Planning for adventure - GULLIBLE STYLE!

So every now and then I get to take a trip that is just for me, an unabashed weekend or a few days where I go where I want to go and do just what I want to! 

Coming up next weekend I will have just this opportunity. My wife and daughter are headed to Washington state to visit friends and I have the whole week to myself.  So my plan is simple, as soon as the whistle blows on Friday I am out the door on my motorcycle to a destination unknown - a weekend of discovery and adventure, however at this point the question arises - where will I go? What will I do... what do I hope to find? 

In my opinion there the two best parts of and adventure are divided in two parts: The adventure its self and all the work that goes into planning it! The following information is part of what I use to plan my trips and is based off of what I learned about planning while in the military.

HOW TO PLAN FOR AN ADVENTURE - GULLIBLE STYLE

1. FIND YOUR DESIRE (OBJECTIVE) - THEN WRITE IT DOWN!

Make a list of your greatest desires in life - This can be a simple list or a long list, but the purpose is to find purpose for your adventure. It needs to be something with meaning to you so that you can wrap your desires in the satisfaction of accomplishment. Once you have made your list of desires, try to pick a few of them off you list that you think could be fulfilled via your travels. The driving force behind any good adventure is the satisfactory fulfillment of dreams and passions!

Examples: Face jump from a building or bridge, eat at the Eiffel tower, fall in love in Rome, discover ancient ruins, learn guitar from a Spaniard.

2. STUDY, STUDY, STUDY 

Find destinations, activities and meaningfully unique or historicaly significant places that you can add to your destination list. The areas of study should have basis in allowing you to understand and complete your desires in a way that gives meaning and purpose to your adventurous soul.

3. MAKE A BUDGET 

Although there are some people with unlimited funds for adventure, many of us have to limit our selves due to the constraints of the pocketbook or the reality of our lives. Set a budget for your adventure so that you can set realistic goals and expectations.

4. DEVELOP AN ITINERARY

In the beginning you simply need a map with destinations and way-points, but at some point you need to develop a realistic timeline to go along with your adventure. A timeline combined with destinations and goals is absolutely necessary for the successful implementation of an adventure. Although during your trip this time line is bound to change, be cut in half or all together dismissed its good to have a solid well though out plan based on where you plan to go an what you want to accomplish.Based on your studies you will know when and where to go for your adventures.

5. DECISIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS

There is a lot to be considered depending on how you want to fulfill your desires, you might choose to travel by Plane, Train or automobile but anyway you go you have to make a judgement call about how you will do it and why you chose to travel that way. Often I travel by motorcycle when I could go by car, but the adventure is totally different each way I do it. Part of what makes this part of the process fun is finding deals or researching the places you will stay. The one suggestion I have for this portion of your planning is to leave things open enough that a reservation can be canceled, or a flight missed without major financial loss. Often while adventuring I find that my plans change and its nice to be able to abort a specific moment of the trip to accomplish a new or changed plan. DON'T BE HELD CAPTIVE BY YOUR RESERVATIONS.

6. MAKE A PACKING LIST

This is one of my favorite steps simply because I love gear and equipment. Depending on your adventure you may need to bring roller skates or ice climbing spikes, but no matter what you do - you have to plan your equipment needs wisely. Properly planning a packing list includes being aware of what you can travel with, what you can get at your destination and understanding the real needs of your adventure. Many times I have made the mistake of over-packing and other times under-packing, but more often than not when I make and follow through with a packing list I travel with a well balanced pack and have what I need. I often find it necessary to contact someone who has been on a similar trip before to ask them what they wish they had taken and what they wish they had left behind. If you know a pro in your adventure genre its probably a good idea to take them out to dinner and ask them all about their trip and what they liked the most about it, its often very exciting to hear other peoples stories knowing you will soon be traveling on your own towards an adventure.

7. EXECUTE THE PLAN!

This is the last step but perhaps the most important. There are lots of things that can get in the way of your dreams, it seems like there is always something to get in the way of a good adventure. If you fail to go on your adventure because you lack the courage, or you let regular life get in the way of your adventures, then you are missing out on your dreams, desires and passions.  just remember - 

The Mecca of my Obsession: Gullible's Destination - Harley Davidson Museum

Once in a while, amidst the course of my duties I am privileged to visit a place that really means something special to me. On my last trip to Chicago I quite on accident came across a place I had been wanting to visit for years - The Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee Wi.

To me motorcycles are more than a love or a hobby, they are an absolute obsession and a way of life. One of the companies that I started while in college (Long Ride Shields) in fact makes aftermarket products for helping motorcyclists enjoy their rides In my opinion there exist no more freedom than two tires on an open highway. So it should be no surprise to anyone who knows me to know how excited I must have been when some fellow bikers I met in a Bar told me that I was standing in the home town of the famous Harley Davidson Motorcycle Co.

Many times prior to this last trip I had considered taking a trip to the museum built on the original Harley Factory Land, and in fact visiting the museum has been on my bucket list for quite a while.  I was absolutely thrilled for the  to go inside and see some of the motorcycles that started it all.

I thuroghly enjoyed my visit and felt honored to walk amongst the machines inside.
I was able to see the oldest existing Harley Motorcycle worth over 35 million dollars - and to see the Archive collection of motorcycles ( each year since 1907 harley has kept 1 of each production year of their motorcycles and stored it in their archives).

If there was one take home lesson from this experience it is this ...... If I had decided to keep to myself or avoid conversations with the locals to ask what was worth seeing, I may have passed this opportunity like a ship in the night. Never be afraid to have a conversation!

The following pictures represent some of the highlights from the museum.

Right out in-front of the museum was a bike with one of my windshields on it, I was very proud to see it there. I left a note on the bike to thank the owner for his support. 

I have always wanted to be EVIL!

This is the oldest known Harley known to man - the 1903 Harley fully original. 

World war 1 Harley 

Awesome - the off road harley from WWII

THE WALL OF TANKS

Travel Tip #20: _______ Happens! DONT GIVE UP!

Two days into my last trip to Chicago I felt I was failing..... 

No matter where you go or what you do there is always a chance that your well laid plans are going to fail you, your goals may not be reached, or perhaps the road will take you in a direction that you never imagined you would travel in. However if you are looking for excitement it is spontaneity that allows for adventure - and it is the probability of failure that leads us to change things up in favor of a new direction! Unfortunately however, keeping a positive attitude about your travels is only possible when you recognize these factors.

This week while traveling in the Chicago area I had high hopes of being able to accomplish some classic must do Chicago style events like museums and Pizza. Despite my desires my plans were stifled by weather, rescheduled meetings, rental car issues and perhaps the worst traffic I have ever seen - ( If you thought LA was bad - Chicago is worse!). It was difficult for me to accomplish even just a couple of the things I wanted to do. In fact - I almost didn't make it onto my plane on time, I found that it literally took me three hours to travel 21 miles. I made it to my flight with less than a minute to spare.

On the second day of my trip I found my travels taking me further and further away from the things I wanted to see and the places I had studied about, I was disappointed that I would not get to see what I had planned on. However while sitting down to lunch in a truly unique BBQ restaurant called Salz's, and after having a very friendly conversation with some of the patrons I realized that my bad attitude was inhibiting me from having a meaningful adventure.

Regardless of the difficulties I had working my own agenda, I knew that the road in-front of me was unknown. From that moment forward I was resolute on enjoying my trip no matter which direction I traveled. I still had an adventure, I still saw great new things. My travels ended up taking me to Milwaukee, Green Bay and Stevens point Wisconsin where I found a hidden Speak Easy, 100 year old taverns, exceptional Reuben sandwiches and more cheese than one man could ever hope to eat. Perhaps the most monumental event of the trip was coming upon the mecca of my obsession by complete happenstance. I will devote an entire blog post to this subject tomorrow so please stay tuned.

The moral of today's travel tip is simple --- DON'T GIVE UP!


To be continued tomorrow..........

Saz's is a famous restaurant built inside the old train station in Milwaukee, the staff and patrons were amongst the most friendly people I have ever met in my life.

Best Reuben in all the country

Awesome motorcycles at  the Harley Museum

A hidden speakeasy reminiscent of prohibition days.

Turn and Burn! - Chicago or BUST!

 I am now at home resting from the last weeks adventures in Utah, We got back this morning about 6 AM and I Fly out for Chicago tomorrow at 10 AM. So in this short layover at home I wanted to do some things that would help being home seem more meaningful.

So today I did the following:

Mow the Lawn, Fix a couple of things around the house, played trains with my daughter, watch a movie with my bride and give the dog a bath. Doing these things helped me to feel like a regular Joe again.

Now as I am ending my day its time to get ready for tomorrows trip to Chicago and do some research for what to do while I'm there and not working. Here are some of the activities I am hoping to achieve on my next adventure.

MY 5 Must do's are:

Take a picture at the top of the Sears Tower

Pizza Competition: Eat a dip dish pizza at Three different places and see which is best and why!

Visit the Shedd Aquarium houses the world's largest indoor aquarium offers more than 22,000 aquatic animals from around the world.

See some blues at Buddy Guys http://www.buddyguy.com/

Buy a Chicago Bulls T - Shirt

Discover something meaningfully unique about Chicago

Trip Report: UTAH

Mt. Timp

On my last adventure in Utah with my family we really enjoyed our stay and I feel like it was time well spent catching up and touching base with what really matters in life. We went hiking on top of Mt. Timpanogos, Saw museums and participated in a wonderful July 4th celebration. Among the most meaningful moments of the trip were seeing some Big Horned sheep on top of the mountain after an extremely arduous and dangerous assent to nearly 9000 feet. Most people have seen these animals in the zoo but seeing them up close in the wild is a bit more rare and exciting.

During our drive home across the Utah and Nevada deserts my wife got upset when the 4g On her phone went out from time to time and she didn't have internet reception. I chuckled out loud and thought how strange it is to be angry that we don't have internet in the middle of the largest desert in North America! A place so barren that plants cant survive, yet we did expect to be able to watch Net-flix.  I realized at that moment just how amazing modern technology is and how spoiled we are in these modern times.

Stadium of fire

Big horns up on the mountain

My Dad at the falls

at nearly 9000 feet

Top 5 ways to overcome a fear of flying - After a crash!

So tonight I'm in Elko Nv, on My way home from Utah after a very fun and relaxing family reunion. Today as I was driving and listening to CNN on my XM radio I heard of the crash landing in San Fransisco of flight 214. I cant imagine how it would feel to have survived a crash like that, and My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones, and I know there are many who are praying tonight for those still in critical condition in the hospital. Nothing I could ever say could help them feel less pain.

However I thought I would do some research for those who may have to get back on a plane after that crash just to make it to their next destination. I would not blame them for taking a train at this point, but I know that of the 304 survivors some of them are going to have to get back on the horse and fly again.

After my research I have found 5 ways to help a person overcome their fear of flying and I sincerely hope this helps! So from one Traveler to another here you go!

#1 -  Get VERY VERY DRUNK!  - This was by far the most recommended tip on the internet, but some interesting points can apply. Many people have found that a simple beer can take the edge off before a flight, but others in more extreme circumstances find that getting completely plastered and having a companion by your side to controll you is the only way to get back on the plane.

#2 - Ask your doctor to prescribe you something - Suggestions online were for a sedative like ambien, Others suggested Xanax, but no matter what you take I suggest getting a physicians advice and a prescription.

#3 - Meditation and Hypnotherapy - Surprisingly many people found that Meditation and Hypnotherapy were the means by which they were able to get back on the plane, helping them to release the inner fears and come to grips with. Again this isn't something that can normally be done alone, at least not at first. Seek the help of someone who really knows what they are doing. Other similar solutions such as yoga and active sports all had the same intention of letting off some steam before a flight.

#4 - Indulge in comforts - Before on my blog I have talked about ways to make travel special for yourself, but in this case there is a purpose in doing so. Many online sources have pointed out that by making your self as comfortable as possible before a flight and having something like a movie to preoccupy your thoughts during the flight can help mitigate the effects of fear and anxiousness.

#5 - STUDY THE STATISTICS! - Almost every online site or resource I found stated that by understanding what your odds of safety actualy are and by taking a rational frame of mind secured by an understanding of the actual statistics can help a person remove their thoughts from the irrational side where fear exists to the more rational and less dramatic mode of thinking that allows a person to relax.

Here are some statistics about flying that can help..... Again my hope is that this information is of some assistance to someone who really needs it right now.



FROM:

By the Numbers, Flying is a lot Safer than Driving or Taking the Train

By David Parker Brown, on September 7th, 2010 at 11:00 am

First, some raw information from government websites:
Data from NHTSA (2008):
Total Auto-Related: 34,017
Deaths to Drivers: 19,220
Deaths to Auto Passengers: 7,397
Pedestrian Deaths: 4,378
DATA FROM FRAOSA (2008):
Total Train Related Deaths: 800
Deaths on a train: 3
Ok you ready for this?
DATA FROM NTSB:
Deaths on 14 CFR 121 (Airlines)…
From 1982-Present: 2924
In 2009: 45
In 2008: 0
In 2007: 0
In 2006: 47 Deaths on 14 CFR 135 (Commuters)…
From 1982-Present:  364
In 2009: 0
In 2008: 0
In 2007: 0
In 2006:  1
The raw numbers are pretty interesting all on their own. I was hoping to compare 2008 stats with all transportation methods, but there just weren’t any airline-related fatalities in 2008. It is amazing that in 2008 34,017 Americans died in car related accidents, but in 28 years from 1982-2010 only 3,288 Americans have died from airline-related accidents. Just think about that… statistically, that means it would take over 117 years of airline fatalities to equal the same number of auto-related deaths just in 2008.
Although telling already, I also wanted to compare number of deaths per miles traveled by car versus airplane versus train. According to the Research and Innovative Technology Administration with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Americans in 2008 traveled 2,553,043,000,000 miles  in cars, 583,506,000,000 miles via commercial aviation and 16,850,000,000 miles by rail. Doing the math, I looked at the number of deaths per 100 million miles traveled in the US:
TRAIN RELATED: 4.40
People being killed by a train in any fashion via FRAOSA
OTHER AUTO: 1.73
Motorcycles, pedestrians, auto related
AUTOS: 1.33
Only passenger vehicles
PASSENGER TRAIN: 0.13
People dying on the train via FRAOSA
COMMERCIAL AIRLINES: 0.0077
2009: 0.0077
2008: 0.0000
2007: 0.0000
Once again, it is hard to compare, since so many years for airlines have zero deaths. This means the average American is 190 times more likely to die in an auto accident in 2008 versus an automobile accident per 100 million miles traveled. So why do people concentrate so much on airline-related deaths versus others?
Well, the media and public really attach on to an airline crashing anywhere in the world. Heck, you normally will hear when an airline needs to make an emergency landing. However, you barely hear a peep about an auto-related death on the local news, let alone an auto death happening somewhere else in the nation or world. This slanted coverage gives passengers this false idea that airlines are inherently unsafe and people die all the time. Also, where an average of about 90 people die per day in a car related accident, they are spread through out the day and all over the country. It isn’t as shocking as 30-250 people dying at one time in an airline incident.
This just helps to reinforce how amazing air travel is in the US. What other transportation can you use in America today that is safer than that… other then not leaving your home? These are very complex machines, constantly flying as cheap as possible at all hours of the day. It truly is amazing more incidents don’t occur. Those that ask for the “good ‘ol days” of travel, should remember how much safer your flight is now than it was just 50 years ago.
On the other side of this, should airlines and airport continue to put millions of dollars into safety, when the industry is already very regulated and comparatively very safe? Is there such a thing as spending too much money to make air travel “too safe” or are the costs worth it?
Anyhow, getting off my soapbox, I know if you are afraid of flying, seeing these statistics probably isn’t going to help you feel too much at ease.  However, next time you hit a bit of turbulence, think of how few people die each year flying and that there is a really, really really, really, really good chance you will be a.o.k!