Traveling Light

A Couple of Mexican Chefs Jump on a Motorbike  to Experience an Epic Adventure.

- Daniel Fuentes and Pamela Ponce de Leon

After two months of riding our native Mexico, the time had come. Today we would venture north of the border. It was a warm morning in San Felipe, Baja California Norte, and there were 200 kilometers between us and Arizona. We would ride the last bit of Highway 5 along the Sea of Cortez and through Sonora before crossing into Yuma. Our expectations for Arizona were low, but we hoped for the best.

We had been living along the turquoise waters of the Caribbean on the Mayan Riviera for five years. Then one day we left the key to our seaside Chefs apartment on the kitchen counter and closed the door behind us, leaving successful careers as professional chefs to jump on a motorcycle and ride the world. It was time to explore, meet new people, find new places, and live new experiences. Motorcycle travel would bring us closer to people and to nature; we’d be subject to rain, heat and cold, and often dependent on the kindness of others.

We left Puerto Aventuras in early 2015, riding two-up on our 2007 BMW F650GS Dakar throughout Mexico, from Quintana Roo to Sinaloa, over the Sea of Cortez on a ferry to Baja California Sur, then to Baja California Norte. We learned that Mexico is underrated by Mexicans, and is much bigger than we thought.

We were heading for Alaska, expecting to return to Mexico in six months, and Arizona was not in our plans. The name itself conjured up the image of a flat, hot desert. It was the middle of May, and the region was beginning to heat up, especially in the southern desert. But then we heard about Overland Expo West (OverlandExpo.com) in Flagstaff and it sounded too interesting to miss.