The Freedom of the Open Road

Imagine a trip. It's been your dream for five years. You've convinced your best friend to go with you. You're both so excited. It will be the first time you ever leave the country. You're going to spend at least five months on the open road traveling- just you your friend and whoever you meet along the way. You pack everything for the two of you and tie it to the back of an old motorcycle. You set off with only one specific goal, to reach a far away destination by your next birthday. The path you choose and stops you make are entirely unplanned. What freedom! How awesome would it be to go on a trip like that?

Who would I take? Where would I go? These were the questions I thought about after I saw Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries). It's a wonderful movie about Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and his friend Alberto as they travel through South America. The movie tells the story of Che before he became a Cuban revolutionary. He started the trip when he had only one semester left of medical school before becoming a doctor. In his diaries he wrote about the wonderful beauty and harsh injustice that they encountered. Both men were changed profoundly by their experiences.

I'd love to see the US that way. I've never seen most of America. I could stop and see my friend's home in Illinois. Maybe I would head Northeast and ride through Maine and New York. If I ever did a trip like that I would plan to end up in Canada somewhere. Maybe British Colombia.

I've been blessed to see parts of Thailand in this fashion. I've ridden motorbikes through Kanchanaburi, Sukothai, and Mae Sot. The countryside is beautiful. One time a group of us went through some back roads and found a remote Buddhist shrine and met village people. We stopped and bought Pepsi from some kids' "lemonade stand." I'll treasure these things.

There are lots of foreign films showing for the Bangkok International Film Festival. Life is good. Teaching is good, most of the time. Hangin' out with friends is good. Dating Tan is very good. I hope you are having a good time wherever you are. Take care and God bless you.