"The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

Chris Mcandless, the young vagabond whose years of angsty wanderings and ultimate demise are detailed in John Krakauer's Into the Wild, wrote those words to a fellow traveler he met while on the road. I've always loved the sentiment behind that quote, and I do think there is much to be said about Chris's free spirit and sense of adventure. In many ways, those words have always been in the back of mind on my previous bike tours across the US and Latin America

But then I remember that Mr. Mcandless also starved to death alone, sick and frostbitten in an abandoned bus in the backwoods of Alaska. It was that exact sentiment that killed him, and I am reminded that sometimes, it's okay to have a static horizon and to see the same sun in the morning. Especially if it means I'm not dead.

Today, though, is not one of those mornings. My horizon will be ever-changing over the next two weeks as I make my way from Bellingham, Washington north along Vancouver Island and up to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Or rather I should say our horizon, since I will be joined by none other than my father after we made a flurry of last-minute reservations for him to come along. As is the case with trips of this nature, there will likely be many joys to be had interspersed with moments of tribulation along the way, but that is exactly what we are signing ourselves up for. This trip is a small part of my larger goal of cycling the length of the Americas from Tuktoyaktuk, on the coast of the Canadian Arctic, to Ushuaia, Argentina, the Southernmost city in the world. You can find the links to my other trips here. 

With that all being said, let's roll.