In 2019, just before COVID body slammed the world by stopping most travel while adding uncertainty, panic, and fear, I completed a 1,000+ kilometer motorcycle journey through the heart of Central Vietnam. This blog will be a 7-part series to highlight the beauties, wonders, and people of this magical land through the lens of a motorcyclist, philanthropist, and former soldier.
Asia. The largest continent in the World. Where the cultures are as vast as the geography. It had been some time since I was on this continent and the first time was purely by a decision that there would be better stories out of Asia than where I was supposed to be stationed, which was Texas.
It was 1992 and I was graduating AIT (Advanced Individual Training) as a U.S. Army Communications Specialist at Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. It was August and the heat and humidity were brutal. We were called into formation as this day we were to be given our orders for our first assignment as soldiers. As the Drill Sergeant called us up one by one, the anxiety in the air was intense. Would we go to Germany, remain in the United States, or maybe go to Korea? Most of us received stateside duties. As I eagerly opened my envelope, I learned my assignment was to report to Ft Hood, Texas. I was not happy at all, as my “Dream Sheet” consisted of Jamaica, Aruba, and Portugal (I figured why not try for a cool duty station even though I knew it was extremely unlikely).
The formation dispersed after about 15 minutes, and I noticed one of my peers on the burnt lawn looking distraught. He was set to be married and his fiancé was pregnant, and he now had orders to Korea for a year. It took me all of 2 seconds to look at him and say “Hey, wanna trade?” After a short chat with the Drill Instructor we made it happen. I often wonder how his days in Texas went, but I find it hard to believe it could have been more of an adventure than what was to be my first duty station as a soldier in the United States Army.
I got what I was looking for: A lot of stories and a hell of an adventure in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division. I was posted on Korea’s demilitarized zone for a year. This story came to mind in December of 2019 as I groggily stepped off an airplane into the hot humidity of Da Nang, Vietnam to spend 3 weeks motorcycling around the country along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It had been a long 26-hour trip from Los Angeles to what I was about to realize was a beautiful and unique country. The Vietnamese culture, although extremely beautiful, was much different then how westerners live. To see it from a motorcycle was an adventure few people experience.
More epic rides? You bet!
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