... Is this thing on?

*chck scchhhchhhh* .... Check, one, two, one two check. Turn my headphones up a bit, check, check. Alright. Alright.....

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Helloooo world. How ya’ll feelin'?

You're looking beautiful tonight.

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Nice to see you all on such an auspicious occasion, this being my first step (/stumble) out into the blogosphere. I struggled for some time with what would be my first post. I mean it should after all be prolific, epigrammatic, avoid whimsy at all costs (please excuse the above opening), thoughtful, as candid as a drunken Polaroid, rife with profundity and punctuated by keen witticisms... grand in nature, broad in scope, until at last I have created a chimerical blog-0-monster unassailable by even the most adroit of bloggers (shitmydadsays, among others).

I squirmed through corny openings, wrestled single sentences for longer than I care to admit, deleted, re-wrote, and deleted again an entire blog worth of blogs. Perhaps it was the mental fatigue and anguish that lead me to the desperate conclusion that I just need to post something, anything. Then I had the thought that this is not too dissimilar to walking into a room full of people I had never meet (except that I do in fact know most of you) -- I'll introduce myself. You know -- like on your first day of class when your teacher asks you to tell the class your, name, age, where you're from, favorite food, and one interesting thing you wish to share about yourself.

That’s me…

Mom and Dad are very proud.

I'm Elijah, I'm 25, I live in Seattle, currently my favorite food is the Himalayan Curry and Annapurna on Broadway, and I am taking a big trip to South America this fall. That last bit is the real reason why I wanted to start this blog.

In about a month I will be leaving Seattle with two close friends. These are the knowns as of 12:30 this afternoon...

• Riders: Steven (the Mexican) Campbell, Spencer (mucho experience-o) Harris, and Me (...)
• Starting from: Seattle, WA
• Our destination: Terre Del Fuego and back.
• Timeline: open ended, but by most estimates roughly 6-9 months.
• Mode of transportation: Motorized Bike -- Steven: KTM 950 Adventure; Me: Suzuki DR650; Spencer: R80 Frankenstiened into R80GS Paris Dakarishy Radness

• Definitely doing: Tranzamazonia Highway, the Yungas Road outside of La Paz, Semuc Champey, Angels Falls, Salar de Uyuni, lots more, but those are some of the big ones. Any suggestions would be so appreciated, so throw them at us! Please!

My intentions for this blog are manifold. I want it to become an interactive record of our journey, not just posts and pictures, but comments, responses, and reactions from you. Also, I plan to post often enough to keep everyone (well, at least those interested) posted on our progress and experience, as it will be much easier to broadcast via blogger versus sending mucho emails. But above of all I think it will be a great way to interact with my friends and family at home. So please comment, ask, suggest, respond effusively.

Well, enough of all that. I'll be sure to post soon with an update on prep and progress.

Days till departure: 33

Mental Barometer Reading: Ambivalent 

Gelb ---> Out.