johnthomasdowns

Thursday, April 2, 2015

AussieAlex sent some pics of how he uses a universal ram mount and a waterproof case for his iPad Mini to use as a big-ass GPS to mount to the handlebars on his TTR-250:

What a cool setup. It’s a little hard to see in the picture so he sent a pic of the ram mount from Australian e-bay:

I checked amazon and they have it here in the U.S. as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Ram-Mount-Universal-Including-RAMHOLUN8BU/dp/B006OQQ27E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428037597&sr=8-1&keywords=ram+mount+universal+x-grip+ipad+mini

Google emailed me. They sent a link to a free analytics tool for this blog. It turns out that thousands of people read it. Who knew? I thought it was just a couple of relatives and friends at best. This week the readers are coming from the United States, Canada, a ton of Swiss, Poland, France, the U.K., a bunch of Aussies, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Panama, New Zealand and France.

I”d better step up my game and start posting more often. Who doesn’t need more free travel entertainment? I’m your man.

In case you don’t read the comments, I went over to read a commenter’s blog at:

http://2rods2wheels2up.com

He is currently on the Oaxacan coast heading south traveling two up on a GS with a couple fishing poles and a beautiful wife. Who doesn’t think that is a great idea? Go check it out.

Here is the better half of the expedition accompanying the GS in a truck to go get a new valve cover gasket. You meet the nicest people in Mexico when your bike starts spewing oil all over the place. Been there. The Sherpa had a leaky valve cover gasket for a few thousand miles. I looked at it as a feature to help waterproof my boots. Well okay, the waterproofing was only on my right boot.

If you aren’t familiar with a leatherman, it is an extremely useful tool to carry in your pocket:

Sort of a Swiss army knife for travelers. Folding out into needlenose pliers for removing cotter pins when removing wheels for a flat repair, screw drivers for quickly fixing things without having to get out your tools that are packed away. Knife, bottle opener, file, scissors. It comes in handy for a multitude of things and is great to have in your pocket where you can quickly get to it. You'll use it on a trip more than any other tool.

Alas, I lost my leatherman. And here is the problem. When I fly back to South America I don’t have checked luggage. I wear my riding pants and jacket, and have a small carry-on with my helmet and laptop. That’s it. No way I can get a leatherman through airport security.

The owner of leatherman had a similar problem. They wouldn't let him through security at Disneyland. No knives. Bummer. So he came up with a useful leatherman tool disguised as a wristband or watchband that he takes on trips:

It is approved for airport security but contains screwdrivers, allen wrenches and box wrenches within the band itself. Just take it off, fold it to the proper size tool and use the stiff band as a handle. What a great idea! Plus it will be harder to lose if it is actually on your wrist instead of in a pocket where it can fall out and become lost like mine did. It doesn't have the needle nose pliers and knife, but hey, it has box wrenches and screwdrivers which is what you need most of the time. And when you're too cheap to pay for checked luggage this is just the ticket. I can see that mat black one on my wrist. Not sure if it would work with my cheap Casio watch. But if not, I'll just wear it as a wristband on the other hand I guess.

There are better pictures and explanations of the Leatherman Tread bracelet over on the website I was reading:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/22/leatherman-tread-bracelet/

Your ADVpal,

John

When leaving home for unknown lands there is a point where familiar roads recede into the rear view mirror and new horizons present themselves. That is when the journey gets real. Similar to sailors losing sight of land as they set off into uncharted waters I suppose.

Many people ask me, “why do you travel?” You will face the same questions the next time you return to the familiar after a long journey. For me it is the excitement that comes with sailing into uncharted waters. I have always dreamed of far off lands. Perhaps it started early on in life. The nice thing about getting old is that it gives you an opportunity to revisit the books you read in your youth. When I was young, before the age of the internet, I used to read books about adventure and the high seas. I prefered first person biographical accounts of early sailors and explorers like “Two Years Before The Mast.”

I am re-reading that book. It is like a ride report. Recounting the details of day to day life on an 1836 Clipper ship voyage around South America and up to California. Only this time I have been to the places and can see the images in my mind of the lands he visited nearly two centuries ago. I can remember the smells and hear the birds and see the dolphins shimmering just beneath the surface of the water as they race the ship and leap for joy. I have seen it first hand when traveling by boat with my motorcycle across the Caribbean from Panama to Colombia.

There is no substitute for travel. Books and ride reports are necessarily abridged versions of the experience. To really get to know the world it is necessary to travel there and see it for yourself.

Money comes and goes. Travel memories live with you forever and can bring a smile to your face as an old man. That is why I encourage people to get out and explore the world. I get messages from around the world of people thanking me for encouraging them through my stories to get out and explore the world. It is my job, and I will continue to do it for as long as I am able.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Just a brief update. I am still waiting to go back to Texas. It’s been 5 months. The wheels of justice in Johnson County turn slowly as it turns out. They finally set a hearing date, but that was just to determine the facts of the case. Court will be sometime in the next month. But it will likely be a plea bargain that the lawyer will deal with. He faxed me a waiver so I didn’t have to go back to Texas for the preliminary hearing. Won’t head back until perhaps next month. It is all very vague. But as always, my life motto is "when life serves you lemons, make lemonade." In the meantime, I have been relaxing at my sister’s winter home in Apache Junction. It’s really nice here. This is my office this morning:

and yes those are binoculars for watching birds. Cactus wrens building a nest in the neighbors Saguaro cactus, Inca doves screwing on the back wall, that sort of thing. I am here alone until my sister flies in on Saturday. Very peaceful. Not a bad way to spend the winter as it turns out. I am plotting my return to South America. I signed up for Social Security and will get my first check in July. Look forward to continuing my travels whenever the powers that be allow it.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

.I went down to Mexico a couple months ago and used an offline mapping app called MapsWithMe.

Although I use an iPad mini, I see on their devices supported page that it is available for android phone and tablet models as well:

"maps with me download"

The nice thing about MapsWithMe is that you download an entire country or countries at home over your wifi connection and keep it on your smartphone or tablet's internal storage for offline access. You can use it all day every day anywhere in the world offline without having to have a GPS or cell connection.

While traveling, you can pinch to zoom in on the small roads less traveled. For use in Mexico it also has bancos (banks), mercados (grocery stores), gasolineras (gas stations) and points of interest as you cruise around out in the sticks and one can easily see how far away the next Pemex Mexican gas station or ATM is. On a motorcycle I keep my tablet in the top box and stop to look when I get lost or need to get the lay of the land. But I reckon you could jerry-rig some way to hold a smaller tablet or phablet on your handlebars in a waterproof ziplock or some such. In the truck, I keep it on the seat next to me for checking at a stoplight or when I pull over. A dash mount and cigarette lighter charger would probably make it more useful in a car. It was all I needed.

I find the bigger screen actually easier to use than a GPS since you swipe and tap rather than pushing little buttons to zoom and navigate around the screen. An added plus is that a smartphone or small tablet redraws the screen an order of magnitude faster than a GPS.

Another nice feature of MapsWithMe is that it allows you to download an entire country and then delete it when you get to the next country so you don't fill up your internal storage. You can re-download the same country later as many times as you like. The app is free for the iPad that I use. I imagine the same is true for the android play store. There is a Pro version that adds turn by turn navigation and other useful features I don't need. I bought the paid version just because I find it very useful and like to see developers make a living.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Thoughts, memories and dreams are like clouds that drift through the mind. If you don’t take snapshots of them by writing them down, they drift off past the horizon soon to be forgotten. Very few things live beyond one’s lifetime. The wonderful thing about the written word is that it has the power to transcend time and space.

Blogs are a valuable way to capture the clouds of thought that drift through one’s mind (although the term blog does sound a bit like a rude contraction of barf and flog). Unlike travel stories and pictures sent home in the form of letters and postcards from far off lands, it is now much easier to send these digital postcards for others to read at their leisure anywhere in the world.