Skip to main content

Motoventure Recap

I've now been back in the States for just over a week - still adjusting in some ways, but the motoventure is also rapidly fading from visceral experience into warm memory. With most of the media from the trip and the fallout all sorted, I figured it was a good time to end with a final recap:

- Rob & Will from Valsalva Victory made it! They were the first team to actually drive a mototaxi all the way from Huancayo to Asuncion. Of everyone on the Junket, I spent by far the most time with them, from carrying their extra weight on mountainous terrain to the hectic side by side drive down towards Abancay in the pitch black because their lights randomly cut out... Definitely stoked that they pulled it off!

- Danny Smith from 633 Squadron also made it, along with some others. What makes Danny special is that he's the craziest most accident prone loony in the entire Junket (while also being a stand up guy and great to hang out with). His mate had to leave partway through and he decided to go on alone through some of the most insane problems including multiple full crashes, lost paperwork, and almost crossing the border into Bolivia dressed as a giant bunny.

All in all very exciting - I'm not sure if I'm glad to know that the trip is absolutely doable in two weeks without paperwork problems, or if it just pisses me off because the paperwork screwed so many people. Maybe a bit of both... I really hope The Adventurists learn from this - they're running a proper business now, they can't leave things like this to chance next time.

Multimedia:

- I've uploaded a few hundred full resolution original pictures to flickr. Anyone can feel free to use these, just follow the right licensing (nutshell, use it wherever you want but give me credit - and I'd like it if you dropped me a note and let me know!). Entire collection is available here.

- These pictures are also available on Facebook for tagging/etc., but you'll have to find me first - when you're logged into Facebook, just hit my URL: http://facebook.com/petewaterman

- I'm working on a recap video which will probably come in around 15min and will hopefully include some cool voiceovers and GPS location animation. Until then, I put together a 2.5 minute teaser trailer with a sequence of clips to highlight some of the amazing stuff we did. Please watch and share (feel free to link anywhere)!

- My SPOT tracker was pretty cool and I will definitely keep it around, but I also experimented with the SPOT Adventures web site to document my trip. It's kinda cool - you can see the route as tracked by the SPOT as well as most of the on-the-road photos imported from my flickr. Check it out here!

- I have great GPS data logs of the entire trip (every 1-3s) and was able to implement the route into a sweet tour in Google Earth that can fly down the route, showing my pictures along the way. The downside: it's bloody huge and unwieldy and slow. I do hope to tweak this down into something I can share in the future but I've a lot of other projects to work on still!

Thanks again to all my friends and people who supported me, and to all the new friends I made on the trip! Can't wait for the next adventure, hope to see some of you on it!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Days 94-98: The Struggle for Beauty

In which Pete nearly loses Red and gives up once again, before crossing an ice field to spend the night with the Bolivian army at Laguna Colorada and returning to Uyuni for supplies.

Jury Duty: Not Like TV (or: Longest Post EVER)

Prepare yourself for by far the longest blog post ever – if you’re at all curious about real life jury duty or enjoy all those cop & lawyer shows then give it a go - this recount of the trial and details given for evidence will blow your mind, make you think twice about the effectiveness of our police officers and the impartiality of our juries… Shortly before leaving on my trip in January, I was summoned for DC Grand Jury Duty .  I was able to have it rescheduled to begin on June 7 and made it back to the US only a few days before it was due to start.  After thinking about it I really felt that I would not be comfortable spending 27 days of 8:30AM to 5PM in an “office” for $30 a day, especially with the changes to the economy going on right now – I’d rather enjoy that time. Upon arriving at the courtroom for Grand Jury Duty, I quickly noted that there were over 40 people in the room, considerably more than the number required for the Grand Jury.  Once we were checked in, the c

Goodbye, India

I felt it fitting to arrive at IGI in Delhi in the familiar comfort of an auto-rickshaw as I prepare to leave India behind me.  I am ready to leave – in fact, I feel somewhat as if I overstayed myself here, even with two days in Delhi doing nearly nothing. I have mixed feelings about India.  The dust, dirt, and heat of the dry season do not bother me (aside from my allergies).  The frequent squalor, open sewers, trash strewn streets, and clear signs of overpopulation and overcrowding do not phase me at all – if anything, they remind me of my youth in the Philippines and bring a certain nostalgia.  I love the food and breads, and while I’m not a fan of the excess of deep fried street food, it’s enjoyable in moderation.  The fact that I’ve had only one small piece of chicken and no other meat for nearly a month bothers me not at all, since the alternatives are quite a pleasure (mmm, paneer!). In fact, aside from a few things, I have quite enjoyed India.  The people who are clearly i