Triangles Travel Across North, Central and South America

INTERVIEW WITH KEITH PORTER MICH09

With travel planning on many individuals’ minds, we thought there was no better opportunity to highlight a transcontinental motorcycle trip championed by Triangle brother, Keith Porter mich09. Keith is a two-time graduate from the University of Michigan, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and his master’s degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering. Director of Alumni Engagement & Stewardship, Carrie Loveless, had the opportunity to sit down with Keith to discuss this incredible journey, what spurred his interest, and the biggest takeaways from his experience spending 18 months traveling nearly 30,000 miles from Canada to Argentina and back all on his motorcycle.

Q: We can’t wait to jump into your trip experience, but first, can you tell us a little more about your Triangle experience as an active member and now, an alumnus?

A: While an active member, I was Marketing Chair, Academic Chair, and Social Chair. I thrived as a Social Chair because I wasn’t the one that typically went out and partied but instead, I enjoyed the process of event planning and gathering individuals for a good time! I would later have a similar role on our transcontinental journey, making the experience and skills gained through leadership experiences in Triangle come full circle. I also lived in the chapter house, which allowed me to be highly involved with the organization and deeply connected with my brothers throughout the years living together. Since graduating, I have remained connected to my chapter brothers and formed new relationships with

brothers since graduating. I’ve also been able to use the connection to Triangle to identify and hire undergraduate brothers for internships. Also, as a routine traveler, my brothers have always been more than willing to let me crash with them when I’m rolling through town from one place to another!

Q: You weren’t alone in this journey; can you tell us a little more about the other folks that joined you for the trip?

A: I was joined by three other guys who eagerly said yes to this wild idea, quit their jobs, and uprooted their lives! Chazz Malott mich09, Jake Wood mich09, and a non-Triangle, Tommy Rumpke. I was very close with Chazz and Jake from undergrad and had traveled extensively with both in the past. I met Tommy when I moved to Cincinnati and bought my first motorcycle from him; we formed a great relationship right off the bat. We each determined roles that we would play and skills we would contribute to the group throughout the trip. Chazz, a computer scientist by trade and now a professional theatre lighting designer, was our photographer. Jake, an electrical engineer by trade and now a real estate professional, was nicknamed “Lefty” during the trip due to many falls off his bike, always on his left side. Ironically enough, his role in the group was to be the medic. Tommy held the critical role as the mechanic of the group. I was conversational in Spanish, so I held the role of translator. I also often ended up as the group's caretaker, building on skills I learned back as an undergraduate student as Social Chair. Looking back, we weren't often great at executing our assigned roles, but we made it through in the end!

Q: A transcontinental trip is quite the lofty goal; has travel always been a love of yours, and where did you initially get the idea for this particular trip?

A: As a child, I had the opportunity to do a decent amount of domestic travel, and in high school, I was introduced to international travel, being able to visit a few countries before heading to college. Global exploration continued to be a part of my journey in college, so I'd say the eagerness to get out and see the world has always been part of my life. I never touched a motorcycle until I finished my master’s degree. Jake had been in an accident on his motorcycle and wanted to get back into it, so he and I took the class together to get motorcycle certified; a refresher for him and a first time for me. After my first back and forth in the parking lot of the class, I turned to Jake and said, “This is awesome; I’m going to go ride around the world.” He laughed in disbelief at the time. I was in a two-year fellowship program and felt that period would give me the ability to prep for a big trip following the program’s conclusion. I spent those two years planning the trip out, learning more about motorcycles, and of course, saving money. I initially thought I wanted to do the trip solo but realized that having a small group would be safer and potentially even more fun.

Q: Now for the fun part, tell us where you traveled and one of the most memorable stops along the way.

A: In October of 2016, we started near Lake Huron in Canada, and made our way down through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. After about a month-long pit stop in El Salvador, we made our way down through Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and into Panama where we put our bikes on a cargo ship to Santiago, Chile while we flew down to meet them there.

After a bit of a fiasco with the logistics company, we were reunited with our motorcycles and made our way through the beautiful expanse of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina. Once we reached the southern tip at Ushuaia, we turned around and zipped up north to Bolivia, over to Peru, and up to Ecuador around the end of June of 2017. Our group split in two in Ecuador and I continued on to Colombia with Tommy while Jake and Chazz stayed in Quito, Ecuador to begin their trip home. Tommy and I split ways in Colombia, and he sold his bike in Bogota, Colombia while I continued up to Cartagena. Over the next nine months, I slowly made my way up from Colombia

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back to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico, working as a freelance software developer along the way. Our original plans for a 6-month trip ultimately spanned nine months for the others and 18 months for myself, arriving back to the United States in April of 2018. A stop on the trip that holds an exceptional place for all of us was on a tiny little beach town in El Salvador called El Zonte. We accidentally ended up in the tiny town and got stuck for about a month with little to do while we waited for a spare part. El Zonte is where Tommy got engaged to his now-wife, Chazz’s now-wife flew down to meet us in the town and rode along on the back of his bike, and I first met my now-partner there as well. I think for all of us, this was an unexpected but remarkable stop, teaching us all that there is always something to be gained from a divergence in the plan and learning to be flexible with the situation you are handed.

Q: Looking back on the entire experience, what do you believe your most profound takeaway is?

A: People everywhere are intrinsically good. It’s very easy for us to be afraid to travel to unknown areas and worry about the worst reports we may see about other countries suggesting crime is rampant. But, at the end of the day, the people we met in each town and on the road couldn’t have been kinder. We were picked up off the road (literally) countless times, provided free places to crash, and were always met with gracious hospitality. It’s hard to appreciate all the good in the world until you travel and experience it first hand.

Q: For Triangle brothers reading this who may have a desire to travel for an extended period and immerse themselves into different cultures, what is your one piece of advice?

A: With the flexibility of remote work, I think many people are adventuring into a lifestyle as a digital nomad, spending their time working and experiencing the journey of travel and cultural immersion. The main thing to keep in mind when juggling both of these things is to not have a very fast pace for movement while working. You want to have your movement planned with safe buffer times and then know that you can be in a place and be productive for a set period. For me, that meant that I spent 2-4 week increments in places where I could work and enjoy my free time. You have to plan your travel between places strategically around work projects. Another key takeaway was the mode of transportation. This will be a critical factor in your travel planning. Traveling by your own mechanism (bike, car, motorcycle) is significantly more complicated than the backpacking route. There are public transportation options such as vans, shuttles, trains, etc., to get you anywhere you need without having to deal with a vehicle’s maintenance and the difficulty of border crossings in a personal vehicle.

Q: As we wrap up our time together, what's next for you?

A: Either a trip across Africa, on a smaller motorcycle than this previous trip or a tuk-tuk, also known as an auto-rickshaw, (which is a popular mode of transportation) across Southeast Asia. No specific plans are in the works for the trip just yet, but these are definitely on the top of the list for my next great adventure!

Send us your travel stories. We’d love to hear from you. Send to Carrie Loveless at cloveless@triangle.org