Kindness One: First leg done, now a transatlantic ship trip awaits

Traveling across America on Kindness One, my bright-yellow Chang Jiang motorcycle with the 750cc BMW engine, has not been easy.

But a journey around the world — I left Los Angeles on Aug. 10 on this yellow lightning bolt — isn’t going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination, especially because it’s sustained by the kindness of strangers. I’m carrying no money, have no place to stay, no food, no nothing, just the kindness of strangers.

And the unkindness of a 1978 motorcycle that hates mornings and sometimes won’t even get out of bed (that’s code for “will not start”). To add to its neuroses, it is also not very fond of cities; it dislikes the stopping and starting of those pesky traffic lights. Still, the moto is quite a workhorse and managed to deliver me to New York City.

As I finally arrived in Times Square (Kindness One was overheating again) I was struck by the magnitude of what we all had achieved. I say “all” because Kindness One and the people of America have done this first leg together.

The next stage of the adventure involves a container ship from New York to Europe. Before this trip started I needed to do a bit of planning and called many shipping companies asking them for free passage across the Atlantic for me and Kindness One. Responses were lukewarm, and my confidence waned.

But I eventually found a company willing to help. Their kindness and generosity has made it possible for me to continue this journey. I am leaving on an 11-day journey across the Atlantic. Europe awaits, and so does a lot of time for contemplation.

You may not see many posts from me in the coming days — no way to communicate — but I’ll be back in touch.

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