« Postcards from Nowhere: Peoria to Panama - Day 15: Tulum, Mexico to Orange Walk Town, Belize | Main | More feedback... »
June 4, 2013
Some Feedback...
An email from my friend Doug:
So, Sparky - A couple of comments on your current life and death, fraught with angst and tribulation saga:
On the subject of getting lost all the time: you've ridden a motorcycle before, have you not? And you've noticed that when you go to a new place, you don't know where anything is, right? And you've clearly heard of GPS navigation devices, right? Further, you apparently worked hard all year and made enough bucks to buy a nice new KTM. And you knew you were going to Panama. Don't you think you could have sprung ~$40 for a handlebar bracket, and ~$119 for a decent GPS? I mean *before* crossing the border? (Helpful hit: Amazon.com ships overnight for an extra ten bucks).
Speaking of crossing the border, why the fuck did you bother waiting back home for your passport if you were not going to get it stamped when entering Mexico? Oh, wait, wait: I think I know: you didn't get it stamped in order to be able share all that angst about being in the country illegally. I think I get it.
One more: oil filters. Bikes need oil changes. Oil changes require filters. I suspect you know that. Why the fuck didn't you pack a couple? They're small. Oh, wait, I think I'm beginning to get this one as well: it's all about sharing those buckets of "I can't find KTM 990 oil filters here in Mexico" angst.
We get it: angst. The story is all about angst.
And as I indicated, I shared your peeniewallie blog on my Facebook page and with another rider friend of mine. Here's what he had to say:
"The guy in Mexico actually wants to die I think. But its a hard decision. So he has this gonzo adventure literature fantasy, that the fucked up world gives him permission to kill himself as an artiste verite if he would just create that story of stories but it's really just that he has to explain it to some abstraction of "everybody" to work out the justification in his own brain. Because he can't admit to himself what he is thinking. "Maybe you'll all agree, maybe you will realize how fucked up you are too, being his oppressors and all. " Rather than, "Read my long self deceiving, self serving suicide note/ gonzo literary contribution. Fear and loathing in Yucatan. That will teach her, I'll literature her into nonexistence, the opposite of objectification of a women. I will abstractify her into a little toxic puff of prosaic fish stink breath from the smile of the Cheshire Cat. I'll just put it out there and the world will hate her unless they are stupid. oh, but since they are stupid I don't care. I am art. Darned speed limits, passports, money, other peoples desires, other peoples failed responsibilities. The world doesn't deserve me, those rules don't apply to me, people are stupid, vain, selfish, unfair, to not see how smart, gifted and deserving I am, etc." As he says, "Lord God", but then I say he is full of crap. He wants to die and can't say it. Can't think it straight up. All those words he is spewing could be replaced with only four words, starting with, "I want.."
But anyway he is at least going to hurt himself if he doesn't get some altitude fairly soon. Hopefully nobody else will pay the fare for the trip to hell along with him. Gosh. Por lo menos, adjust the f*****g chain. Or get a BMW. In the end the original gonzoid Hunter Thompson gave up on the drugs, lunatic adventures, wasted relationships and the sausage creature and sadly shot himself. It was a long path to that, the entire written record he created is *his* note to the world and himself, but its the same path as the one your friend is on here."
My reply to Doug:
Doug,
Loved the screed. Thanks for sharing. A few things...
1) Did you change your phone number? I tried messaging you and it wasn't you.
2) GPS - Agreed. I need one. No question there.
3) Oil Filters. Agreed. Having them FedExed to Belize.
4) Passport - I didn't know if Mexico would require it or not. I was sure the other countries might want to see it. Mexico didn't ask to see it. They waved me through. They're waving FAL's and AR-15's. It's very intimidating. They told me to keep going. I kept going.As for your friends comments, they're interesting. But I don't have a death wish. Not a true one, or I wouldn't be alive. I am an adrenaline junkie. I am having a hard time with the breakup with the love of my life. But I'm not going to die. I will make it home from this trip, safe and sound. I like to share my adventures with others, as many people wish they could live this way, but can't due to money, wife, job, etc. I have a short time to try to make this the adventure of a lifetime, and I'm going to do it. I'm not turning back. It's not an easy trip. I'm fine if he doesn't like my little adventure, he doesn't have to read about it. It's no skin off of my ass. I'm not doing it for him. I'm doing it for me. :)
You, of all people, should be down here with me. Where are you, brother?
Rob K.
Posted by Rob Kiser on June 4, 2013 at 12:50 AM
Comments
Rob hang in there. While you will find most of Central America a shock to conditions and infrastructure the GOOD news is while it is 3rd world country the majority of the Mideast is 4th world so it could be worse with wall to wall terrorists.
Posted by: jim nuxoll on June 5, 2013 at 6:37 AM