Stories

The last few years of my life haven’t been the most productive or rewarding for me. From an outsider’s perspective watching the MotoLady social media pages, I have a ton going on all the time. To be clear… in no way am I complaining about my job or the opportunities I’ve had. That being said, it can feel really stagnant at times. One week I have a motorcycle show and photoshoot, then for the next two weeks the only work I’m really doing is from behind a computer screen.

Trying to keep up with enough random freelance work, manning the MotoLady and Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys social pages, leaves me doing a lot of smaller projects that take up a good amount of time at random through the days. Living in SoCal, you can’t just hop on your bike and hit a nice road without riding through traffic and cities for an hour or so. All that is to say… I didn’t get to ride anywhere near as much as I wanted to. As a motorcyclist moving to southern California from the pacific northwest for the weather—what’s the point if you barely get to ride?

As I started to consider the possibility of another relocation, I met someone while in Portland visiting friends and family. He and I got along amazingly well immediately, falling into a sort of honeymoon phase spending lots of time together, texting back and forth constantly, all that business. Even upon my return to my “southern” place in Torrance, the romance continued. He flew down a couple weeks later to lend a helping hand the weekend of my Women’s Motorcycle Show. The visit was awesome, filled with shenanigans, and it felt nice to introduce a fella to my friends again.

At this point, I had already been exploring ways to bop back and forth between the two locations, or maybe return altogether. Instead of completely uprooting myself again, I planned a month long stay where I could work on the home I own, hang with my mom and dad some, see friends, etc.

FOUR DAYS into the trip, fella had a sudden change of heart that left mine sort of cracked. I spent the next week with people I love, many I hadn’t seen much of in the three plus years since I split town. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, thinking about what I’m ultimately looking for in life, and what experiences I want to have before I really settle down. It suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning: stop freaking out about what you can’t do right now and go see what you can do.

Traveling can be one of the best ways to grow as a person. Experiencing other cultures, interacting with a wide variety of people, in my opinion, is the only answer to our own culture’s entitlement and selfishness. Wanderlust is definitely something I have. I’ve always felt better when I’m on the road.

Sitting at one of my favorite neighborhood bars with my friend Nicole, I told her, “I decided I’m going to go live on the road.” Her immediate response was, “that sounds like a great idea for you!” It was decided. It was real. I said it out loud. I called my roommate down in Cali and gave him notice later that week… and there was no going back.

After my thirty-something days in Portland, my truck and I returned to California and started the pack-up process. It took about a week longer to get back on the road than I had aimed for, separating one truck load of stuff, including Pandora, was a challenge. I (somehow) fit everything else into a 5×8 foot storage unit near my place in Torrance. After that… I headed back to the rainy North to start preparation for my big trip.