It's official!
This past week, I filed the company name "RIDE Adventures, LLC" with the State of Florida, and all official confirmations make it my first live company as of today. Here we go!
As mentioned in my last post, some serious thought and research has been put in to starting my own business. This is something that's been on my mind for many years actually, but I was always missing one very important part of the process: I needed a business idea that I believed in.
Back in August of 2008, I was in the middle of another long, long day of driving in the van with my tourists (the French students) and it really started to hit me: We, as human beings, are generally not meant to be confined. Simple thought, right? But it had me thinking about these adventure tours I was taking people on, and what were the high points and low points of every day we were experiencing together. It might be obvious that the best moments in an adventure tour are when we're actually outside, being physical, and moving around.....but ever since then, this basic thought has kept me thinking about how I could make adventure tours that end up as a non-stop string of those highlights. Without giving all the secrets away, let's just say I still have a plan for how to make such adventures without using motorcycles, and it'll be part of what RIDE Adventures, LLC offers in the near future.
Most recently though, and with the encouragement of my buddy Alfonso, I've realized that I could combine my relationships and knowledge of South America with my passion for motorcycle adventures to help more people enjoy the incredible adventures that are possible here in South America. The scenery, culture, and many other things about these countries together form the perfect place for a service offering that people will truly value. So that's what we're going to do: With the soon-to-be-launched company website http://www.rideadv.com/ and by exhibiting at motorcycle trade shows and rallies in the U.S. and Europe, I'll be marketing and selling motorcycle adventure tours & rentals in cooperation with my friends and contacts here in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
I'm already having many "flashes" into the future about how this whole thing could turn out, and that was part of my reasoning for choosing the name "RIDE Adventures." It might be a name that's a little on the "general" side of things, but there's plenty of reason behind that....and all will become evident over time.So for now, I'm here in Santiago waiting for my parents' arrival here for a vacation in October, and then my plan is to start the ride back to the U.S. on my trusty KTM. This little bit of down-time here in Santiago actually is quite needed, as I try to finalize some things with my retirement funds down here, as well as holding a few meetings with my contacts that will be a large part of making my company grow. (And what fun this is to think that as my company grows, I'll be helping my contacts and friends down here grow as well!)
If I leave Chile in late October, I"ll ride the 6-8 weeks it'll take to get to Columbia, and then ship my motorcycle to Miami instead of driving back through Central America and Mexico. I'm not completely set on that idea yet, as I'd love to visit some folks again that I met on the way down with Peter 2 years ago. But, I'll proabably be in a bit of a hurry to make it back in time for the motorcycle shows to begin in January.
Either way, see you soon U.S.A. !
