Her Travel-Bug Blues

Twice we have tried to meet up in Seattle when we were both coming or going...face to face our paths have yet to cross...but I absolutely love her adventurous soul and choice of 2-wheels! I would like you to meet Elisa Wirkala.

Born in Brazil, Elisa moved to Seattle as a child where her adventures started as a teen and grew through stories her father would tell. Born to an Argentinian mother and American father, she would travel to Latin America in her youth and the bug was planted!

Add that to tales her father told her of his overland trip from Washington state to Brazil, filled with adventures in hitchhiking, dangerous animals, the journey through the eyes of the people he would meet...and she knew wild adventures were in her future!

At 17 she was witness to a traumatizing motorcycle accident and the fact that years later in the Spring of 2011 a love affair with bikes began is mystifying and shows the power of adventure that motorcycles possess.

Elisa has been traveling around the world for years now, and she is funding it, planning it and living it. Wanting to ride around the world and experience more, she set out to pay down her debt and set herself up for continued travel. A beautiful way to sum up some of her lessons from the road:

'Relax! You’re not in Kansas anymore. Enjoy the ride (through fancy lobbies), the change of scenery, and your newfound respect for American bathrooms."

Elisa has a humorous take on travel and incorporates the lack of motorcycle knowledge (that she started with) and not letting that stop you. She is an explorer and if there is part of the world she wishes to sees – and a motorcycle cannot get there (for instance the journey she took across the ice caps) she will pause on two-wheels for a time.

She continues to expand her knowledge, her traveler's soul, and her joy with living life on her own terms and not just chasing the dream...but living it.

Having ridden the Americas, Australia, Europe and more – Elisa’s bug cannot be cured, I believe she is stuck with it for life, and be careful reading her inspirational blog... because there is no vaccine for this bug!

"...as the wheels of the Boeing 737 plane touched down in Perth—a plane likely made near my home in Seattle—I still didn’t even know what motorcycle I’d be riding. I had over $3,000 bucks burning a hole in my pocket from the sale of my KLR650, a bike I’d just ridden across North America."

Keep up on all the globetrotting on her blog - Travel Bug Blues.

Written by Danell Lynn, Guinness World Record Rider–www.danelllynn.com, @danelllynn

Photography copyrights & Images by Elisa Wirkala