I was never much of a movie guy growing up, but to this day, I still remember the first time I watched Tom Cruise fly across the movie screen on a motorcycle in Mission Impossible 2. Even so, I never thought that could be me.

Setting aside the time, money, and pure effort it would take to achieve a dream like that, I could never wrap my head around what makes anything worth the level of danger I knew riding came with.

A big loss as I was finishing high school changed my perspective, however. The logical way to process that would probably have been to slow down and cherish the small moments in life. Fortunately, that time flipped a switch in me to start living life eventfully instead. Still, I wanted that eventful life to be a long one, so I spent countless nights researching, getting educated, and taking gear seriously. Various jobs I had worked on until that time also meant I didn't have to wait long after I made this commitment.

Later, I learned that my dad had also ridden a long time ago when he was my age. I didn't know until after he passed, but it still gave the journey to getting a motorcycle another layer of meaning to me; something to ground me and free me at the same time.