I look back on 2024, and try to decide which signs to follow in 2025.
Roughly one year ago I moved this blog to its current location and wrote about where I wanted to go, literally and figuratively, in 2024.
I had three general goals: motorcycling, writing, and photography. Lets review and see how I did!
1. Motorcycling: My 2014 Suzuki V-Strom 650 started last year with 21,300 miles and new Shinko 705 tires. She currently sit at 27,300 miles, so I averaged 500 miles per month during 2024. I did a lot of non-motorcycle travel in 2024, so I’m actually quite happy with how much riding I got in when I was in Texas. However, I did achieve one of my major motorcycling goals that I had been working towards for a few years; a second bike!
I had wanted a second bike in the garage for a long time. The dream and goal was that my visiting moto friends could come to Texas, pick out some gear from my gear wardrobe, hop on my second bike that is waiting and ready to go, and ride off into the sunset. Riding with friends has that, je ne sais quoi, that I just can’t put my finger on. For me it’s the best. For whatever reason this is my kind of generosity. Renting a bike, renting gear that fits, and trying to find the best roads in an unfamiliar area can sometimes be a pain. If I can make those things easier for my friends, it’s mission accomplished.
I picked up the XSR-900 in the fall of 2024, and immediately had visits from my buds M and J. Although we didn’t get 100% perfect warm sunny Texas Hill Country weather, the weather did cooperate enough to get the idea across of what riding in the Hill Country is all about.
The new bike passed M and J’s strict scrutiny with flying colors. Cruise control! Loads of torque! Comfortable (ish)! When I would ask both if they wanted to trade and try the V-Strom for a bit, it was always “…oh no thanks, I will keeping sampling this absolute dish thank you.”
I’ve been collecting both affordable new and used gear of all sizes to fill out my wardrobe. I look forward to showing more friends around in 2025, and making it as easy as possible to arrive and ride.
2. Writing: I had imagined writing at least monthly posts here, but life happens and I’m still learning my stride when it comes to writing. Waking up and feeling compelled to ride, photograph, and write a post about it out of guilt was something I pondered. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy any of those things, it’s just that sometimes I struggled to motivate myself properly. Sometimes I would struggle to get started, and I’d have to remind myself that I never struggle to keep going once I committed. Similar to working out, sometimes the hardest part is just putting your clothes on.
It does help to ride with a little more purpose regarding writing. Deliberately having an idea for a post would guide the questions of ‘Where do I want to ride?’, ‘What do I want to photograph?’, and ‘What story do I really want to tell here?’. Even if I hadn’t made a riding post for SIX MONTHS, I did spend that time riding and brainstorming these ideas. I filled up my brain with a lot of concepts and stories I want to tell about the Hill Country, riding in general, and traveling beyond. 2025 is a blank canvas, and I’m going to Jackson Pollock myself all over it.
3. Photography: On this front, mission accomplished. Belatedly as usual, I wrote about my experiences doing an online photography semester at Southern New Hampshire University. Structured practice paid dividends, and the biggest take away I had was to progress as a photographer, you have to practice! Wow! What a stunning concept, I couldn’t believe it /s.
I sold all of my full frame Canon gear and switched over to micro four thirds Olympus, which is another post I need to write all in itself. Basically I wanted more durability, weather sealing, and to use gear worth less. When I was off-roading in Big Bend last year, and had a nearly $2,000 camera bouncing around in my tank bag, I questioned my artistic choices. I didn’t feel like I was taking images that needed the quality that gear would provide, and I was way more worried about damaging the gear and not being able to take any images at all! That defeats the purpose!
Now I have a used 9 year old Olympus EM-1 mii off Ebay. If I destroy it, I’ll just grab another for a few hundred bucks. The lenses are cheap. The weight is less. The gear is smaller. I get a larger zoom range for a given lens usually. These are all perks for motorcycle travel, hence the switch. I look forward to shooting in 2025 with more purpose, and to keep developing my style to tell the stories I’ve been brainstorming. Sometimes it all feels like a lot of work, but as I opened with, it’s about the journey, not the destination.
I opened 2024 with a quote from Neil Gaiman:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”
I made plenty of mistakes last year, and they were so worth it. Creating, making, is an endeavor always worth pursuing. Experience is a harsh teacher, with the test first and the lesson after. I’ll lead into the next year of adventures keeping the following in mind:
“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.” — Anonymous
