travel lessons
On the bike
1) Local grocery shopping on a motorcycle is easy: attach sturdy re-usable shopping bags to the inner side of handlebars using carabiners. Handguards keep the straps from interfering with my grips. Try to balance the weight between bags and do not overload them. In case a bag breaks do not pack any glass bottles. Get 4 high-quality bags with heavy-duty straps; the ones available in Latin America have low-quality straps. Lawyer's note: just kidding about this lesson!
2) Check your instant-fuel-consumption readout to calibrate your highway riding. I get far better mileage by traveling under 3,750 rpm and 65 mph (105 kph). I am in no rush and am okay being one of the slower highway vehicles.
3) It is not worth the fuel gain to try and draft semi-trucks. The helmet buffeting is often bad and one needs to unsafely tailgate to obtain the gain.
4) Keep your bike clean of squashed insects to look more approachable to non-motorcyclists. My bike’s red-white-and-blue paint helps too—friends compared it to Optimus Prime.
5) Tough guys in muscle cars or big trucks think I am one of them and want to be my friend rather than be obnoxious to me.
6) Putting my feet out to stabilize a 700-pound loaded adventure-touring bike does not work—expect broken leg bones and sprained ankles instead after getting my foot trapped under a hard case.
7) Cheer our fellow travelers by attaching (kinetic) art to the back of your bike. My folk-art mask’s horse-hair beard dances in the wind. The disadvantage is that drivers are more likely to loiter behind my bike when passing me. I also have a Huichol glass-bead puma on the front of my bike and lion jangles on either side of my license plate.
8) Never park a heavy bike so that you need to back up against gravity; even a 1% grade is difficult. Park on a flat surface or facing uphill when you will need to back up.
9) Wondering how tight the next blind corner in the road is? Just check your GPS before the corner if you have it zoomed in on your location.
10) An unattended helmet placed on a motorcycle seat will eventually fall to the ground. So just place your helmet directly on the ground to avoid the damage.
11) Shonky Productions is correct that adventure-travel bikes are too heavy, have too much horsepower, and the wrong tires for true adventure. Instead they are touring bikes that do well on rough roads, equivalent to SUVs.
12) In old colonial mountain towns, like Cuetzalan, Jalpan de Serra, and Xilitla in Mexico, the historic streets are paved with cobbles and can be very steep. The combination makes it difficult to control an overloaded touring bike. Add rain and forget about it entirely. So, before arriving in that town, check your map to try and find a path to your accommodation that avoids the historic town center.
13) For deteriorating paved roads it is difficult to tell if corners have gravel on them or if it is simply road deterioration. You have to assume that it's gravel though because a single mistake is enough to crash.
14) For deteriorating paved roads you have to anticipate it getting worse rather than expecting warning signs. Just because there have been no potholes so far does not mean that there is not a big one immediately ahead of you.
15) Your lightweight-travel motorcycle cover will take UV damage and then rip in multiple places. My Dowco Guardian UltraLite Plus did after 8 months. They are bulkier, but it is worth it to purchase a regular, heavier-duty motorcycle cover.
16) In the developing world ride your bike past all the parked cars and trucks to where the accident or road work is ahead. You may be able to get through even when cars cannot. Even if you cannot get through you will be at the front of the line, with all the other motorcyclists, when the road does open.
17) In the developing world do not follow cars too closely, lest they hide an open manhole, wherein the cover has been stolen, from your view.
18) When riding through mountains on bad roads, one gets into an aggressive mindset wherein one uses the full road when necessary to avoid deep potholes and overtakes slow trucks whenever possible. It is natural to retain this momentum when reaching civilization again in the lowlands. But force yourself to slow down to the speed of local traffic and be more observant of traffic laws, lest you get ticketed by the police.
19) When there are natural seeps across the road, cross the seeps fully upright without braking. Persistent seeps can overlay slick mud and algae.
20) Android Auto works well for the average car driver, but not necessarily for you on your bike. It has re-routed me on some unexpected back roads, presumably to avoid a traffic jam caused by an accident or some such. In such cases I may have been able to bypass most of the traffic on the original route by riding up the road shoulder past the cars and trucks (see lesson 18 above). Similarly, Android Auto recommended a 1-hour detour when an old bridge was still open to motorcycles.
21) Android Auto, or at least the maps function in it, works in more than the countries listed by Google. For instance, it worked well for me in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
22) Android Auto arrival times are presumably based on averages. So, if you are in city wherein all the local motorcyclists are splitting lanes and you are not, expect to arrive later than Android Auto's estimate.
23) When Android Auto steers you into a dead end along a shortcut "road," expect it to do that to you again later the same day. So, when it directs you toward another dubious path, stop your bike, zoom out on the map to see if that path makes sense for your overall route, and only then decide whether or not to take that path or instead choose your own path.
24) The estimated range on a Honda motorcycle is not accurate. So consider a 15-mile estimated range to be an empty tank.
25) Cruise control + dual-clutch transmission + heated grips eliminate hand-fatigue.
26) Do not use independent motorcycle shops for repairs to parts that are controlled by the bike's computer (e.g., electronic suspension) because the computer will need to be re-set after the repair and only Honda dealers have those systems.
Off the bike
1) Airbnb >> motels, with consistently welcoming hosts, colorful homes, lower prices, and occasionally interesting fellow travelers.
2) Camp only at special locations or when it is occasionally far cheaper to do so. Otherwise it is so much easier, for pack-up and pack-down, to stay in low-cost Airbnbs. You can travel the Americas while on a budget without a tent or sleeping bag.
3) Unless camping, stay in every town for at least two nights. There is always something interesting to see, it is more fun to explore the area with the bike unloaded, and the break from riding will help prevent burnout.
4) Visit graveyards, particularly run-down graveyards, to learn the past culture and peoples in a town. After visiting a graveyard in Tubac, Arizona I realized that the town demographic had only recently shifted from Latino to white country club and golf carts.
5) Our bodies adjust quickly. After starting this trip I quickly switched to eating two meals a day and feel fine when skipping meals.
6) If you overstuffed your money belt simply turn it 180 degrees so that it rests invisibly underneath your shirt in the curve of your back.
7) Set up Google Maps on your Android phone to allow selected friends and family at home to track your latest position in case they stop hearing from you.
8) What does home mean when you have no physical house? For me it simply means a place I can feel fully relaxed both today and tomorrow. I often feel at home during my travels.
9) You are traveling to see the world, not see a tropical version of home like Hawaii, right? You will get a tropical version of home when visiting well-known tourist destinations during the high season. For example, I enjoyed being off-the-beaten-path in Nicaragua more than jostling with fellow gringos both in towns and on crowded roads in the more expensive tourist parts of Costa Rica.
10) Learn to identify uninteresting areas because of their similarity to home. Wealthy neighborhoods, with high-rise condos, fashionable restaurants, and German luxury cars, such as San Isidro in Lima, Peru, are uninteresting to me.
11) Everyone has a smart phone and they know you have one too. So do not bother trying to conceal yours--just keep it in a zippered pocket.
12) If you are in a group of people and someone starts pressing against you or blocking your way to the point of being annoying, they may be distracting you from a pickpocket on your other side. I know this from experience in both Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Quito, Ecuador.
13) Travel long enough and you will be pickpocketed or mugged eventually. So leave your credit and debit cards hidden or locked at your Airbnb unless you are sure that you will need them when you go out. Instead bring more cash for any unexpected purchases. Likewise, bring photocopies and digital photos of your IDs rather than the originals when walking around.
14) Churches and museums and closed on Mondays. Hence Mondays are good travel and walkabout days.
15) Read the Wikipedia page on each new country and city you visit, rather than learning about them haphazardly at museums.
16) Opening hours for most churches, and also some small museums, in Latin America are not posted online. So you will inevitably have some down time waiting for them to open after you arrive. I read books on my phone using Kindle while waiting.
17) Purchasing and traveling with common prescription medications is easy. I have had no problems purchasing fluoxetine and trazodone at pharmacies during my travels or carrying them across borders. I have yet to be thoroughly inspected at a Latin American border crossing. I do carry a formal hard-copy, laminated letter from my previous U.S.-based psychiatrist listing my prescription medications just in case.
18) The best way to get past stray, feral, and unleashed dogs in towns without them being aggressive to you is to ignore them entirely. Do not look at them, let them know you are there if they are unaware of you, try to make friends with them, or slow your stride.
19) Homeless people are more obvious in richer societies because they are not part of the economic continuum.
20) If a local person comes up to you at a popular tourist site and asks where you are from or what language you speak, without telling you anything about themselves, they are just going to waste your time. I simply ignore or walk away from these people.
21) Expect new friends made while traveling to be temporary rather than permanent, even if you feel a strong bond with them.
22) Older people you pass on the street just want to be respectfully acknowledged. Do so and be rewarded by a smile and a sincere greeting.
23) Take risks by sharing deeply with others. I'm 51, single, unemployed, and traveling. What do I care if someone thinks badly of me because I asked an inappropriate question or revealed something that they consider to be shameful?
24) Locals may not know or acknowledge you, but they still care about your safety. If a group of locals all tell you not to go somewhere, don't go there.
25) Untitled artworks in galleries are usually boring because the artist did not find meaning in them either, and hence did not have purposeful design.
26) Give motorcyclists at least a minute after they park their bike before asking them questions. They may have difficulty hearing you because they are wearing earplugs, feel sore and want to stretch, address a concern about how the bike is parked or running, or take stock of what they need off their bike and secure what they leave on their bike before feeling ready to talk to you.
27) Airbnb's are stocked with second-hand items, including pots in the kitchen. So, one will often have to use PFAS-coated non-stick pots when cooking.
28) When meeting and considering a new partner, it is very helpful to know their personality type. As an INTJ meeting an INFP, knowing her personality type enabled me to recognize her innate qualities rather than mansplaining and trying to turn my strengths into her strengths. If she prefers to quietly support others rather than be in a position of authority or interact with authority figures, that's fine. As an INTJ I am happy to interact with authority figures on her behalf and am grateful to have her support while doing so.
Photography
1) Sit down to elevate your subject. Almost all of my photos of places are taken while sitting down. Sitting enables me to tilt the camera to compose a landscape-format photo that captures vertical elevation without cutting off the bottom of the subject.
2) Zoom in to simplify your photo by restricting attention to your subject. Your subject feels intimate when it nearly kisses the photo edges, encompassing our vision and thereby entering our personal space.
3) Choice of zoom is as important as perspective. You probably chose your subject based on the emotional response you have to it. Choose your zoom to show those features, and only those features, that triggered your emotional response, without distractions.
4) It is tempting to conclude, when viewing a photo of a complex subject, that it includes interesting elements, and is therefore a success. But until you focus in on the individual elements, relating each of the remaining elements to the other, the photo is a failure because of its complexity.
5) Photos of impressive subjects do not necessarily benefit from photographers' tricks, such as the rule of thirds. It may be enough to simply center the frame on your subject, fill the frame with your subject, and shoot.
6) Interesting, unplanned subjects are more important than an expensive camera. I would rather be traveling the world with my Samsung S23 phone than be in the U.S. suburbs with a $10,000 Hasselblad.
7) Everyone can take photos, and someone can take a photo of anything in the world. So, if you are uninspired by your usual subjects at your current locale, shoot less or change your subjects; do not relax your standards.
8) We all have a search image of what we want to photograph. In our photos that search image is expressed as "more of the same." Periodically we conclude that "there is nothing here of interest" for a given locale. Turn those failures into opportunities to change your subjects.
9) Just because you traveled to see a specific subject does not mean that you have to photograph it, or keep any photographs that you may take of it.
10) Each day I delete most of the candidate photos I took on my phone, and do so again after I download the remaining photos onto my laptop computer. I typically do two rounds of deletions using both devices each day. Deleting unsatisfactory photos is important for curating your portfolio. Having a few excellent photos encourages me to delete all other photos I took that day, even if those other photos are very-good. I would rather have a portfolio of just 100 excellent photos at the end of my life than a portfolio of 10,000 very-good photos, with some excellent photos mixed in. No one wants to look at 10,000 photos from the same photographer. You have to present your best work only for people to notice your portfolio.
11) When the regular horizontal or vertical orientations do not work for your chosen perspective of your subject, choose an angled perspective that parallels a prominent plane in your subject. This approach can be effective up to ~ 20 degrees off the regular horizontal or vertical orientations.
12) Why are you taking photos? Are you documenting events (e.g., I was at this landmark) or are you presenting beauty? I am generally uninterested in documentation, and my presence in a photo typically detracts from my subject. So I rarely take selfies. Likewise, I do not have photos of some prominent subjects that I would normally take photographs of. For example, I saw herds of vicuña in stunning alpine settings during my ride from Chile to Argentina. But I have no photos of them because they quickly left when I stopped my motorcycle, and I am not willing to settle for a grainy 10× zoom photo of them walking away.
13) When choosing among photos of the same subject, emotion > careful composition.
14) I know that I have a successful photo after taking numerous unsuccessful photos of the same subject when I first look at the photo and think, "Yes! That is what I see. That is what I feel."
Latin America
1) Garmin's GPS maps are not optimized for route finding in Latin America. The arrows can point left when the map shows you need to turn right. It can re-route you onto a side road with stop signs even if you are on a main road with stop lights, and it will even send you in a circle. My Zumo XT also stopped working effectively, as many fellow users have reported online.
2) Enjoy the benefits of riding near the speed limit. You are less likely to get pulled over by police, less likely to crash because of road hazards (e.g., cows, dips for stream crossings, speed bumps), less likely to get frustrated while riding behind a slower vehicle, more time to enjoy the scenery, better fuel mileage, and you can still go fast enough to enjoy the corners.
3) Take a break--in an historic church. Because of their thermal mass, high ceilings, and multiple entrances, these churches are cool and the big ones even have a breeze. The pews are generally comfortable and there's plenty of interesting things to see while you are sitting within a primary component of Latino culture. There is never an entry charge.
4) ATMs: Some ATMs will offer you a bad exchange rate and ask if you will accept it or not. Try not accepting the offered exchange rate. The ATM may then give you your money at a better exchange rate. Alternatively, if the ATM cancels your transaction and you still want money, just start another transaction with that ATM.
5) By definition expatriates are not your typical American, Brit, Canadian, European, etc. Expect both rough edges and for them to honestly share their forcefully-held opinions that likely differ from yours.
6) Impressive historic building facades are often just that: facades, with a loose confederation of bricks and mortar behind them.
7) Latinos have seen plenty of gringos. They have no particular interest in you or your stuff. To the extent that I was noticed at all, I was consistently treated respectfully despite my limited Spanish.
8) Just because an official vehicle (e.g., ambulance, police) has it's lights flashing does not mean that you need to pull over and stop to let them pass. That is only necessary if their siren is on. For example, before an ambulance with flashing lights passed me on a highway, it pulled over behind me while I rode at 60 miles an hour to let a faster car pass both of us.
9) Honking is common in Latin America. Taxi drivers and motorcycle-taxi riders spend all day honking at pedestrians in the hope that they will request rides. Drivers and riders honk immediately after a city traffic light turns green, to say hello, to express annoyance, to warn pedestrians who are simply walking on the sidewalk, and instead of stopping at two-way intersections that have stop signs. I suggest that you simply ignore honking in all but the last case when you approach two-way intersections.
10) Drivers, particularly bus drivers, often park their vehicles in the road for a minute, blocking a lane (perhaps the only lane) of traffic. Rather than recognizing the traffic snarl this causes and not doing it themselves, other drivers caught in the resulting traffic snarl will frequently do the exact same thing after they reach the front of the line.
11) Outside of obvious tourist hotspots, like Cabo San Lucas, Cartagena, Mexico City, and Oaxaca, there are probably fewer gringo tourists than you expect, even during high-season.
12) Lots of dogs, without collars or clear owners, roam the streets in Latin America. They generally do their own thing without disturbing people, though there are rare ankle biters who will follow you too closely. Watch for dog poop on the sidewalks.
13) If you enjoy soft, white cheeses (e.g., Mozzarella) or American cheese then you can find them throughout Latin America. But if you instead enjoy hard, aged cheeses, you will usually have difficulty finding them and then pay a high price. Of the hard cheeses, Parmesan (or local versions thereof) is most frequently available. Good ice cream is also usually unavailable and, if you find it, expensive.
14) Most Latin American museums want you to visit their galleries in a specific order. Usually this done proactively by museum guards with clear gestures on where to go (usually to your left). But I also experienced a case where a guard would not allow me to stay in a gallery I entered until I visited the other gallery first. The guards may follow you to to show you where to go next, or simply because you are one of few visitors. I have even had a personal guard who walked through the entire museum with me. They are just doing their jobs.
15) Some private museums have (locally) high admission charges and require visitors wait and then take a guided tour. I generally decline to support these museums unless they are monastery tours.
16) BBVA Bank consistently has amongst the highest ATM fees and worst exchange rates in Latin America.
17) Skipping Bolivia: I chose not to visit Bolivia for the following five reasons: 1) one can see similar sites in adjacent countries (Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and Peru, Lake Titicaca with Uros floating islands in Peru, salt flats in both Chile [Salar de Atacama] and Argentina [Salinas Grandes]), 2) high-elevation, dusty, wind-blown cities are not pleasant environments (La Paz is at ~ 3,600 meters = 12,000 feet), 3) roads are generally bad, and route-finding can be difficult even in cities, 4) gasoline is always a time-consuming hassle for foreigners to purchase (when it is even available), and 5) a 30-day visa for American citizens costs $160 USD (no visas are required for 90-day visits to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, or Peru). Bolivia can be a pain--just ask a Chilean. Bolivia started the War of the Pacific in 1879 by violating a treaty with Chile, lost the war despite conspiring against Chile with Peru (and attempting to conspire with Argentina), lost its Pacific coast in a 1904 treaty it signed with Chile, and has not had normal diplomatic relations with Chile since 1978 because it is still mad at Chile for winning the war that Bolivia started over 100 years ago.
18) Every country and region is different, but Spanish-speaking countries from Mexico south to Peru have more in common than not. Argentina and Chile are more distinct from those other Latin American countries. Argentina has a strong contemporary Italian and Spanish influence (e.g., bidets, double-bit keys, fashion, good cheese and pasta, smoking, 1 – 5 PM siesta), whereas Chile has a strong American (U.S.A.) and German influence (e.g., F-16 fighter jets, good bread, less religious, California-style open-air malls, music). Neither country has much genetic or cultural influence from indigenous Americans.
Borders in Latin America
1) Just because you do not need a visa does not mean that you can just show up at the border and enter the country. For example, as an American I did not need visas for Honduras or Nicaragua, but I still had to fill in their online forms in advance. The one for Nicaragua is recommended to be done 7 days in advance. So check for these requirements at least a week in advance of arriving at a new border.
2) Watch one or more recent YouTube videos that are specific to the border you are crossing (not just the countries, but the actual location connecting those countries--find it in Google Maps) so that you know what to expect. WikiOverland is another good resource. These are great for learning if you need a fixer (i.e., a private person who helps people at borders for a fee) or if the process is simple, how chaotic the border is, what fees you need to pay, which offices to visit in which order, and what the entry requirements are for your vehicle (e.g., fumigation).
3) It is helpful to have copies of your vehicle title, driver's license, and passport pages in advance. But this is not required given that you may also need to make copies of papers that you receive at the border. Hence you may have to visit the local copy shop anyway.
4) Standard procedure is to travel with new US $100 bills as backup currency. But for borders it is often helpful to have $20 and even smaller bills too so that you do not need to break $100 (e.g., when spending only two nights in Honduras).
5) Unless you see a lot of tourists at the border, border agents typically want exact change and do not have change to give you. For example, at the Honduras border I had to pay US $3 entry fee, and could not change for a $5 bill; I had to use a money changer.
6) Moneychangers can be helpful. Keep in mind that you have two opportunities to change money--on either side of the border. So if you are not getting the exchange rate you want, you can stop negotiating and try again on the other side of the border. US dollars are the best because you can change only what you need rather than feeling that you have to convert a bunch of cash from the country you are leaving.
7) People will volunteer to watch your bike while you enter the customs building. Of course they want to be paid for their service when you return. Tell them that their help is not necessary, but thanks. There are enough officials, police, other people working (e.g., at copy and food stores), and fellow travelers that I have never felt that items already secured as luggage on my bike might be stolen. Likewise, I do not use my motorcycle disc locks.
8) When choosing a fixer (only relevant for the more chaotic Central America border crossings) I look for ones who seem a bit anxious, in a hurry, and agree to a price ahead of time. These are people who want to finish helping you as quickly as possible so they can then move onto another customer. I avoid fixers who act confident, are talkative, take their time, and want to discuss the price later. Some fixers in the latter group use their extra time to lie about new things I need to pay for that are not mentioned online (see lesson 2 above). As you will see below, fixers can save you substantial time, particularly at confusing border crossings, but frequently bring their own set of problems. You probably do not need one if you feel confident after reading and watching videos about the border crossing as cited above in lesson 2.
9) Fixers who speak your language and have been to your home country are not more trustworthy than other fixers.
10) Work with only one fixer. Do not allow other fixers to join your team (e.g., because they speak English and your original fixer does not) because they will all want to be paid and they will be more aggressive when acting together. If a fixer states that the other person must also join you, then choose a different fixer. There are always more travelers than fixers so you have the luxury of a buyer's market.
11) Just because a person is wearing a shirt that looks like it is part of a uniform does not mean that they are a customs official. Fixers wear such shirts to look like officials that you might trust.
12) Given that fixers look similar to regular customs officials in wearing official-looking shirts, you need a way to distinguish between them. Customs officials typically let you approach them rather than them approaching you. Fixers do the opposite.
13) If you hand your fixer money to pay an official, that fixer probably made a profit on that transaction unless you watched the full amount of money change hands. For example, I gave my fixer at the Honduras border the expected US $40 to pay for my motorcycle temporary import permit. He then paid in the local currency instead, making $14 profit in addition to his expected $5 fee.
14) When you have completed your border crossing it is common for fixers to demand more money than they agreed to be paid and then act angry when you refuse. You made an informal agreement with them and are not required to pay them anything. If they refuse your money then pack up and get ready to leave. They will then begrudgingly take their agreed-upon fee while telling you how mean you are.
Road blocks in Latin America
1) Google Maps / Android Auto does not know to route you around road blocks. It shows road blocks as red congested areas rather than considering them to be impassable and then providing alternative routes.
2) The road block can be as simple as a few smaller branches placed across the road. Expect the road block to be manned during regular business hours before the protestors go home each evening. So if you choose to wait there, you may wait all afternoon.
3) The few police officers at the road block are there to monitor the situation. They will not clear the roadblock or help you to get through it.
4) I have only ever seen motorcycle police cross a road block, and only then after talking to the protestors. I have never seen private individuals try to take a vehicle across a road block.
5) The road block applies to motorcycles as well as cars and trucks. It does not apply to pedestrians.
6) There is probably a detour that the locals use to bypass the road block, perhaps on gravel roads. The teenage kids of the protestors may set up their own rope- or branches-across-the-road tolls along this detour. If so, plan on multiple such tolls, each run by an unsupervised pair or group of kids. Tailgate the person in front of you so the kids do not have time to re-set their obstacles for you.
Argentina
1) Unless you have specific evidence otherwise (e.g., hours posted online), assume that shops and tourist sites are closed from either 1 – 3 PM or 1 – 5 PM. Only convenience stores, gas stations, large chain stores (supermarkets, hypermarkets), and restaurants are typically open during the long afternoon siesta.
2) Enjoy the benefits of the strong Italian and Spanish influences, including bidets and good cheese, pasta, pastries, and wine.
3) Argentina and Chile have higher GDPs per capita and a stronger contemporary European influence than other Latin American countries. But do not generalize too much between the two countries. For example, if you walk across roads in Argentina the same way that you do in Chile, where cars immediately give pedestrians the right-of-way, you will soon be run over. One can ride more aggressively on Argentine city streets than on Chilean city streets without risking being fined.
4) Your credit cards will work fine, but also bring lots of new $100 bills instead of using Argentine ATMs, which often have long lines, use the official (low) exchange rate, and only give out smaller amounts of cash). Check the current “dolar blue” exchange rate, and change $100 at a time for high-denomination-only Argentine bills using street changers, gold-buying shops, or informal money-exchange shops that have “dolar” or “dollar” signs, often with a blue color. YouTubers say to only bring new $100 bills, which I agree is optimal. But I was also able to change new $20 bills, sometimes at the same exchange rate as $100 bills.
5) White tourists are more likely to be mistaken for locals than in other Spanish-speaking countries from Mexico to Peru. So, expect to be spoken to in rapid-fire Spanish and for Argentinians to be surprised if one responds in broken Spanish.
6) Many Argentinians are enthusiastic about adventure motorcycles, more so than in other Latin American countries. So expect lots of friendly interactions when you are on or near your bike.
7) Like Ecuador, motorcyclists do not pay some highway tolls in Argentina. If you will see a sign for "motos" on the far-right of toll booths, separate from other vehicles, there is no toll for motorcycles at that toll booth and that is where you should cross. Motorcyclists also do not pay at toll booths for which no price is listed for motorcycles, but need to pass through the same lanes as cars do.
8) You can purchase SIM cards from kiosks, but still need to register your phone, with your passport, at one of the official cell-phone-company stores.
9) For vehicle insurance, if you are also traveling to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, or Uruguay, purchase MERCOSUR insurance that also covers those countries.
10) Argentinians continue to enjoy barbecue, but now eat less meat than they are historically famous for. In grocery stores I consistently found a wide selection of veggie burgers.
11) The beautiful colonial churches in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are the real thing. Argentina and Chile have few comparable churches, but many poor concrete imitations of them. Even the old Argentinian churches often only have interior displays from the 1900s.
12) American exceptionalism is a national myth in the United States. In Argentina a national myth is that the Falkland / Malvinas Islands are part of Argentina, as shown by numerous new street signs, bumper stickers, and monuments. Rather than recognizing the war as the last gasp from yet another failed Argentine military junta, who assaulted the islanders and sacrificed 649 underequipped Argentine servicemen, they think their invasion reinforced their territorial claim and martyred their soldiers.
13) Argentina does not stamp passports when either entering or leaving the country.
14) There are no-go zones for motorcycles on some new streets in the cities of Corrientes and Formosa in northeastern Argentina. Local motorcyclists and police take these no-go zones seriously, and I almost got a ticket for this in Corrientes.
Colombia
1) If staying in Colombia for more than two weeks, you need to register your cell phone using its IMEI number after you get a Colombian SIM card. If you fail to do so, your cell phone (not the SIM card) will be deactivated in Colombia. The only way for foreigners to then get cell-phone service in Colombia is by switching to an eSIM card.
2) Aside from the Caribbean coast, Colombia’s population is concentrated on two north-south mountain ranges. Bogota is a great place to arrive in Colombia and then visit towns along the Cordillera Orientale while heading north before returning south along the Cordillera Centra.
3) The Caribbean coast is hot, even during winter.
4) Colombia has lots of toll roads and far more toll booths. Thankfully, there is a pass-through on the far-right of the toll booths for motorcycles, no payment required.
5) The eight-kilometer-long Túnel de Oriente between Medellin and its airport to the east is closed to motorcyclists.
6) Stop signs are often placed at roundabouts as well as the motorcycle pass-through at toll booths. Go with the flow of traffic rather than stopping at all of these signs, lest you get rear-ended after stopping.
7) In contrast to Mexico and Central America, I only ever saw one Colombian gas station with air pumps for inflating tires. You have to go to a tire-repair shop instead.
8) Mexican churches are typically open all day. By contrast, most Colombian churches are only open in the early morning and for 5 or 6 PM services, opening 30 minutes before the service begins.
9) Avoid the Colombian theme parks. These include recreations of old villages as well as one landmark (e.g., salt-mine cathedral) around which other themes were developed.
10) Medellin has numerous prostitutes. Skip both the prostitutes and dating apps there lest you be given an overdose of scopolamine in your drink, which numerous American men have died from, leading to a 2024 travel alert from the U.S. State Department.
11) I was quoted a high price (~ $200 USD for the minimum of 3 months) for motorcycle insurance. Vehicle insurance is required in Colombia, but I was told that many Colombians do not have it. You may choose not to get it (see lesson 12 below).
12) I was stopped twice at police checkpoints, but only when they were stopping everyone. In only one case was I asked to show an identification card, and in neither case was I searched or asked to show proof of insurance. The police did more thorough checks on Colombians than they did on me. I never felt uneasy with Colombian police.
13) Colombian drivers slow down at DETECCION ELECTRONICA signs, which indicate laser or radar camera speed traps. Apparently the fine for speeding through these is high, but I was never given a ticket. Nor did I have any problems at the border when cancelling my Temporary Import Permit and leaving Colombia.
14) I frequently smelled marijuana being smoked in cities, and was rarely offered cocaine. These drugs need not affect your travels in Colombia. Like Mexico, I never knowingly saw any gang or drug-cartel activities.
15) My favorite cities in Colombia are: Santa Fe de Antioquia (historic center), Bogota (museums), Mompox (historic center), Barichara (historic center, small mountain town), Pasto (churches), and Aguadas (small mountain town), in that order.
16) Visit Ecuador! Colombia has a lot to enjoy, but Ecuador has numerous advantages: better roads, cheaper food, currency is the U.S. dollar, indigenous peoples are more common, landscapes are more picturesque (lots of small-holder indigenous farmers), subsidized gasoline, and Quito has numerous outstanding Spanish colonial churches and monasteries--even better than Pasto. Plus, immigration and a temporary import permit for your vehicle are free in Ecuador, with no insurance requirement.
Mexico
1) Every gringo in Mexico had lots of friends at home telling them not to go to Mexico because of the violenct crime. I have yet to encounter, or talk to a gringo who has encountered (even after 13 years in one case!), the violent crime we were warned of.
2) During road construction an already crowded six-lane road with stoplights may turn into a bad two-lane road with no detour indicated. Check Google Maps to find these red-marked areas before your ride each day.
3) Do not stress over being pulled over by corrupt police wanting a bribe or stopped at roadblocks. I was never pulled over and was stopped at roadblocks just two times, including one case where they stopped everyone. The police were friendly and respectful.
4) Expect to pay non-refundable import tax on spare tires for your bike that you bring across the border.
5) There are not an unusually high number of Americans who live South Dakota visiting Baja. South Dakota has no income tax and no annual vehicle inspections. So those cars are owned by Americans living in Baja, where there is no need for a Temporary Import Permit.
6) There is obsolete information online about Baja regarding the need to use premium gas, the idea that gas is much more expensive outside the main cities, and the need to purchase gas sold on the side of the road in jerrycans rather than from gas stations. In 2023 I used regular gas for my motorcycle just fine, the gas prices only fluctuated by a few pesos per liter across all of Baja, and the only place on Mex1 where you might need to fill up from jerrycans is Catavina, and even then only if you have a small motorcycle gas tank.
7) Locals sitting in their cars for extended periods are not acting suspiciously. They are probably using free local wifi.
8) All gas stations are full-service, and most have air pumps adjacent to the gas pumps. So get your tire pressures checked once a week. Bring your own air-pressure gauge to doublecheck the pressure given that some air pumps and attendants don't have their own air-pressure gauges.
9) Gringo adults taking beach vacations do not really enjoy the beach because of the sun, humidity, sand, and saltwater. Instead they want to let their kids play, show skin, see skin, and have a Las Vegas-like freewheeling atmosphere. Hence they prefer to stay at their hotel's pool, and would probably be happier still at a water park back home.
10) ATMs: I have seen ATM fees range from 17.4 (Inbursa Bank) to 180 pesos (BBVA Bank). After selecting an ATM with a reasonable fee, it may (at Santander Bank) offer you an exchange rate that you can accept or not. Try not accepting the offered exchange rate. The ATM may then give you your money at a better exchange rate.
11) Toll roads are expensive, even for the lowest available price for motorcycles. The cost is roughly equivalent to buying a second tank of gas for each tank that I use while on toll roads. Use Google Maps directions to check for the time to your destination both using and avoiding toll roads to determine if the toll road is worth the cost.
12) Two-lane toll roads actually have three informal lanes. The third lane is a suicide passing lane right down the middle. If you do not give the right-of-way to vehicles using that passing lane then you will quickly cause a potentially fatal crash. Many big trucks drive half off the road at all times so that they always provide right-of-way to that passing lane.
13) Want to see the real Mexico by avoiding toll roads and riding the back roads? It can be beautiful. But here's two factors to consider:
Towns have seemingly arbitrary numbers of (paired) speed bumps of various shapes (small ones are the worst). Trucks (and buses) come to a near complete stop for each axle before each of the small ones and then are very slow to accelerate, while belching diesel exhaust, after them. Small towns are often limited to a single lane of traffic in each direction, and sometimes a lane is blocked by someone making a delivery.
You will come across those same trucks on twisty roads, with a long line of cars and trucks behind them. Even after passing the long line of cars and trucks, another slow truck is waiting for you < 20 minutes ahead. Some trucks carry two trailers and crawl up hills in low gear.
Based on these two factors, I now took toll roads for trips > 3 hours.
14) On a side road with lots of unmarked speed bumps? I have ridden on a road with ~ 100 speed bumps packed into 20 kilometers. Slow down to let a local pass you and follow them. They will then show you where all of the speed bumps are.
15) Mexico City has many museums and interesting neighborhoods to visit. Skip renting a car, get an Airbnb near a subway station and grocery store, and plan to stay for at least two weeks.
What annoyed [Poseidon] most—and this was the chief cause of discontent with his job—was to learn of the rumors that were circulating about him; for instance, that he was constantly cruising through the waves with his trident. Instead of which here he was sitting in the depths of the world’s ocean endlessly going over the accounts, an occasional journey to Jupiter being the only interruption of the monotony, a journey moreover from which he invariably returned in a furious temper. As a result he had hardly seen the oceans, save fleetingly during his hasty ascent to Olympus, and had never really sailed upon them. He used to say that he was postponing this until the end of the world, for then there might come a quiet moment when, just before the end and having gone through the last account, he could still make a quick little tour.
-- Franz Kafka, “Poseidon”