Kindness One: After transatlantic crossing, biker faces higher hurdles

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

-- Christopher Columbus

It wasn’t easy finding a shipping company that would take me and my bright yellow Chang Jiang motorcycle and sidecar, dubbed Kindness One, across the Atlantic for free, but once I did, I was elated, then slightly worried about a 10-day journey across the vast Atlantic.

What would the weather be like? What ailments might strike me down? I had to prepare myself for anything and everything.

But then this around-the-world journey, which began Aug. 10 in Los Angeles, is about the unknown. I do not know where my next meal will come from. I don’t know where I’ll sleep on any given night. I never know whether my sometimes cranky motorcycle will keep on keeping on.

All I know from day to day is that I am relying on the kindness of strangers to help me navigate the globe. With no money and no means, I am at their mercy, and so far, those strangers have shown me great mercy -- a family in Las Vegas that sheltered me, cowboys in Nebraska who took me under their wing and a homeless man in Pittsburgh who did the same.

Kindness One safely in its container, I had to put aside my worries and relax a little after my two-week, transcontinental trip. After scrambling for shelter and housing, I was now in the hands of the crew. There would be no shortage of food and accommodation and no need for any gasoline.

Eat. Sleep. Eat. Eat. Rest. Eat. I was making up for lost time and recharging my batteries for the next leg of my ambitious trip. I would be arriving in Barcelona, Spain, and from there, heading for Vietnam.

When I touched down in Barcelona the daily “Kindness” grind would begin again and so too would the journey of a lifetime. Land, my friends. It’s a beautiful -- but challenging -- thing.

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