Berlin, Germany, April, 2019
Naturally after I had the experience in Argentina I decided it was time to stop traveling. It had been nearly a year and a half on the road, that was respectable. So, I decided to go somewhere I was comfortable. Even though I had been to Berlin quite a few times that year, mostly to party, I decided to rent a stay in a house out in the suburbs, just to be somewhere I felt safe but also alone to recover and process. In some moment, I don’t know which or why, I decided that instead of quitting traveling I would get a Motorcycle and tour Europe. This is a logical change in plans, I thought. So I called my same therapist who was an avid motorcyclist and asked him which bike would be good for me, and since he knew me so well he did recommend the perfect bike, a Kawasaki KLR 650, good mixed bike and great for touring, not too expensive and not dangerously fast.
So my next step was to find the bike. And I did, in about two days, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I called the guy and he made a good deal with me. I was ready to fly out to get it but with one issue: I didn’t have a motorcycle license. And as it turns out, in Germany, the process takes several months. In fact in most places it takes a long time. But not in the US I found out. I quickly learned that it was possible to go to take a 2 day motorcycle course in the US and then have the correct license to drive a bike in the UK. Even though you drive on the other side of the roads. And the traffic lights are on the side and not the top.