Anonymous persons,that we may or may not know, recently went to an undisclosed location in the Caribbean known for mojitos, cigars and old cars – they say it was an amazing place. From what they told us, the landscape and architecture is stunning, the people are beautiful and welcoming, and the culture has to be experienced. At a time when cultures blend and blur across borders, it’s great to visit a place that is so unique- despite some unfortunate effects. If things change, we hope this amazing place is able to keep the great things it has going while enjoying the benefits of more open borders. I hope to visit someday!

Definition of "Making Do": sharing a pair of roller skates.

One of our Mojitos, meets its namesake.

I am about to head out on a new adventure- this one on my motorcyle. The rough plan(I find a moto adventure, or any adventure for that matter is better without too much planning.) is to ride about 6000 miles total through the NE of the US and then Nova Scotia, Prince Edwards Island, and New Foundland, Canada-and back to Atlanta.  The 1st leg of the trip I’l be riding with my dad with him on his 39 year old motorcycle. For the mid part of the trip, my wife will join me and ride on the back of my bike from Portland, Maine to Halifax, Nova Scotia as we follow the coast. On the northen most part of my trip I’ll be riding with my good friend and frequent riding partner, Brian.

The name “Slight Right on 85N” comes from the early planning of the trip as I roughed out a 6000 mile round trip route from Atlanta in Google Maps- the 1st line of the direction were “A slight right…”. Never mind the following 1500 turns on 100’s of roads over 6000 miles. To me, the name is a reminder that every big (ad)venture starts with a small step.

Here’s a shot from the 1st leg of the trip when I rode my bike to NY a few weeks ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Stay tuned for many more adventure stories from the road.

I want the title  “Punk before Punk was Punk”. Unfortunately I am way too  late, and the NY Times already gave the title to a band with the cute little name, Death.

Actually, I am probably not even punk by most people’s standards. So, I’ll have to settle for “35 years too late, and way off the mark”, and leave the punk title to the band that deserves it.

The Short Version:

Death was formed by three brothers, David, Dannis, and Bobby Hackney. The brothers started playing their own variation of rock in the mid-70’s. At the time, the punk genre didn’t even really exist. Like anyone else that has been ahead of their time, it was difficult to find an appreciative audience. The brothers were playing for a Detroit audience who’s taste was more Motown or Disco- so, the hard-edged aggressive sound of Death- got a lot of “WTFs?”. Frustrated with the whole scene, they called it quits and moved to Vermont. The Hackneys didn’t give up on music but they softened their tone a little and switched to reggae.

Fast-forward 30-ish years. Bobby Hackney now has grown sons of his own who are also musicians.  David, Dannis and Bobby were so put off by the whole experience with Death(that sounds odd in a sentence no matter how you say it), that they never even mentioned it to their sons.  Death almost faded away into musical history, until last year, when Bobby’s son Julian was at a party in San Francisco and heard a song by Death,  instantly recognizing it as his dad’s voice. When Julian dug into the subject a little more, his dad decided to pull out their old tapes.  Julian and his brothers, Bobby Jr. and Urian, were so blown away by the music their dad and uncles had played, they reformed their own band as Rough Francis to play as a Death tribute band- that should make any father proud! Several decades and a few crazy little twists later, and now a record label has picked up Death’s music and recently released an album- almost 35 years after it was recorded!

You might say what does this have to do with travel or adventure- and you’d be right, but what it does have to do with is attitude. We love free spirited go-getters and jet-setters, and trend setters. The Hackneys definitely fit this. The 1st song I found was “Keep on Knocking” -I played it over and over until everyone at the studio banned it-temporarily.

I guess the lesson here is a pretty obvious one: if you have something good, stick with it, “f”‘ what  anyone else says. And, if it really is good, eventually the world will come around.
Venture Boldly.

The Long Version:

Read:  the NY Times article.

Listen: Death, “Keep on Knocking”

Buy: the CD, “…For the Whole World To See.”

Our friend Paul is in the middle of an epic journey. I call Paul a friend but we have actually only hung out once. We got along great, but I have learned a lot more about him and his outlook through his accounts of his current adventure and our long distance communications.

Paul is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He lived here in Atlanta for a while but decided it was time to move back to Brazil. As a cyclist without time constraints, Paul applied some basic logic that probably went something like this: “What’s the best way to get from Atlanta to Sao Paulo? I think I’ll ride my bike.” Makes sense to me, although my ass hurts just thinking about a ride like that!

As I write Paul has been on the road for just over a year. He is somewhere in the desert of Peru- A loooong way from and Atlanta, and still a long way from Sao Paulo. In the year since he headed out he has lived a ridiculous number of experiences. He has seen some amazing landscapes, tasted different cultures, made tons of new friends, and partied with old friends. He’s also been stranded in Panama for a while pulling together the ferry fare to make it to Columbia, and been robbed in Quito- But, it seems like the few little glitches in the trip will become minor nuisances when compared to the tons of great times he has had!

“…so I got robbed in Quito, and, believe it or not, they managed to slash my pocket WHILE I was standing there and without me knowing it – boy did I feel like an idiot.  I would say that probably the best highlights of my trip were surviving my first week of camping in the frosts on the way out of the US (after not having camped in over a decade – yeah, I was well prepared, lol), the magical transformation from the sterility of the US to the vibrant colors and sounds and street-life of Latin America (ie: arriving in Mexico), the melting pot of culture, historical sites, bohemian neighborhoods, and compolitan nature of Mexico City, the stunning blue highland Lake Atitlan, ringed by volcanic peaks and quirky villages, the unforgettable journey from Panama to Colombia across the Caribbean by a huge tallship sailboat, passing through the dreamlike desert islands of San Blas, and the raw and unspoiled beauties of Colombia – from top to bottom.”

Paul sent me a few thoughts and reflections from the road when I mentioned I was going to write a piece on him:

• “…since beginning my trip the importance of destinations has almost faded into an afterthought, whereas the peoples, cultures, and warmth of welcome of a place are by far the most rewarding part of any visit.”

• “I would also have to say that all of the best and most memorable experiences of my entire trip were when I was given the opportunity to meet new friends in one of the cities or towns that I was visiting and then      discover that world through their eyes and feel like a local – so much more invigorating than guide-book exploring.”

• “…after having traveled through such austere and poverty-stricken lands for so long, I´ve learned to cherish and be grateful for the simple things, to make sacrifices, and to do for myself more than I ever had to before in my life (washing all your clothes by hand? Are you serious?).  I can´t say that there aren´t still some first-world luxuries that I always long for, …  but then again, I suppose they´ll be the much more rewarding once I do find them again (oh Ben & Jerry, where art thou?).”

Paul’s goal was to change his course in life and find a more fulfilling path with the epic bike trip as a rewarding, head-clearing transition. And so far, it sounds like the adventure has been a huge success.