In late 2012, Jesse and I were watching an episode of Top Gear (the original series) that had a challenge in Vietnam. The hosts had to get from the south (Ho Chi Minh City) to the north (Hanoi and Halong Bay) in a little over a week, and motorbikes were their only feasible option. It was a funny episode and the scenery was fantastic.

At around the same time, Burma was starting to open up the western world. Our friend Ed, who worked for the BBC, had recently moved there to work with local journalists.

Jesse and I began to talk about a trip to SE Asia in Summer 2013 where we would ride motorbikes in Vietnam and then go to Burma to see how Ed was doing. We looped in James as well. The conversations became more and more real, and we were eventually booking flights, applying for visas, and investigating hotels. Next thing we knew we were in Vietnam, land of the motorbike.

In Ho Chi Minh City, we traveled around a bit on the backs of motorbikes, too nervous to try driving them ourselves. Once we got up Hoi An, however, things were calmer. Jesse and I rented motorbikes for a day trip to the beach. (James opted for a bicycle instead. He's the smart one.) We went a few blocks with no problem. Then we turned left and, well, Jesse crashed. We were going so slowly that it didn't really matter. We eventually got comfortable on the motorbikes and we were on our way. A lovely day at the beach, and on the way back I even figured out how to honk the horn!

We got to Burma about a week later. And we found Ed! He was fine, and in fact he was seemingly fluent in Burmese. We didn't wind up riding motorbikes in Burma, though we did ride bicycles all over the place -- while wearing skirts (longyis) -- in Bagan, and we also found ourselves on the backs of motorbikes in Mandalay as we got a ride home back to our hotel after a Mustache Brothers show.

In all, I was on a motorbike for fewer than 10 miles on that trip. It was fun, but not nearly enough. And it wasn't quite as silly as it could have been.

In 2024, I learned about a motorbike ride across Morocco, from Merzouga to Marrakech. Through the desert, over mountains, etc. There's no set route and there aren't any set places to stay. And not just on any motorbike, but on a monkey bike, which is apparently very likely to break down at some point. There are about 50 people taking part, and I don't know any of them. Sounds perfect! I'm doing it.

As part of this trip, I have committed to fundraising for Cool Earth, a wonderful charity that is fighting the effects of climate change by protecting rainforests and the people that live there. Even cooler -- clever, right?? -- is the fact that they're matching donations throughout December 2024, so your donation is effectively doubled. It would be wonderful if you were able to donate!