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slidebite posted:Becktastic, how far are your videos trailing your real progress? IE: The videos you post did they just happen a day or two before or are you much further along in the trip and just releasing the videos on your own schedule or as time/internets allow? http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23142564&postcount=203
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Jan 10, 2014 20:28
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slidebite posted:I know it isn't a massive deal, but I'd go postal with border banana republic bullshit and probably end up in jail. What a pain in the rear end. The thing is, yeah you have to wait around for bullshit here and there, but you can ALWAYS get through the bureaucracy. By contrast, calling the California DMV to try and get Andrea new papers made us want to murder. There was absolutely nothing she could do short of making an appointment and flying all the way back. Waiting outside a building for 3 hours isn't so bad by comparison. Darryl Lict posted:Congrats on a super great adventure. I'm hoping to make the trip down to Panama one of these days but don't have the huevos for a motorcycle trip. I drove down to Cabo San Lucas for the total eclipse of the sun in 1991 and it was the greatest road trip of my life. Hell, I was sketched out driving in a goddamn Pathfinder. I honestly think it's less scary riding a motorcycle. You are quick and nimble enough to get out of the way, you just have to constantly be paying attention and never expect anyone to be on their side of the road. I don't know how two full sized vehicles pass each other on some of these roads, especially tearing around at warp speed. We just go slowly and ride pretty close to the center of our lane so we can dodge left and right for cows and oncoming traffic. Also, being able to lane split the city traffic is awesome. People say it can take 3 hours to cross Guatemala City, I think we got out in like half an hour. slidebite posted:Becktastic, how far are your videos trailing your real progress? IE: The videos you post did they just happen a day or two before or are you much further along in the trip and just releasing the videos on your own schedule or as time/internets allow? Here's the link to our Facebook for up-to-date location info: https://www.motoventuring.com We are definitely behind, though we've slowed our pace a lot now and we're kind of catching up. Hopefully we can get caught up and then we're going to try doing more narration stuff as we go (as opposed to waiting til we stop and then trying to recall stuff from weeks ago). We've been hanging out with Ben and Sharne from Hasta Alaska (https://www.facebook.com/HastaAlaska) and exchanging tips for video making. I've upgraded to Adobe Premiere and I'm learning what all it can do, Ben has taught me a lot. Check out their videos, they are pretty pro.  As a question to you guys though, do you like the webcam style or the travel TV show style with more narration/music/clips? I think we'll be trying to do more of the latter, but some people have said they like how personal just talking to the webcam feels (over the more professional narration style). We'll be trying a bunch of different stuff out in the coming episodes, so feel free to give advice/opinions on what you do or don't like and how to make them better. So far the big ones we've come up with are: -Film more things in the moment, if you can't get the actually moment, talk about it while the emotions are still fresh. It's hard to get that same energy back later. -Do more B roll. Try to capture the essence of what daily life is like in a place. -Use more music and shorter pictures/film clips This video is done in the same way we've been doing them, I feel like it ends really abruptly, but sometimes you get exhausted editing and decide it's good enough. We've been doing more B roll stuff since we got here to Utila so we'll experiment with that more when we catch up to Honduras. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMhnc4ddUN0
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Jan 11, 2014 16:04
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Becktastic posted:
Did you mean for it to end in a solid four minutes of silent blackness?
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Jan 11, 2014 16:17
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Becktastic posted:Here's the link to our Facebook for up-to-date location info: https://www.motoventuring.com quote:
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Jan 11, 2014 16:36
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Becktastic, I vote you stay with the narration style you have now, but add in more clips and pictures as you're talking. I enjoy your descriptions of events and personal stories more than I would music and B roll. On the other hand, local music thrown in somehow would be cool.
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Jan 11, 2014 16:42
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Safety Dance posted:Did you mean for it to end in a solid four minutes of silent blackness? Nope. That's just the Honduran internet. That took something like 22 hours to upload. The good news is the whole video is there, it just tacked on 4 extra minutes of black nothingness. I know this one ended kind of abruptly, so that adds to the confusion. I used the Trim tool in YouTube, so it -should- hack that extra bit off shortly. slidebite posted:Thanks for the link, I don't do facebook though but answers my question I'll try to remember to give a location update here too when possible, for those who don't do FB. We're currently in Utila, Honduras now...and the weather is pretty lovely. Like severe weather warning lovely. We had to leave our bikes parked at the dock in La Ceiba and I am really worried they are under water or on their sides. Thanks for the video feedback. hot sauce posted:Becktastic, I vote you stay with the narration style you have now, but add in more clips and pictures as you're talking. I enjoy your descriptions of events and personal stories more than I would music and B roll. On the other hand, local music thrown in somehow would be cool. Cool. I haven't heard enough local music lately. :/ But I do have some flute music for the next Guatemala episode.
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Jan 11, 2014 17:56
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Burritos and weed, I knew it! Good stuff, this is v cool.
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Jan 11, 2014 20:41
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RucWW-3IFr0 Just saw the new video, the end is the best "I feel like I look high" Paranoia is a common side effect :3
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Jan 15, 2014 00:49
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HNasty posted:
Ha yeah I thought it was funny because people keep saying she looks high as balls, but she's been sober for all of these! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RucWW-3IFr0 (I'm posting the video too for continuity if anyone ever wants to find all my videos in my posts)
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Jan 15, 2014 01:26
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haha Loved the pockets on her pants. Trash just doesn't seem to be a big deal in a lot of these small countries/locals. My inlaws live on a small island in the carribean and when I ask what happens with their trash (twice a week pickup!) I found out they just dump it in the volcano. 
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Jan 15, 2014 03:12
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That's probably the best trash-disposal method I've ever heard of. I mean I guess it would make your volcano smell like burning garbage, but it's already full of toxic gas anyway, and what are you going to do, hurt it? It's a loving volcano.
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Jan 15, 2014 09:49
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The volcano, while not extinct, hasn't erupted or rumbled for many, many decades. When doing the tourist hike in and around the caldera, I guess they're having to detour because of, well, piles of garbage. But it's an island so I guess your limited with places to put it. It's about as out of the way as you're going to get.
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Jan 15, 2014 15:19
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I'm imagining that episode of the Simpsons where Homer buries garbage under Springfield and it eventually erupts over the city.
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Jan 15, 2014 17:17
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slidebite posted:The volcano, while not extinct, hasn't erupted or rumbled for many, many decades. When doing the tourist hike in and around the caldera, I guess they're having to detour because of, well, piles of garbage. They need a big plunger to push the garbage under the surface crust.
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Jan 15, 2014 18:06
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Nah I have it on good authority volcanoes are hole to the Center of the Earth.
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Jan 15, 2014 18:34
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It's great you met Stephen (guy with the KLR who's been there for years) we traveled with him before he got "stuck" in Guatemala. Great guy, loving the trip, keep the updates coming!
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Jan 16, 2014 18:15
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PlasticSun posted:It's great you met Stephen (guy with the KLR who's been there for years) we traveled with him before he got "stuck" in Guatemala. Great guy, loving the trip, keep the updates coming! It was just a really brief chat, he still seemed very happy there though. Next video is up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6iMxbLKU50
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Jan 19, 2014 14:10
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYRk4f4C1U
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Jan 24, 2014 05:10
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How have I missed this thread for so long? :o Time to marathon all these videos.
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Jan 24, 2014 05:16
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Whenever I hear you talking about Antigua, I automatically think of the island.. and each time I'm like "What the gently caress, why are they on the island" and then I remember after about 5 secs there is more than 1 place called Antigua.
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Jan 24, 2014 06:16
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Just watched everything since October when I last saw the thread. Really cool trip, thanks a bunch for sharing. Making me really want to get the DRZ400 that I've been thinking about for a while.
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Feb 2, 2014 07:12
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As a recent drz400 convert, do it. I've had 4 or 5 bikes of various genre in the last 2 years and the drz has been the most fun. Plus if you're buying used and you don't overpay or destroy it you really can't lose if you don't like it and have to resell.
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Feb 2, 2014 20:39
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Thanks for all the positive comments! Here's our next video, enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjqS554DbY
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Feb 5, 2014 19:40
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Great vid. That dog is how I felt in high school.
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Feb 5, 2014 21:30
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Becktastic, how do you think this trip would differ if you were in a jeep instead of a motorcycle? Obviously you could take a lot more stuff with you. You could also have a small cassette toilet back there and never have to worry about gross bathrooms or pooping in the woods. Seems like it'd be safer and you could put a mountain bike on the back or something. You'd of course lose a lot of the fun and freedom of the bike but it seems like it'd be terrifically more comfortable and easier.
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Feb 6, 2014 06:09
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hayden. posted:Becktastic, how do you think this trip would differ if you were in a jeep instead of a motorcycle? Obviously you could take a lot more stuff with you. You could also have a small cassette toilet back there and never have to worry about gross bathrooms or pooping in the woods. Seems like it'd be safer and you could put a mountain bike on the back or something. You'd of course lose a lot of the fun and freedom of the bike but it seems like it'd be terrifically more comfortable and easier. Everything is an exchange. Comfort Vs Freedom (this is true for all things in life it seems). We've talked to a lot of people traveling overland in vans and they are all jealous of the fun we have offroading, the ability to get off the road and stealth camp and the minimalists simplicity of that way of travel while we are envious they can pull over anywhere and sleep in their vehicle and carry fun stuff like surf boards and things to better prepare more of their own food. I definitely prefer the bike for the roads and traffic. Had I been in a car I'm fairly certain I would have had a head on collision with a truck in Guatemala which came around a corner with -barely- enough room for my bike not to be forced off and lane splitting the traffic in cities is great too! We also win out on gas expense (unless you get 3+ people to split the van costs) and way WAY win out on maintenance costs. Partly because we can do our own work, but the people in vans seemed to be having a lot of trouble getting stuff fixed. We met a couple that spent 6 MONTHS living at a mechanics rebuilding their engine! Our bikes only cost a few grand and local bikes are even cheaper, so if anything gave up the ghost, we could just buy a replacement cheap and carry on. I am not bothered by pooping in the woods. I definitely prefer it over sleeping near a camp toilet.
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Feb 6, 2014 20:34
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Becktastic posted:Thanks for the kudos, I'm glad you like them! It's gotten way better now I've taught Andrea to edit. We work well collaborating and we can hopefully maybe catch up now. Thanks for the super-helpful response! As far as the hot weather camping, sounds about like I figured. I did a bunch of googleing and there's no magic bullet; a number of people suggested a small electric fan, but charging is a little iffy (bought a DC outlet for my bike but unsure if the stator can handle much more load). I actually just ordered one of those rechargeable battery packs that can supposedly charge a smartphone a few times though, might be able to use it to power a small USB one, especially if it can turn itself on/off every X minutes. Might be doable if I wasn't camping every night, can charge it on nights I'm at a hotel/couch surfing, or at a friendly restaurant/coffee shop while I'm messing around with photos/writing in my journal. Time to get searching! I'm a huge babby when it comes to sleeping in the heat/humidity, especially ironic considering I'm from Florida. Yeah, was thinking most likely eBook if anything. For the videos, any sort of extra equipment you'd recommend? I've got a GoPro Hero 3 with various mounts (chinbar, chest, head, wrist), as well as a mirrorless camera (currently an NEX-5, upgrading to an A7 next month). Would have a tripod with me for stills already, but wondering about something for handholding, maybe a mic, etc.
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Feb 7, 2014 02:30
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You probably know exactly what you're doing, you're not traveling alone, and it definitely helps that you speak the language, but do be careful. Someone doing the same kind of trip recently went missing in Mexico. It's obvious you're as prepared as anyone could ever be, but the unexpected occasionally happens to the best of us. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/new-york-man-missing-mexico-article-1.1607280
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Feb 9, 2014 21:02
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Pompous Rhombus posted:...a number of people suggested a small electric fan....I'm a huge babby when it comes to sleeping in the heat/humidity, especially ironic considering I'm from Florida. The sound quality on the GoPro is pretty lovely, a mic might be good, but you can also just record narration with most laptops. We basically do that or put music over all the ambient sound. OSU_Matthew posted:You probably know exactly what you're doing, you're not traveling alone, and it definitely helps that you speak the language, but do be careful. Someone doing the same kind of trip recently went missing in Mexico. It's obvious you're as prepared as anyone could ever be, but the unexpected occasionally happens to the best of us. Yeah, I heard about that.  I posted about it on our facebook page in case it might help. There are inherent risks to this kind of travel (or any travel really) and you're always trying to strike the balance between free wheeling fun and cautious safety. I do think these kinds of things are mostly just wrong place/wrong time scenarios. Hopefully he is found in good health soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F1gMN33Hro
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Feb 13, 2014 17:29
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Dang yall are making me jealous as heck.
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Feb 13, 2014 21:03
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Question for you--what would you say is the ratio of camping to staying at local places? Does that change on a country by country basis? Also, do you usually just ask the locals where the best camp spots are, or try to be more stealthy?
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Feb 15, 2014 16:06
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Just walk into a pub, ask the bartender where people usually camp overnight in town, head there.
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Feb 16, 2014 08:08
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Becktastic, how has your ability to speak and understand Spanish grown since you started the adventure? Would you say you've been able to pick up enough to generally get by, or are you still pretty reliant on Andrea's Spanish? Is there a lot of variation in different dialects, or are you pretty much able to communicate the same from country to country?
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Feb 16, 2014 16:17
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OSU_Matthew posted:Question for you--what would you say is the ratio of camping to staying at local places? Does that change on a country by country basis? The ratio of camping/couchsurfing/hotels is pretty erratic and has changed a lot by country. In Baja it was very easy to stealth camp. In Mainland Mexico, Brant insisted on hotels, until we made him buy a tent, then we camped quite a lot. The population is more dense further down though so we did less stealth camping and more "may I camp at your restaurant?" type stuff. Guatemala was so cheap we stayed in hotels on Lake Atitlan for $25/week and then stayed with Harry in Antigua for free. Since we didn't want to ride to Semuc with all our luggage, we found a hotel in Lanquin for $5/night/person. In Honduras we found a similarly priced hotel n Copan and then stayed free at the dive shop in Utila (everyone stays free who dives with them, most shops have this policy). In Nicaragua we've been almost exclusively in hotels because we have had friends coming in to visit. Our last place was $150/month for a room with 2 big beds. Our new one is $100/week but it's right on the beach. We only have 2 weeks left here, so we'll do it up in styyyyyyyle. Also, Andrea hurt her foot pretty badly, so a cozy spot to chill, with a short walk to the beach is worth it right now. Hopefully she's healed in a couple weeks when it's time to bomb through Costa Rica. We ask the locals where to camp when we are hoping they'll let us camp behind their restaurant or something, otherwise, when stealth camping, you just find an out of the way place and set up. The fewer people that know where you are, the better. Most locals will look at you crazy if you ask where people go to camp. People don't really camp for fun here, most of their houses are just a few steps above a tent and surrounded by trees and plants. When they vacation, they want more comfort, not less. OSU_Matthew posted:Becktastic, how has your ability to speak and understand Spanish grown since you started the adventure? Would you say you've been able to pick up enough to generally get by, or are you still pretty reliant on Andrea's Spanish? Is there a lot of variation in different dialects, or are you pretty much able to communicate the same from country to country? I can definitely get by comfortably on my own now and even make a bit of conversation for fun. This has definitely been the best thing to help me improve my Spanish. Andrea is good about letting me stumble through and then coming to the rescue only if I'm really confusing someone. We have had a lot of friends visiting though and so have been speaking a lot of English for the last month or so, which set me back a bit, it's hard not to just hang out with foreigners abroad and speak a lot of English too. The Spanish is different from country to country and in different areas. The real backwoods places Andrea can't even understand them sometimes! Like an ESL person running into someone in the deep south. Mostly, areas that have more tourists speak easier to understand Spanish. They know to use easy sentences and basic words. Here's another video! HONDURAS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_XV7lV1z9Y
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Feb 24, 2014 15:22
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Becktastic posted:
I saw this link on facebook first. The preview image + description had me worried you were about to describe finding a dead body 
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Feb 24, 2014 16:01
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How did Andrea hurt her foot?
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Feb 24, 2014 18:34
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Becktastic posted:
Huh, that's a really interesting perspective... I would have never made the connection that "roughing it" is essentially a pursuit afforded by luxury... I feel very white and very entitled right now 
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Feb 24, 2014 18:50
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n8r posted:How did Andrea hurt her foot? OSU_Matthew posted:Huh, that's a really interesting perspective... I would have never made the connection that "roughing it" is essentially a pursuit afforded by luxury... I feel very white and very entitled right now Yeah. It's funny too that on Ometepe Island where we are now in Nicaragua, one of the main tourist activities is hiking the two volcanoes that form the island. Many people who have lived here their whole lives have never climbed them (Unless their job is a guide and then they climb them 3-5 times a week!). Again, if they get a day off from laboring in the sun, they'd rather watch TV and drink beer with their friends than climb a mountain. It can be very eye opening that while we complain about unemployement in the US and how hard we all work...everyone south of the border works a million times harder for so much less. If you can't find a job, you stand in the road all day offering -something- to people driving by. Only the severely disabled beg. Others stand in the sun all day trying to sell a steering wheel cover or fake gold chain to someone so they can eat. The most creative and grueling one I saw was two young girls. When the stop light turned red, the first girl bent over and put her hands on her knees. Her friend jumped up on her back and juggled 10 small oranges in a rapid fire circle until the light was about to change again, then she jumped down and they ran around getting small change from drivers. Things might be looking up for Nicaragua though. They are Socialist now and have free healthcare for everyone. Andrea got a splint for her foot and medication at no cost with about a 3 hour wait and no paperwork. They are due to begin construction on a canal which will cut through the country and funnel a lot of money here that would have gone to Panama. The people on the island protest its creation, because it will devastate Lake Nicaragua where they live...but it could boost Nicaragua to the be the wealthiest country in Central America. Time will tell, the locals all fear it will be the usual song and dance. Their rivers destroyed to be wide enough for boats, their lake polluted, the beautiful beaches on the island rendered unswimmable and unfit to water the livestock they bring down twice a day...and all the wealth in the hands of a few. Here's a funny video about silly stuff to cheer you up after that extremely depressing paragraph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCBIoK2QAdU
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Mar 7, 2014 14:40
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Oh and also, we got some rad custom postcards printed up with us and our bikes on them and we're about to do a mailing, so if you'd like to help keep this show on the road and get some mail from us too, stop by the support page here and donate: http://blog.motoventuring.com/?page_id=516 
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Mar 7, 2014 15:00
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Becktastic posted:
I think that guy wanted to pull out his piston if you know what I'm sayin.
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Mar 9, 2014 00:46
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