Wheels to Adventure is a weekly-ish newsletter about and for people that have heard the call to adventure and have set off to answer it on a bike, car, or motorcycle.
What is the Call to Adventure, you ask?
It’s why farm boy Luke Skywalker sets out from Tatooine. It’s why Bilbo and Frodo leave the Shire. It’s why Leif Erickson and Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. It’s that urge humans get to see what’s over the hill, through the woods, and across the oceans. The Call to Adventure is the founding principle for the Hero’s Journey, one of literature's most enduring archetypical concepts, from the Odyssey to Call of the Wild to the aforementioned Star Wars (original series) it's the structure of all the grand stories that have hit the heart of the masses and become beloved.
In humans the need for adventure is foundational. We all feel it at some point in our lives. The need to go forth and seek. In the modern world, we don’t all answer its call. The vicissitudes of modern life often crowds out our natural desire to explore or seek adventure. Video games and movies often act as visual proxies. Dopamine producing substitutes to real life.
Some people don’t ignore the Call. Some of us remember that pull we felt as kids to go forth and explore. If you heard that call and answered, or hear adventure’s siren call in your heart and soul, this newsletter is for you.
Why subscribe?
A simple video on America’s Great Rail Trail awakened the need for adventure in me, and now I’m preparing to answer that urge with a trek across the country on my bike. The Wheels to Adventure newsletter will follow me as I prepare, train, and discuss all the issues, planning, and preparation for my first trip. It will be a start to finish accounting of my trek across America with news, information, interviews, and amusing anecdotes about the adventure biking world.
If you’re a biking, cycling, or even overlanding enthusiast already, it will reinforce why you hit the road and woods on summer vacations, rather than a cruise or all-inclusive resort. If you’re thinking about it, learn from my journey. Discover what you need to consider financially, family wise, equipment choices, and more. This is a whole new world to me, and I’m sharing it as I discover and explore it in real time with all of you.