Dad and "Mother Dear"
George French 1921-2009
Lucille French 1925-2007
Alice Harkins 1900-2001
My old dear friend, a landlord with a heart for the homeless, she was like a second family and her home was always open to me.
Lyman Starr, 1952-2007
On his gravestone it reads, "a friend who challenged us to live the truth, an artist who saw the beauty in all things."
Debbie Cole Epstein 1954-1993
I met Debbie in Alaska back in the 70's, she would often speak of her time in Guatemala and her passion for justice there along with peoples rights everywhere. She use to say, "we live in a free country, but it is a marked freedom, it only goes so far and is only for a select few." A close friend who left us too early.
Originally I wanted to reserve this last post of the trip to the memories of friends and family without who's love, caring, or friendship I could not have made the trip to begin with. I also wanted to set up a list of places in Central America and Mexico that I felt good about that people reading this blog could donate to. My idea was to use something like Pay Pal, or another form of a international payment method that would allow readers to choose a charity and be able to make a payment that would go directly into that charities account. Ideally this could be an ongoing source of revenue (though perhaps small) for some of these places that might continue to trickle in for years to come, via my trip's blog and the Internet.
Outside of having written the blog and setting up the list of charities with a way for them to get paid, I would not have anything else to do with the process and it would be strictly between the person donating and the place receiving it. I might occasionally monitor the process to make sure it was continuing to function as intended but that would be my only involvement beyond a certain point. I soon found out that setting up a list of reputable charities while having a donation system for them was more complicated than I thought
Initial possible charities I wanted to focus on were children's orphanages and humane services for stray animal's that are abandoned and in need of help throughout Central America. While traveling I saw animals (dogs especially) that were starving and dying with apparently no service or shelter for them to turn to. Often simply skin and bones, with no food or water, they were slowly dying right on the side of a road or in a parking lot
Other causes I became aware of included a man and his girlfriend in Costa Rica that help prostitutes and abused women to get out of their current situation and begin to start over. And In Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala there are charities and church groups that work with the local Indians, providing schools, education and clothing. There are also groups that raise money to try to preserve animals like the sea turtles in Costa Rica.
In Costa Rica I was warned that orphanages, while certainly being able to use the money, would be more difficult to help this way because the government would not want me to advertise for them, or run any pictures of the children on my blog. Doing so could land me in jail. I was told of another man who did so for whatever reasons and is still in jail. Child exploitation is such a serious problem in many places in Latin America that even well intentioned publicity could be viewed as, or lead to child abuse. On top of this, not speaking the language well and trying to set up an account with a local bank that a orphanage could access could also be misunderstood. In fact, many of the places that might need money or help the most are the most ill prepared to receive it directly. Many do not speak English, may not have bank accounts, or use electronic funding. The logistics to involve them in a process they may not understand can be arduous to say the least. On top of this, many so called charity sites that advertise for certain causes never got back to me, or may not even exist anymore.
So instead of a possible auto pay system between the reader and the charity itself I have put up a donation widget. This will allow people anywhere in the world to use their credit card to make the donation to the Central America by Motorcycle site itself. It will also allow me time to research and select organizations and people who I think will use any money sent to them wisely, while giving their addresses and or links for people wishing more information, or a way to donate directly to them.
I would also like to see this site generate revenue for itself, and since up to this point I have not used advertisers, I would hope that if you have found the site to be useful, entertaining, or you would like to donate something towards it or a charity in Central America (places that are yet to be named), that you might consider doing so.
I believe the site has a lot more potential than just a blog about a motorcycle and dental trip. Perhaps it will morph into a focus on Latin American news, including travel with a information base for organizations that need assistance. Or perhaps a book, that not only deals with travel in Central America, but also explores the needs and reasons for seeking healthcare outside of the U. S. to begin with. Or maybe better, simply a way of sharing between cultures.
I again thank the people who followed my trip and my blog from beginning to finish. Knowing there were people who were interested in what I was writing about and the trip made me feel I was never alone on the trip and also gave me a responsibility to some sort of journalistic truth. One friend of mine said he could not wait for my next blog to come out. It was like a story he didn't want to end and coming home to read about the trip helped him get through the long Alaskan winter, high praise indeed. For anyone who writes, the most rewarding thing of all is to know someone is actually reading what you wrote and has gotten something out of it. Just about every writer at times wonders; Is anybody reading me? Is anybody out there? Feedback does mean a lot.
I am reminded to thank the different people in the world travel motorcycle community that left comments and encouragement during the trip. A retired police officer in Australia planning a similar trip, Dr. Greg Frazier who is now on his 6th trip around the world on a motorcycle and writing another book. And the many others who took the time to leave comments on the site, reminding me I was not alone.
And finally to say thank you for all the people who came before us, even as far back as the early 1900's when a man first circumnavigated the world on a motorcycle when there were more trails than roads.There have been many who have paved the way for us, allowing us to realize what is possible. Probably no one has promoted world motorcycle travel or done more in this regard than Grant and Susan Johnson, the creators and editors of the Horizon Unlimited motorcycle web site. Both of them spent 13 years living off of their motorcycles and going around the world. Since that time they have been advocates for world motorcycle travel, creating a huge interactive web site, teaching and having rally's worldwide. If you think you want to take a bike around the world or on an international trip, their site is the place to learn how to do it. The site tries to capture and promote that pioneering spirit. That longing for freedom and self determination that seems to go hand in hand with the solitary long distance motorcycle traveler out on a lonely road or trail winding their way across an African desert, a Mexican mesa, an Andean pass, or a Mongolian plain. Which no doubt someone is doing right now as you read this.
One beautiful clear morning in the mountains of Honduras by the Nicaraguan border on my way back to the states I was in a pine scented forest overlooking beautiful valleys and I seemed to finally understand what it must have been like for early explorers when they experienced these exotic places for the first time. Places unlike any other they had seen before. How the sense of adventure and hardship at having reached them in the first place made it all seem worthwhile, while knowing they would never be the same for having made the trip. Their restless spirits would need to be fed and satisfied time and time again (for good or bad!) with more travel and adventure. And probably like them, if our world travel experiences make us feel too different than our friends and family who stay home then not unlike the misunderstood soldier coming home from war, or the lone mountain men of old, the solitary rider too may come in from the wilds for the occasional rendezvous to conduct business and socialize with other like minded souls, but then may feel the need to go back out to travel or get outside the norm again. This solitary spirit felt in the world of long distance motorcycle travel, while not unique in history, is somewhat unique in this day and age of tourism and controlled travel. It is in this form of travel that this spirit and frame of mind has found a way to manifest itself again.
Perhaps what we fear most with travel is the need to confront ourselves. Having done so successfully there then becomes many possibilities. A word of warning for those who wander too far.....
The difference between the person who has climbed the mountain and the person who has not, is the person who has knows what's up there......from an Eastern saying
At its best travel is about learning and sharing, an exchange between the traveler and the place being visited. It is about a personal transformation that slowly sets in as unknown environments and different life rhythms gradually give one a new perspective of the world and themselves. It is when one begins to understand ones own home and culture on the planet is but a small part of a much bigger whole. And once having experienced one piece of this puzzle, we want to see more, we want to know how it all fits together. This is a journey once started, seems to have no end; an adequate metaphor for life itself. A journey that might be compared to what our inner child might want to see and experience if we could but let it out again. The world beckons us to explore, to be young again, to take the risks of growing and to keep moving from the old to the new. Travel for all its apparent challenges, risks and discomforts, always appeals to our youth, the dreams of new possibilities.
Unfortunately too often in our history travel has resulted in exploitation, conquest and destruction of the people and resources encountered; to some degree all these problems still remain. Like the giant tour boat with 5,000 people on it that visits a small island, the impact from its visit affects everything from the local economy (building up an unhealthy dependence on it) to the environment itself. And to say there is a healthy exchange of cultures in tourism is a stretch. It is unfortunately too often more about how each culture has learned to exploit the other one.
I remember watching a loud group of Harley riders coming down from what I assumed was California in December in El Salvador on my way back to the states. The contrast between quiet humble locals I had met and the hospitality they offered and this very loud group of bikes, seemingly imposing their own cultural will on another was striking. It seemed at least for a moment, the conquistadors had returned, maybe they had never left....
None of these observations are to condemn tourism or even motorcycle travel (though at times I felt part of the problem as well). The exchange of ideas and knowledge between different cultures has been the foundation for change and growth in civilizations for thousands of years. Rather they are ways to re-affirm the need to travel respectfully and like a being a guest in someone else's house, act accordingly.
It is also a warning that while adventure travel and self fulfilling goals can be important in some regards, they need to be used in conjunction with an awareness of a bigger picture. Our planet, and indeed our very existence seem to be moving into a crisis never before faced in our history. With global warming, overwhelming planetary pollution, and more species of plants, animals, cultures and whole ecosystems being threatened each day with extinction, the times seem to suggest we give up some of our personal goal orientated approach in favor of a more holistic, spiritually based one that is inclusive, whether than exclusive. In other words we need to be less selfish and perhaps take a different perspective to how and why we travel to begin with. If this pioneering, self determining individualistic spirit has been part of the problem all along, then it most likely will have to be part of the solution. Either through being partially given up, tempered or re-directed, a change will need to be made if any long term solutions to our current problems are to be achieved.
The only thing perhaps scarier then the precipice we seem to be resting on, is the fact that so few of us are aware of it, or if we are, feel we can't do anything about it.
Of course this really starts with how each one of us lives our own lives and the choices we make. It is how we choose to change or not change. The worldwide community of travelers in general, and the motorcycle traveling community in particular, can be part of a solution if we in some way bring attention to things like social injustices, environmental concerns, and our responsibility to travel respectfully. If we take the time to look, learn and listen to the places we are traveling in (perhaps the best and only reason to go to begin with), then perhaps our travel can make a difference.
With every corner of the planet having seen a footprint or been part of a satellite image, and no plant, animal or culture left unaffected by “modernism”, we may wonder if there really are any solutions and if there are what they might be.
As we move further into radical times with the need for seemingly radical solutions, perhaps it is time to put a moratorium on all unnecessary travel and tourism, and give the planet a chance to recover its human and animal cultural diversities and uniqueness again while just letting other things run their course... A century or two should do the trick.....d.k.f.
I feel like I am sending conflicted messages here because I am conflicted myself. Part of me promotes a message to travel, learn and explore. Marvel in the diversities of cultures and life on this planet, while challenging one’s self and one’s fears. Certainly there is something vital and necessary in our seeing other places and meeting other people and cultures. On the other hand I see the problems of an industry based on tourism that often contributes more to cultural and environmental problems than it solves. An industry that may need a total overhaul. And no matter which course may seem appropriate, there are the warnings from authors like Jack London, Rachel Carson or scientists like Jacques Cousteau who told us years ago our planet is dying a little more each day. Apparently this idea of us conquering nature needs to replaced with us conquering ourselves if we are to survive. For everyday we lose a little more of something of our planet that is ancient and wise, parts of ourselves that may never be replaced.
When we can learn to cry for every blade of grass on the planet, then we will have learned something…Grandfather, Tom Browns Indian Guide.
Life is never about what we do, as much as it is about how we do it. If we can learn to travel and live wisely, then no problem, we can do whatever we want. If we don’t learn this art of living, then no matter what else we do will matter. The goal then of good travel should be to listen and learn from the places we visit. Listen to what they are telling us about ourselves and let us see the connection that all things share. This then must be the art of good travel, understanding our deep connections with all things, all people and expressing a reverence towards them.
May we learn to travel well.....
Doug French
Lake Ann, MI
U.S.A 2010
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