My Great American Journey
“My Great American Journey” is a bit of an presumptuous title for an article, but it fits fairly well with the journey I’m about to undertake. I’m leaving home June 2nd and the road becomes my new home for a while.
First a little back story: I fell in love with the Suzuki Hayabusa a few years back and knew I had to have one for my very own. (“I’d love him and squeeze him and call him george.” for the Bugs Bunny fan in all of us) Even back then while I was just dreaming, I was imagining taking a trip on my motorcycle around the United States; Exploring the country, seeing places and things I had only read about, meeting people from all over…. Ever since that moment, that dream trip has been in the back of my mind, simmering, waiting to become reality. And that moment of reality is now quickly approaching.
In January, I formally left my Software Engineering position at a local company to pursue my dreams of seeing the world. I’d accumulated some money and figured if I lived frugally that I could spend around 6 months traveling. Off I flew to Belize, Costa Rica, Florida, Thailand, and a camping trip to Yosemite with my daughters. But there was still this dream trip kicking around my thoughts…
My American Journey
Departure
Washington
Oregon
Northern California
Southern California
Death Valley
Zion / Bryce
3 More Utah Parks
Mesa Verde / G. Canyon
Route 66
More Arizona
Tombstone
West Texas
E. Texas and Louisiana
New Orleans
Along the Gulf Coast
The Carolinas
Virginia and more
New York, NY
Conn and Mass
Maine
Vermont
More to come…
One thing I’ve learned after owning my bike for 3+ years is that I just love being on motorcycles! I can’t seem to get enough. Even when my body is tired and aching I still want more. I mean there aren’t many other riders that I know of who have spent 14 hours in the saddle with stops only for gas and bathroom breaks, going just under 1100 miles all in the name of fun.
And yes, if you calculate the above numbers out… I was exceeding the speed limit for a little while during that trip…
But a journey of 12 thousand miles in about 5-6 weeks? That seems a bit on the masochist side of things even for me. Which I guess it is in a sense. It’s an opportunity to push myself. To really see how far I can go outside of my comfort zone both in riding that much, and in having to live extremely simply for that amount of time too. I mean think about how much “stuff” you can take on a sport bike… not much. I’m going to be limited to a small amount of personal gear (See my posts Travel Lightly Part 1 and Part 2), a small amount of camping gear (Ultralight Camping Gear), and some basic food and water supplies.
I’ll be sleeping at camping sites I locate, or maybe even just along the side of some road if need be, but I’ll also be attempting to do more CouchSurfing on this trip. Allow me to digress a bit and tell you about the wonderful world of CouchSurfing. Other travelers or like minded people put up their couch or extra bed to similar travelers. It’s not about getting a free place to sleep for the night, it’s about meeting and connecting with other people in this world and experiencing life for a moment from their point of view. My first CouchSurfing experience was in Costa Rica where I stayed with three different hosts and all were outstanding people. 
I then attempted to CouchSurf in Thailand, but didn’t have any luck finding a host on short notice, but was able to meet up with fellow members and spend some time with them. It is a really fantastic way to travel. You’re not sequestered away in your small hotel room, wondering what stuff you’re missing, but have the opportunity to make connections with interesting people and they may help you find local treasures that you would have never found on your own. End digression
You might be asking where will I be going? Well both to help myself plan what I’d like to do/see, and to help others who are curious to see my route, I’ve created a personal Google Map (click here or on the image below to see it) that shows the current route and some of the destinations I hope to see. You can zoom in and really get a good view if you want.
My plan is to also update the map as I am on my journey to include photos and tidbits, along with writing about those adventures and photos here on this site. This will be another test of sorts. Can I journal every day and strive to make each day so exciting for me that reading about it will bring you back for more and more? I also hope that by me striking out on a path that some would consider a bit out there, that you will question the path your life is on… are you living the life that you truly want to live?
This is an evolving plan. So maybe you can help me!!
What I’d like from you the reader:
- Suggestions on great places to see that I may be missing.
- Suggestions on route changes for the best experiences.
- Let me know if you ride, and would like to join me for part of the journey, just the day, or show me a great local route.
- Let me know if I’m passing through your area and you would like to extend your home to me for a good nights rest or a meal. Keeping in mind that pinning it down to an exact date will be progressively harder the farther out on the trip I get.
My email is wanderingsandmusings@gmail.com so please contact me there or by comment below if you have any thoughts or suggestions or would like to help me out on my journey.
All my best to everyone out there!!
Popularity: 23%
Here I am - Life adventurer, father, artist and more :). Want to know more? 
Susan
15 May, 2008
Best of luck! Sounds like a terrific plan. Sounds also like a warm-up to circling the rim of Australia, which reliable sources claim takes 1 year to do.
Ken Nichols
16 May, 2008
When I did my half country (Western States) trip in 1997 on my Harley, I tried to not have plans most of the time…. stopped when I got tired (on the side of the road, campground, or in very small towns). It was great doing this, not knowing where you were going to stay from one day to the next. The small towns where great since everyone (in the bars anyway) were really interested in my trip, where I was from.etc … oh, and I was bought a lot of beer by the locals
You could add Yellowstone and the Tetons to your trip… it’s a great ride through there.
Safe travels…….
P.S. You should have a post titled “Where in the world is Jeff Hemry”.
Kenny
16 May, 2008
If you’re a civil war kinda fella …
When you’ve seen all there is to see in DC …
Go NW abit to Antietam Battlefield:
http://cms.ncr.nps.gov/anti/planyourvisit/upload/area_map.pdf
http://www.nps.gov/anti/historyculture/monuments.htm
If you go that-a-way you can get back on your way to NY via Interstate 81.
Greg
30 May, 2008
Best of luck man!!
Wei
31 May, 2008
I’m going to do the same someday, riding across country on my bike.
Good luck!
You might want to post your journey on Adventure Rider http://www.advrider.com
bill
16 Sep, 2008
hey guys take a ride throw georgia. its a nice place to go through
neto
19 Nov, 2008
I’d sure would like to do that someday.
Best of luck to you!!!
JOAO
21 Jan, 2009
MEU IRMÃO ESSA VIAGEM DEVE TER SIDO MASSA PRA CARAMBA, UM DIA SE DEU SPERMITIR UE TAMBÉM COMPRAREI UMA MOTO DESSA E EU FAREI UMA VIAGEM BRILHANTEMENTE PARECIDA COM A SUA. BELEZA? ABRAÇO
PHANTOM
21 Mar, 2009
WOW sounds like a nice trip we are going to colorado from Cali. in june maybe we will see u on the road good luck and have a great time. PEACE
Nick
8 May, 2009
Best of luck. What do you figure for tires? You will need quite a pair of tires for 12k miles
Sam
9 May, 2009
Gd look man, ave jst resantly passed my motorbike test and am moving from my yamaha xt125x upto a bandit 600, and then from that my dream is also to purcase a hayabusa as the bike is just breath taking, but on ur trip ur missing out on miami. y? safe travles
jeff
18 May, 2009
@Nick – I replaced my back tire every 5-6,000 miles… as Hayabusa really eat up their back tires with so much torque. For the front I was going about 8-9,000 miles for each. In the end I changed the back 3 times, and the front twice.
jeff
18 May, 2009
@Sam – About 4 months before I had taken a trip from Orlando down to Key West in a car… and the roads are flat plus I had just been down to the area… I decided to skip in on this trip.
Tobiah
20 May, 2009
As someone who lives in Texas, Austin actually, I would recommend turning left instead of right on highway 16 south of Kerrville. The northern route if full of twisties that make the trip very interesting. Taking interstate 10 from San Antonio on out of Texas would be good if you are in a hurry to leave but will show you little of the scenery and people that live here.
Sandra
29 Jan, 2010
Did you ever complete this? How was it? Any recommendations for future great American travelers?
jeff
9 Feb, 2010
@Sandra – I did complete it… even if I never completed the writeup. LOL.
I loved the whole trip.
My only recommendation is to take it slow. You will reach a point where you’re just wanting to go through the motions and get home. I followed this urge and should have slowed down even further to really absorb my surroundings.