This is a trip I have planned for a long time and am finally (hopefully) going to be taking. To prepare I bought a 2001 Kawasaki KLR 650, a Dual-Sport bike I had had my eye on for years. I was going to buy a used one but these things are relatively cheap and I felt that the small amount of money I would save was nothing in comparison to the cost of a breakdown caused by abuse of a previous owner.
I started taking Spanish lessons under a private tutor. I was very good at my pronunciations but my retention was terrible. I have a bad memory for languages anyway and I found I had almost no time to study. I had to keep rescheduling the classes and would go to each class as if I were a new student. I gave up.
I received permission to take this time off long before September 11th. After that, it was questionable as to whether I was even going to be allowed to go. I am required to use up my vacation time before the end of the year and had been saving it up for this purpose. Even though this is not the best time to be leaving work, I have to or I will lose my vacation time altogether.
I was inoculated against Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Rabies. I was given Cipro to treat severe diarrhea and Chloroquine Phosphate to protect against Malaria. A bonus of Cipro is that it is used to treat Anthrax, about which this country has been having terrorist threats. I am also taking Imodium AD as a first line of defense against "Tourista". I have no other real health concerns.
I am not much into planning in detail. I have always tried to gather as much information as I can so that I can cart it around the country without looking at it. This trip is no different. I have a ton of info, only some of which I have looked at and all of which I have forgotten. I am bringing a bunch of it so that my saddle bags will not be too light. The only info that I think I will actually use will be the "Lonely Planet Guide" and a AAA travel book. The rest is just so much ballast.
My current plan, such as it is, is to leave work on October 31st and go to my Dad's house in Connecticut. From there I will ride towards Texas on November 1st. I have ridden many 1,000+ miles days but never on a little bike like this. I am not sure how many miles I can make in a day. If I get to Texas quick enough I will cross the border on Nov. 3rd. if not I will probably wait until Nov. 5th, as I am told that crossing into mainland Mexico can be tough on a Sunday.
There was not a lot to prepare. I added the following items