skidding as if on a toothless cogwheel.

Meanwhile I had the absurd feeling that I had exposed myself completely to the enemy. All those peaks, those crests, those teeth that were cutting into the wind and unleashing its gusts in my direction, seemed to me so many guns pointed straight at my defenseless person. I was slow to think, but the thought did come to me that I ought to give up altitude and make for one of the neighboring valleys where I might take shelter against a mountainside. As a matter of fact, whether I liked it or not I was being helplessly sucked down towards the earth.

Trapped this way in the first breaking waves of a cyclone about which I learned, twenty minutes later, that at sea level it was blowing at the fantastic rate of one hundred and fifty miles an hour, I certainly had no impression of tragedy. Now, as I write, if I shut my eyes, if I forget the plane and the flight and cry to express the plain truth about what was happening to me, I find that I felt weighed down, I felt like a porter carrying a slippery load, grabbing one object in a jerky movement that sent another slithering down, so that, overcome by exasperation, the porter is tempted to let the whole load drop. There is a kind of law of the shortest distance to the image, a psychological law by which the event to which one is subjected is visualized in a symbol that represents its swiftest summing up: I was a man who, carrying a pile of plates, had slipped on a waxed floor and let his scaffolding of porcelain crash.

I found myself imprisoned in a valley. My discomfort was not less, it was greater. I grant you that a down current has never killed anybody, that the expression "flattened out by a down current" belongs to journalism and not to the language of flyers. How could air possibly pierce the ground? But here I was in a valley at the wheel of a ship that was three-quarters out of my control. Ahead of me a rocky prow swung to left and right, rose suddenly high in the air for a second like a wave over my head, and then plunged down below my horizon.

Horizon? There was no longer a horizon. I was in the wings of a theatre cluttered up with bits of scenery. Vertical, oblique, horizontal, all of plane geometry was awhirl. A hundred transversal valleys were muddled in a jumble of perspectives. Whenever I seemed about to take my bearings a new eruption would swing me round in a circle or send me tumbling wing over wing and I would have to try all over again to get clear of all this rubbish. Two ideas came into my mind. One was a discovery: for the first time I understood the cause of certain accidents in the mountains when no fog was present to explain them. For a single second, in a waltzing landscape like this, the flyer had been unable to distinguish between vertical mountainsides and horizontal planes: The other idea was a fixation: The sea is flat: I shall not hook anything out at sea.

I banked - or should I use that word to indicate a vague and stubborn jockeying through the east-west valleys? Still nothing pathetic to report. I was wrestling with chaos, was wearing myself out in a battle with chaos, struggling to keep in the air a gigantic house of cards that kept collapsing despite all I could do. Scarcely the faintest twinge of fear went through me when one of the walls of my prison rose suddenly like a tidal wave over my head. My heart hardly skipped a beat when I was tripped up by one of the whirling eddies of air that the sharp ridge darted into my ship. If I felt anything unmistakably in the haze of confused feelings and notions that came over me each time one of these powder magazines blew up, it was a feeling of respect. I respected that sharp-toothed ridge. I respected that peak. I respected that dome. I respected that transversal valley opening out into my valley and about to toss me God knew how violently as soon as its torrent of wind flowed into the one on which I was being borne along.

What I was struggling against, I discovered, was not the wind but the ridge itself, the crest, the rocky peak. Despite my distance from it, it was the wall of rock I was fighting with. By some trick of invisible prolongation, by the play of a secret set of muscles, this was what was pummeling me. It was against this that I was butting my head. Before me on the right I recognized the peak of Salamanca, a perfect cone which, I knew, dominated the sea. It cheered me to think I was about to escape out to sea. But first I should have to wrestle with the gale off that peak, try to avoid its down-crushing blow. The peak of Salamanca was a giant. I was filled with respect for the peak of Salamanca.

There had been granted me one second of respite. Two seconds. Something was collecting itself into a knot, coiling itself up, growing taut. I sat amazed. I opened astonished eyes. My whole plane seemed to be shivering, spreading outward, swelling up. Horizontal and stationary it was, yet lifted before I knew it fifteen hundred feet straight into the air in a kind of apotheosis. I who for forty minutes had not been able to climb higher than two hundred feet off the ground was suddenly able to look down on the enemy. The plane quivered as if in boiling water. I could see the wide waters of the ocean. The valley opened out into this ocean, this salvation.-And at that very moment, without any warning whatever, half a mile from Salamanca, I was suddenly struck straight in the midriff by the gale off that peak and sent hurtling out to sea.

There I was, throttle wide open, facing the coast. At right angles to the coast and facing it. A lot had happened in a single minute. In the first place, I had not flown out to sea. I had been spat out to sea by a monstrous cough, vomited out of my valley as from the mouth of a howitzer. When, what seemed to me instantly, I banked in order to put myself where I wanted to be in respect of the coast-line, I saw that the coast-line was a mere blur, a characterless strip of blue; and I was five miles out to sea. The mountain range stood up like a crenellated fortress against the pure sky while the cyclone crushed me down to the surface of the waters. How hard that wind was blowing I found out as soon as I tried to climb, as soon as I became conscious of my disastrous mistake: throttle wide open, engines running at my maximum, which was one hundred and fifty miles an hour, my plane hanging sixty feet over the water, I was unable to budge. When a wind like this one attacks a tropical forest it swirls through the branches like a flame, twists them into corkscrews, and uproots giant trees as if they were radishes. Here, bounding off the mountain range, it was leveling out the sea.

Hanging on with all the power in my engines, face to the coast, face to that wind where each gap in the teeth of the range sent forth a stream of air like a long reptile, I felt as if I were clinging to the tip of a monstrous whip that was cracking over the sea.

In this latitude the South American continent is narrow and the Andes are not far from the Atlantic. I was struggling not merely against the whirling winds that blew off the east-coast range, but more likely also against a whole sky blown down upon me off the peaks of the Andean chain. For the first time in four years of airline flying I began to worry about the strength of my wings. Also, I was fearful of bumping the sea - not because of the down currents which, at sea level, would necessarily provide me with a horizontal air mattress, but because of the helplessly acrobatic positions in which this wind was buffeting me. Each time that I was tossed I became afraid that I might be unable to straighten out. Besides, there was a chance that I should find myself out of fuel and simply drown. I kept expecting the gasoline pumps to stop priming, and indeed the plane was so violently shaken up that in the half-filled tanks as well as in the gas lines the gasoline was sloshing round, not coming through, and the engines, instead of their steady roar, were sputtering in a sort of dot-and-dash series of uncertain growls.

I hung on, meanwhile, to the controls of my heavy transport plane, my attention monopolized by the physical struggle and my mind occupied by the very simplest thoughts. I was feeling practically nothing as I stared down at the imprint made by the wind on the sea. I saw a series of great white puddles, each perhaps eight hundred yards in extent. They were running towards me at a speed of one hundred and fifty miles an hour where the down-surging windspouts broke against the surface of the sea in a succession of horizontal explosions. The sea was white and it was green-white with the whiteness of crushed sugar and green in puddles the color of emeralds. In this tumult one wave was indistinguishable from another. Torrents of air were pouring down upon the sea. The winds were sweeping past in giant gusts as when, before the autumn harvests, they blow a great flowing change of color over a wheatfield. Now and again the water went incongruously transparent between the white pools, and I could see a green and black sea-bottom. And then the great glass of the sea would be shattered anew into a thousand glittering fragments.

It seemed hopeless. In twenty minutes of struggle I had not moved forward a hundred yards. What was more, with flying as hard as it was out here five miles from the coast, I wondered how I could possibly buck the winds along the shore, assuming I was able to fight my way in. I was a perfect target for the enemy there on shore. Fear, however, was out of the question. I was incapable of thinking. I was emptied of everything except the vision of a very simple act. I must straighten out. Straighten out. Straighten out.

There were moments of respite, nevertheless. I dare say those moments themselves were equal to the worst storms I had hitherto met, but by comparison with the cyclone they were moments of relaxation. The urgency of fighting off the wind was not quite so great. And I could tell when these intervals were coming. It was not I who moved towards those zones of relative calm, those almost green oases clearly painted on the sea, but they that flowed towards me. I could read clearly in the waters the advertisement of a habitable province. And with each interval of repose the power to feel and to think was restored to me. Then, in those moments, I began to feel I was doomed. Then was the time that little by little I began to tremble for myself. So much so that each time I saw the unfurling of a new wave of the white offensive I was seized by a brief spasm of panic which lasted until the exact instant when, on the edge of that bubbling cauldron, I bumped into the invisible wall of wind. That restored me to numbness again.

Up! I wanted to be higher up. The next time I saw one of those green zones of calm it seemed to me deeper than before and I began to be hopeful of getting out. If I could climb high enough, I thought, I would find other currents in which I could make some headway. I took advantage of the truce to essay a swift climb. It was hard. The enemy had not weakened. Three hundred feet. Six hundred feet. If I could get up to three thousand feet I was safe, I said to myself. But there on the horizon I saw again that white pack unleashed in my direction. I gave it up. I did not want them at my throat again; I did not want to be caught off balance. But it was too late. The first blow sent me rolling over and over and the sky became a slippery dome on which I could not find a footing.

One has a pair of hands and they obey. How are one's orders transmitted to one's hands?

I had made a discovery that horrified me: my hands were numb. My hands were dead. They sent me no message. Probably they had been numb a long time and I had not noticed it. The pity was that I had noticed it, had raised the question. That was serious.

Lashed by the wind, the wings of the plane had been dragging and jerking at the cables by which they were controlled from the wheel, and the wheel in my hands had not ceased jerking a single second. I had been gripping the wheel with all my might for forty minutes, fearful lest the strain snap the cables. So desperate had been my grip that now I could not feel my hands.

What a discovery! My hands were not my own. I looked at them and decided to lift a finger: it obeyed me. I looked away and issued the same order: now I could not feel whether the finger had obeyed or not. No message had reached me. I thought: "Suppose my hands were to open: how would I know it?" I swung my head round and looked again: my hands were still locked round the wheel. Nevertheless, I was afraid. How
can a man tell the difference between the sight of a hand opening and the decision to open that hand, when there is no longer an exchange of sensations between the hand and the brain? How can one tell the difference between an image and an act of the will? Better stop thinking of the picture of open hands. Hands live a life of their own. Better not offer them this monstrous temptation. And I began to chant a silly litany which went on uninterruptedly until this flight was over. A single thought. A single image. A single phrase tirelessly chanted over and over again: "I shut my hands. I shut my hands. I shut my hands." All of me was condensed into that phrase and for me the white sea, the whirling eddies, the saw-toothed range ceased to exist. There was only "I shut my hands." There was no danger, no cyclone, no land unattained. Somewhere there was a pair of rubber hands which, once they let go the wheel, could not possibly come alive in time to recover from the tumbling drop into the sea.

I had no thoughts. I had no feelings except the feeling of being emptied out. My strength was draining out of me and so was my impulse to go on fighting. The engines continued their dot-and-dash sputterings, their little crashing noises that were like the intermittent cracklings of a ripping canvas. Whenever they were silent longer than a second I felt as if a heart had stopped beating. There! that's the end. No, they've started up again.

The thermometer on the wing, I happened to see, stood at twenty below zero, but I was bathed in sweat from head to foot. My face was running with perspiration. What a dance! Later I was to discover that my storage batteries had been jerked out of their steel flanges and hurtled up through the roof of the plane. I did not know then, either, that the ribs on my wings had come unglued and that certain of my steel cables had been sawed down to the last thread. And I continued to feel strength and will oozing out of me.

Any minute now I should be overcome by the indifference born of utter weariness and by the mortal yearning to take my rest. What can I say about this? Nothing. My shoulders ached. Very painfully. As if I had been carrying too many sacks too heavy for me. I leaned forward. Through a green transparency I saw sea-bottom so close that I could make out all the details. Then the wind's hand brushed the picture away.

In an hour and twenty minutes I had succeeded in climbing to nine hundred feet. A little to the south-that is, on my left-I could see a long trail on the surface of the sea, a sort of blue stream. I decided to let myself drift as far down as that stream. Here where I was, facing west, I was as good as motionless, unable either to advance or retreat. If I could reach that blue pathway, which must be lying in the shelter of something not the cyclone, I might be able to move in slowly to the coast. So I let myself drift to the left. I had the feeling, meanwhile, that the wind's violence had perhaps slackened.

It took me an hour to cover the five miles to shore. There in the shelter of a long cliff I was able to finish my journey south. Thereafter I succeeded in keeping enough altitude to fly inland to the field that was my destination. I was able to stay up at nine hundred feet. It was very stormy, but nothing like the cyclone I had come out of. That was over.

On the ground I saw a platoon of soldiers. They had been sent down to watch for me. I landed near by and we were a whole hour getting the plane into the hangar. I climbed out of the cockpit and walked off. There was nothing to say. I was very sleepy. I kept moving my fingers, but they stayed numb. I could not collect my thoughts enough to decide whether or not I had been afraid. Had I been afraid? I couldn't say. I had witnessed 'a strange sight. What strange sight? I couldn't say. The sky was blue and the sea was white. I felt I ought to tell someone about it since I was back from so far away! But I had no grip on what I had been through. "Imagine a white sea . . . very white . . . whiter still."

You cannot convey things to people by piling up adjectives, by stammering. You cannot convey anything because there is nothing to convey. My shoulders were aching. My insides felt as if they had been crushed in by a terrible weight. You cannot make drama out of that, or out of the cone-shaped peak of Salamanca. That peak was charged like a powder magazine; but if I said so people would laugh. I would myself. I respected the peak of Salamanca. That is my story. And it is not a story.

There is nothing dramatic in the world, nothing pathetic, except in human relations. The day after I landed I might get emotional, might dress up my adventure by imagining that I who was alive and walking on earth was living through the hell of a cyclone. But that would be cheating,
for the man who fought tooth and nail against that cyclone had nothing in common with the fortunate man alive the next day. He was far too busy.

I came away with very little booty indeed, with no more than this meagre discovery, this contribution: How can one tell an act of the will from a simple image when there is no transmission of sensation?

I could perhaps succeed in upsetting you if I told you some story of a child unjustly punished. As it is, I have involved you in a cyclone, probably without upsetting you in the least. This is no novel experience for any of us. Every week men sit comfortably at the cinema and look on at the bombardment of some Shanghai or other, some Guernica, and marvel without a trace of horror at the long fringes of ash and soot that twist their slow way into the sky from those man-made volcanoes. Yet we all know that together with the grain in the granaries, with the heritage of generations of men, with the treasures of families, it is the burning flesh of children and their elders that, dissipated in smoke, is slowly fertilizing those black cumuli.

The physical drama itself cannot touch us until some one points out its spiritual sense.


Title: Wind, Sand, and Stars
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Translator: Lewis Galantiere
Publisher: Harcourt Brace Javanovich, New York, 1967

Classics in Adventure

If you are looking for a adventure story, close your browser and go to the nearest library. Since the 1980s, globalization and improved transportation have made our world an ever smaller, ever more familiar place. Where once the intrepid explorer could push the boundaries for discovery, now the forces of global trade drive men and machines into the remote reaches of the world, and we are merely tourists in their wake. I doubt the great stories of adventure can be surpassed until we again reach into the frontier of space.

Some of my favorites:

• "The Histories" by Herodotus. Herodotus was the original adventure writer. Part first-hand account, part second hand stories, part history, part folklore, this is what Herodotus heard and saw and theorized as he traveled the known world over 2000 years ago.
• "Kon Tiki" by Thor Heyerdahl. A story of a novel theory about human migration and an adventure of thousands of miles on a balsa raft to help prove it.
• "Wind, Sand, and Stars" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Thoughtful and beautiful writing from a pilot in the days before the FAA. His fetish for planes is on par with any passion a motorcyclist could muster for his bikes.
• "The Worst Journey in the World" by Cherry Apsley-Gerrard. A story about the 1910-1913 British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott, summed up as "The cleanest way of having a bad time ever devised." If I'm ever cold I think of what they went through and somehow begin to feel not so bad.
• "Farthest North" by Fritjof Nansen. Nansen was truly "the most interesting man in the world" back in his day for his exploits in the Arctic.
• "Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair. This DVD documentary series blew me away. In the 1980s these two brothers traveled through the Indonesian archipelago when many islands hadn't seen white men in 10, 20 or even 200 years. People were open to the outside world through trade and travel, but not yet Westernized.
• "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst." An everyman saw an around-the-world solo boat race as his way to bring his family out of financial difficulty. He fell behind and made a fateful decision that allowed him to remain in the race, a decision that then ate him away with nothing to reflect on but himself and the vast ocean.

Others I remember less well, but are equally excellent:

• "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T.E. Lawrence. The writings of the one and only "Lawrence of Arabia," a British liaison officer to the rebel forces in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks of 1916 to 1918. He was an intelligent and erudite man whose way with words captures both to his surroundings and the culture and lives of his Arab companions. The lessons he learns are good material for any aspiring imperial power to learn from, should they be inclined to support in Middle Eastern insurgency.
• "The Cloud Forest" by Peter Matthiessen. One of the most outstanding South American adventure books. Occurring in the late 50s or early 60s, South America is a wild frontier and Matthiessen is by turns reflective and modestly swashbuckling, relying on shady companions at river outposts, running unconquered rapids with terrified natives, and searching for legendary fossils.
• "The Snow Leopard" by Peter Matthiessen. Less swashbucking and more meditative, Matthiessen does the Himalayas Buddhist-style.
• "Starlight and Storm" by Gaston Rebuffat. If you're interested in books about how the Alps were climbed back in the day, Rebuffat's book is a good one. Maurice Herzog's book "Annapurna" is also worth reading, but somewhat fictionalized. Herzog turned out to have been a bit of a dick on that expedition. Also try Lionel Terray's "Conquistadors of the Useless: From the Alps to Annapurna."
• "Sailing Alone Around the World" by Joshua Slocum. Slocum sailed his self-built boat around the world between 1895 and 1898, becoming the first person to do so single-handed. He's also a fantastic story-teller with a great sense of humor. Scarcely a single page goes by without a cheeky remark.

Why Adventure?

This 2-minute video from Werner Herzog's documentary, "Encounters at the End of the Earth" asks the same question through a metaphor.

What draws us to adventure? What pulls us away from the towns and cities, from old friends and family, when the routines of everyday life are there to ensure a safe and comfortable and happy life?

Some engage in adventure for work or science. Others do it for prestige, particularly the great explorers of the 1800s and 1900s who explored the Arctic and Antarctic in the name of the Norwegian or British Crown. Many adventurers are recreational, seeking to enhance their everyday lives with the benefits of physical exertion, psychological commitment and controlled risk--on weekends and holidays.

And yet there is another kind of adventurer who does it not for work, or scientific knowledge, prestige, or its beneficial impact on everyday life. Some embark on their journeys after leaving college, uncertain about their future place in the world. Some do it out of romantic sentiment, innocent of pretense, or as Byronic heroes in their own mind. Some hit the road to heal a grave loss, a reaction to death or the end of love. Some become unemployed or dissatisfied with their work, and hope that seeing the world will show them a new path. Particularly now, I see many who embark on motorcycle trips to flee what they call "the corporate grind." What do they flee to, on their expensive motorcycles?

Not all who experience life's trials in this way become adventurers. Many buckle down, or medicate, or seek other ordinary forms of oblivion. Others are galvanized to better their position, and work hard to overcome their obstacles. These adventurers seem to instead question the nature of the challenge or strive to pose it their own way.

But why?