The CB1100 Community Forum

You will agree, 2020 was a special year in many ways. How special it was I started to realize when I heard a podcast the other day on the "end of all travel", published in ... two-thousand-ninetien, yes, you heard right, in 2019 before most of us could spell cOroNa or cOVid.

This pod went like this. After discussing in a number of ways why and how all travel is the exact opposite of what the travel industry promises to its customers, how you can never fulfill your travel dreams, how it's self perpetuating, and how it more resembles traveling down memory lane than anything else, ... it made a last assault on the traveler's illusions about himself: he sees himself special, special in his preparation, special in his choices, special in the way he escapes the other tourists, and special in his way of dealing with the people who serve him when he gets to his destination. No he doesn't contribute to the destruction of places and peoples lifes. Just like the average driver who, when interviewed about his own skills compared to others, says "I am certainly a better driver than the average". Of course he isn't any different at all, The average tourist ain't any different either. Because he pays a monster industry (10% of world wide GDP).

Then it occurred to me how different riding a motorcycle is from all other forms of travel, regardless of whether you ride around home, or on long trips, alone or with your buddies. And that 2019 has shown this in ways like no other year has done before. If you don't know what I mean ... go back to Cormanus' chronicles.

I could go on like this for a while, but how about this ? You tell me your view, whether you agree or not, whether you can see it my way.

I try not to think about these things too deeply as it makes my brain hurt. I just travel if I need or want to and can afford to. Sometimes by car, plane, ferry or motorbike.

Interesting questions, j3gq. Could you elaborate a little more, please, on why the podcaster was predicting the end of travel?

I don't know, in the end all we have left is memory lane. We will typically end up lying somewhere trying hard to make those memory connections. You are naked. All your things have been given away, or is being given away. Then suddenly, there is blackness.

Memory can be quite precious, even if painful, it defines our life journey.

= = =

I will never forget the feeling and soul of the Honda CB1100. I feel it in my bones right now as I type this blurb. It gives me goose bumps.

Do not worry about the end of Travel , according to some people the World is coming to an end anyway but they keep changing the date when this will happen. In the mean time just ride your bike and keep traveling the way you like. DO NOT OVERTHINK LIFE !

That’s a profound one. Whether you agree or not the ‘human race’ is top of the food chain. we are also blessed and cursed in equal measure by imagination, emotions, desires and individually are all narcissistic (to some degree). Whatever I want is more important that whatever you want. Broadly speaking. Travel is just one of many many things we abuse. The COVID year has been awful, over 120,000 have died in the UK. So families have suffered, some folk feel they need and deserve a holiday, whatever negative impact that has on the environment is ‘meh’, someone else can worry about that. Multiply that by hundreds of thousands of air passengers and there you go. Human race at it again. Of course the Airline Industry wants money/profit so it feeds the need and sells dreams. Then we have factory farming, chemicals in our food, burning down rain forests, climate change, don’t get me started on litter and plastics!

Back to the forum. I don’t need a motorbike, I like it, I enjoy it but don’t need it. So I am being selfish if I’m totally honest with myself. However, I justify that (to myself) by saying I’m only here once, I worked for it. I don’t know what the answer is j3gq, really don’t. I see merit in the ‘don’t overthink it’ approach.

There’s an expression over here ‘be more dog’. I think it means just be in the moment. I try to be more dog, but it’s really hard to let go. Trouble is, if we all do that then where will we all end up? In 20 years time (if I’m very lucky that is) I will be dead anyway so WTF

Well,this is getting profound.

(03-01-2021, 05:29 AM)LouA_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Well,this is getting profound.

Well, maybe. In the end it is darkness. What matters is the space between here and that darkness.

Did take a weird twist lol

People are wandering souls. Wonder what's over that hill?

People have always travelled and will continue to do so.

(03-01-2021, 01:04 PM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Did take a weird twist lol

People are wandering souls. Wonder what's over that hill?

People have always travelled and will continue to do so.

Yeah, twisty indeed.

Just don't want to get people's hopes too high. Instead, maybe one should focus on why they are here, ... at the Forum! ... and why they ride.