South America 2026 

Here we come! It's time to get back to in the saddle.   After too many years of research and planning I'm finally heading south to ride through South America from the top to the bottom and back.  I've been researching for years and have been on various forums, WhatsApp groups and reading as much as I can to find fun and interesting places to see and photograph.  

So who is this masked man.......  Hi, I'm Brian or as my India trip friends call me The Professor. 

I recently retired a few years ago and have ridden motorcycles since high school.  So, a LONG TIME.  I am a street rider and my current bike is a 1999 BMW R1100RT with over 160,000 miles on it.  I'm a member of the IronButt Association and have a number of rides under my belt.  I like to ride far and fast so this trip will be a new kind of riding for me (Far and SLOW).  Last year I attended the BMW Performance Off Road course in Greenville, SC and learned a lot.  I also took a class from Dirt Bike Safety Training in Marysville, WA near where I live in Everett, Washington USA.

  

In addition to riding motorcycles, I am a certified aircraft mechanic, have my Sport pilots license and fly a Six Chuter Powered Parachute, am a handyman that can fix about anything in addition to an Engineer, photographer, airbrush artist and jokester.

So......  What's the plan?  Do I even have a plan?  Well, kinda.  I'm flying to Medellin, Colombia from Seattle Washington and take a couple weeks of intensive Spanish to brush up on high school Spanish.  I hope to get at least good enough to talk my way out of a ticket.  Hahaha Or at least order some food, find a place to stay, and get across the borders of the countries I visit.  As the trip continues, I hope to increase my speaking and understanding of the language.  I won't be fluent but will be very happy to be able to at least have a little conversation with the locals.

While in Medellin, I'll look for a small bike, purchase it and prepare to hit the road after my couple weeks are up.  I'll be heading south through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile to Ushuaia, the southernmost point you can drive in South America.  Then I'll head back north and over into Chile where I'll travel to Villa O'Higgins in the Carretera Austral  and then head back up to the Atacama Desert and beyond.

Of course, in between all these places are many things to see and do so follow along and see where I go and what I do.