"The start of a journey usually finds me full of excitement and anticipation, but also somewhat fearful about events that will unfold in the days and weeks ahead. However, much to my relief, Spanish, the language I spoke through most of South America, is the predominant language of Central America as well. I'm much more comfortable communicating in Spanish than I am in English (laughing). I don't really think that Central Americans are that much different from South Americans. Of course people in northern South America are quite different from those in the south. Basically, I expect Central America to be similar to Columbia and Venezuela. They can both be pretty dangerous, which I find a bit worrisome. Anyhow, I'll be cycling purposefully towards my destination in Alaska. From about March 24 or 25 I'll be crossing the Isthmus of Darien (Panama), the first really difficult section along the way. April should see me heading up through Central America, May through Mexico! June through the United States, and July through Canada. From August onwards I should be cycling through Alaska."
"Without question, the US and Canada will be a dramatic departure from Central America. Just as South America is distinctive, so too is North America. And like Japan, many of the countries of South America have long, glorious histories. Of course there have long been aboriginal peoples in North America, but they never formed large and powerful civilizations like the Incas or Aztecs. Although both North and South America experienced waves of immigration, in North America the Caucasians, Negroids, and people of Mongoloid stock, the Indians, didn't really intermarry that much. South America was originally inhabited by Mongoloid peoples, and long after by the Spanish, and then Negroids, who came as slaves. Over the centuries many parts of the continent became real racial melting pots. New and distinctive peoples were created, with their own distinctive and complex cultures. In North America, many of the immigrants were Protestants from northern Europe, and the results of their migration to the New World, in terms of race and culture, were strikingly different from those of their counterparts in South America. It's going to be very interesting for me to observe the peoples and patterns of life of North America after so many years of traveling in South America."
"Around Columbia I really started to get a sense that life was becoming more and more violent. Drivers were becoming increasingly reckless; and I experienced robbery at gunpoint. I expect that the threat of violence won't really fade away until I get to Canada. I encountered violence in other parts of South America as well, such as in south and central Ecuador when I was traveling with a Peruvian. We were robbed at gunpoint, but this was the first time it had ever happened to my Peruvian friend. In addition to the gunpoint robbery in Columbia I mentioned, we were also held up in Venezuela. With the number of guns floating around Central America and the U.S., I must admit that I'm a bit uneasy. Another concern I have is communicating in English. Once I get used to hearing and speaking English I'm sure things will be fine, but I'm not used to English yet, and I wonder how I'll make out."
"This year I plan to travel through Central America, Mexico, the U.S., Canada, and Alaska. I'm hoping to spend as much time as possible in Alaska. In South America I sort of knew what kind of people I would encounter in certain places. But North America is new ground for me, so I'm not really sure what to expect. I haven't really determined how I will proceed from Central America to Alaska. I may go through Central America stopping at places that really catch my imagination. Or I may go straight up to Alaska, and then come back to places that I found particularly interesting along the way. There is so much information out there about Central and North America-you don't really know what places are going to grab you. One person's views on a place can be quite different from another's. You never know for yourself until you get there. When I arrive somewhere, my approach is just to talk to the people for a while, walk around a bit, and decide for myself whether it'!
s a place I want to spend some time."
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