RTW Wrapup

Trip Wrap Up - Spring 2005

It's been several months since I ended my trip and flew home from Santiago because of health concerns. The day after I got back home I called my health care provider and explained my symptoms. They said that I should go immediately to the emergency room to get checked out even though I had been experiencing the symptoms for several months. They don't want to mess around with heart related symptoms. So I went to the emergency room where I had blood tests, chest x-rays, and an EKG. All of the tests came back normal and the doctors said that my problems didn't seem life threatening at that time and that I should have more followup tests with my doctor.

Over the next week I made several more visits to my doctor during which I had more tests and evaluations including a stress test on a treadmill. All of the tests came back normal. The doctors' opinion was that my problems are not related to my heart. That's the good news. The bad news is that the doctors do not know what's causing my palpitations or chest pains but they don't think they're serious. They recommended that I watch for further problems but that I go back to my normal routine.

And that's just what I've done. First there was lots of work to do around my house. Diana and I had tons of leaves to rake in the yard. It took us several days to get them cleaned up. Then I took advantage of my empty house to do some home repairs - painting, carpet, cleaning. After that the movers came and moved all my stuff from the garage back into the house. After a long weekend Diana and I had enough things unpacked and setup so that we could move back into my house. After 9 months on the road it was nice to finally sleep in my own bed again!

Soon enough I had most of the other things straightened out. I stopped my mail forwarding, got new phone numbers, newspaper, trash service, cable, and updated my personal information in all the places I could think of. Finally my house felt like home again. And when the house was ready it was time for Ozzy to come home. He settled in quickly and seemed right at home almost immediately - much more quickly than I readjusted!

Once my house was in good shape it was time to start thinking about going back to work. I contacted my boss and met with him to talk about what I might work on and when I might return. After a couple of meetings we narrowed in on a project to which I could contribute. We agreed on a date for me to return to work, late enough that I could hopefully get all my chores done and get settled.

I returned to work in mid February. Since I've been back I've had mixed feelings. It's been nice to see my friends and co-workers again and they've all been interested in my trip. And it's nice to do something mentally stimulating again. But I have immediately been thrown back into meetings and stressful projects. Many times I sit in my meetings and think that just a few weeks ago I was on the other side of the world. My sabbatical had to end sometime, but maybe I just wasn't quite prepared for it yet!

But it hasn't been all work for me. Before I left on my trip I sold several of my motorcycles that I wouldn't be using while I was gone. Now that I'm back it's time to replace those bikes, so I researched motorcyles and finally decided on a WR450F for a new dirt bike and an ST1300ABS for sport touring. After researching prices and talking to several dealers I bought both bikes from my local dealer. Over the past weeks I've had fun working on the new bikes - jetting the dirt bike and adding accessories and a trunk to the ST. How nice it is to have my garage and tools again!

I'm planning several fun rides for this summer. Diana and I are going to Moab in the spring for some desert riding. Then we're riding the street bike to the northwest in July, and I'm riding in the Colorado 500 again in August. I'm looking forward to enjoying the beauty of the western US this summer after seeing so many wonderful places around the world last year.

The PD that I rode on my trip is back in my garage, very dirty and a little tired from its trip. I picked it up at the airport just before Christmas. It was easy to clear it through local customs with the customs forms I had filled out before I left. But since it got back home I've neglected it - I haven't even cleaned it! Once I get my new bikes set up I plan to get the PD back into the great condition it was in before I left. That will take a lot of work, but the bike performed above my expectations during the trip and it deserves a little attention and care.

As for me, I'm slowly getting my strength back. Since I've returned I've been resting and eating well, and I'm working out in the gym again. It's amazing how much strength I lost over the past 9 months. My strength is coming back slowly and it feels good to be taking care of myself again. And with less stress my heart palpitations have gotten better and the chest pains have gone away almost completely.

So things are slowly getting back to normal here at home. At times I'm amazed at how quickly I slipped back into my old routines. Sometimes the whole trip seems like a dream. However, there are other times that I see how dramatically my adventure changed my perspective and outlook on life. The trip gave me a better understanding about how people in other parts of the world perceive the US as well as giving me more confidence in myself. I still struggle with feelings that the trip was a failure because I didn't complete it as planned, but I learned things about the world and myself, and in that sense the trip was a huge success.

I plan to update my web page soon with some final data on the trip. I'll try to include information on the countries I visited, the GPS routes, total miles, costs, etc. Perhaps this information will be useful for others thinking about a similar journey.

Finally, thanks to all of you who gave me encouragement and advice during my trip. Your help was invaluable and I was thrilled to share some of the adventure with you. Thanks for coming along with me.