BUCKET LISTS & TRAVEL PLANS:
By the time you read this, I will be several weeks gone, lured by the call of the wild. Finally. Over the past decade and a half, I have slowly and methodically been adding checkmarks to my bucket list of Canadian provinces and U.S. states, so far claiming the Lower 48 and all 10 provinces. The only political geography that remained was Hawaii, Alaska, and the three Canadian territories. Nunavut and Hawaii continued unexplored because I have yet to find the roads that lead there.
The Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska, however, are simply a long way from Niagara, and with other pursuits and busyness, lately I had begun to wonder if I would ever see them. But the celebration of my birthday — the last in my sixth decade — became a subtle, steady nudge. Then one day I noticed t-shirt: “So many roads, so little time”. That evening I began to thumb through the pages of , Alaska’s detailed annual travel guide. The pivotal elbow to the ribs came when arranged for the long-term test ride of a 2022 Suzuki V-Strom 650. The clarity was sudden: If the universe had a plan, who was I to argue?
