And then, a few weeks ago, Yum and I watched Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s ‘Long Way Round’ documentary/adventure. And this changed the way I looked at life.

Ewan and Charley are best mates that love to ride motorcycles. They took small trips at first around the UK. And then they started to dream–big. A trip across Europe became a trip across Europe and Asia, and finally a trip from the UK to New York… the long way round, a trip around the world. And except for a short plane ride from northeast Russia to Alaska, they made the entire trip over land on two wheels.

20,000 miles in almost 4 months.

The friendship between Charley and Ewan is quite deep. As you watch them interact over the course of their adventure you can’t help but admire them–and maybe become a bit jealous. Their fraternal bond is magical. Anyone would be very lucky to have what they have.

A camera crew and a support team followed them in 4×4 trucks, usually a day behind. One swiss cameraman rode his own motorbike with Charley and Ewan to record and preserve the experience. So for the most part the guys were on their own, traveling all day long by motorcycle and camping in their tents at night in some of the most serene locations on Earth.

Mongolia was my favorite part of the trip, and for the boys it was the toughest. They almost gave up. But they made it all the way across the country, all the way across Europe Asia North America, and eventually to New York. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you decide to watch it–which you most certainly should.

‘Long Way Round’ is the greatest road trip of our time, and certainly one of the greatest adventures of all time.

Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor with their trusty BMWs

But who are these people, you ask? I’m glad you asked! Let’s go down my list, shall we?

Austin was a punk-ass, teenage kid when I met him. In fact, I don’t think I liked him much at all at first. But hey, he was 15 years old and I was 25. He probably didn’t like me, either. But now Austin is a man (baby, yeah!). He lives in SoCal, born and raised.

Bill is a damn coastie. He joined the Coast Guard a few years back. After his tour of duty in Kodiak Island, Alaska he up and moved on to Hawaii. He’s a sailor of the seven seas. A young man with a dream. And that dream? To grow mustaches and wear funny hats. And drink in Irish pubs.

Corey is the coolest motherfucker you’ll ever meet. He’s also the mayor of Belmont Shore. OK, not really. But he is a shoe-shufflin’, hustlin’, movin’ and groovin’ Lord of the Dance. He’s been a video game tester, a video game designer/developer, a fiber-optic guru, and PC god.

Corey has a gal, this gal named Gina. Put the two of them together and they ooze crazysexycool.

Dave is one of my oldest and bestest friends. We met in my first class on the first day of my first day of high school. And he hasn’t been able to shake me since. Although he did recently move to Hawaii. I miss him terribly, but am soooo happy that my friend has found peace in his paradise.

Dawna is a friend from high school that doesn’t update her blog any more!

Lainey is the coolest chick on Earth. We met through mutual friends up in good ol’ Chico. She’s a techie and a dreamer and a smart gal. She moved to Australia a few years ago and married a great guy, and now they are Two Birds and have adventures Down Under.

Mark (Midnight) doesn’t update his blog any more, either! We met at PlanetQuake’s Beatdowns. Throughout the years we’ve always managed to meet up together in what ever online game we happen to be playing at the moment. Last I checked he still lives in SoCal and still works for Cisco.

Mark (Smitty) is the Godfather of Snow Crash. If he weren’t for Mark and his generosity, linux prowess, and all-around tech god-ness I wouldn’t have half the friends and/or experiences that I have today. Mark lives in SLO still (I think).

Owen = meme. Loves baseball and cats and Clutch. He drinks Jack and Coke and listens to 311. At least, he used to anyway. Bay Area born and raised, but relocated to SoCal. Temporarily. He’ll be back, oh yes he will.

Phil. What can be said about Phil? He’s part Smade. He loves monkeys. He drives an hour and half, sometimes more, to get to work each day in stop and go traffic. He is a music snob but I mean that in a good way. Phil is my favorite victim. I love this guy.

Sierra lives in Chico and I’m jealous. She rarely updates her blog.

Stef is my surf cuz. She had a child last year and stopped blogging.

Vanessa is a SoCal girl that met Tet-motherfucking-suo and moved to Arizona, because she loves him *that* much.

Vito is an old PlanetQuake Beatdown veteran as well. He has my dream job, senior UNIX systems administrator/analyst. Pak!

So that’s all I got. If you have a blog and you’re not listed here, let me know and I’ll give ya a plug!