TRAVEL FEATURE - CANADA
DAN & SAM WALKER
IT'S JUST WHAT WE DO
IN THE MOTORCYCLE COMMUNITY
C
lose your eyes and picture the
sweet smell of an Autumn forest
after the rain, the amber and
red hews of a dormant winter
vineyard, carpets of bluebells burst-
ing forth in Spring and the green
fields of Summer farms. The natu-
ral world flows past as the roadway
opens ahead, all the while the motor
purring. Your only concerns are,
where will we get fuel, food and
lodging today? Imagine riding the
backroads of western Europe, year
round. Now imagine doing it on a
Ural Gear Up outfit!
In my mind there’s no other meth-
od of travel which gives quite the
same spike to your senses. It pro-
vides a new perspective on time, only
by living this way. We pictured it too
and made it our reality.
Time had passed for Sam and I,
as it does for many other folks with
successful careers, education and
fantastic families. Accomplishments
in our personal and professional lives
TRAVERSE 17
fill us with pride, of that there is no
doubt however, for many years a pas-
sion for travel was steadily building in
our psyche and physical experiences.
Generating a profound effect, a seed
had germinated and was growing
toward the light. It’s bright, so we’re
soaking up the sun!
Having met later in life we had
doubles of everything including
spoons, coffee cups, pots and pans,
vehicles and houses. The works!
Our lives were, at least in our eyes,
complicated … houses, careers with
nonsynchronous schedules, mort-
gages, vehicles, utility bills, renters,
renovations and such. Maybe not as
complicated as others, but none the
less entangled enough that a change
was inevitable. Sure, we enjoyed a
few weeks of holidays every year but
how could we build on this to travel
more?
At the time of our star-crossed
meeting I was in the process of fulfill-
ing a lifelong dream; learning to ride