A few years back, my partner dragged me to the International Motorcycle Show. At the time, I had no real interest in motorcycles, but I reluctantly agreed to attend. As we made the rounds, we came across a couple of red Honda PCX 150 cc scooters. “Those look like fun,” I thought to myself and then sat on one just for fun. Remember when I wrote that blog post entitled “What the Eyes See, The Heart Desires?” Well, that was definitely the case here. Once I sat on that damned scooter, it was all I could think about. Once at home, I began searching on the Web for anything scooter-related. The next thing I know, I was at my local motorcycle shop, putting a down payment on a shiny new scooter.

Oftentimes, we make a purchase on a whim — maybe buy expensive equipment for a new hobby that we never end up using. Well, that was not the case here. Once spring arrived, I went through a motorcycle safety class, obtained my motorcycle driver’s permit, and then I was on that scooter constantly. The more I rode it, the more I enjoyed it. The novelty of it never wore off.

After a couple of years, my partner and I talked about how fun it would be to go motorcycle touring. The thought of taking a trip on a motorcycle had never even crossed my mind. But before I knew it, we were once again at our local motorcycle dealer, putting a down payment on an even bigger scooter (300 cc). That summer, we rode our scooters from Wisconsin to South Dakota. It was quite an adventurous trip. I recall chatting with a local guy in South Dakota, and when I mentioned where I was from, he said, “You rode that moped all the way from Wisconsin? You’ve got gumption.” That gave me a good chuckle (and no, I didn’t tell him that it was a scooter and not a moped).

The following year, we took the bikes to New York, up into Canada, and visited Niagara Falls for the first time, which turned out to be another adventuresome trip and also tons of fun. Regretfully, COVID put a halt to our adventures for the past couple of summers, but I’m looking forward to continuing our adventures once things get back to normal.

But as for the scooter, well, I don’t regret buying one in the least. This hobby has turned into something far larger than I ever could have anticipated and has brought much more fun and adventure into my life. Time to get out my map and plan my next trip. But to where???