Ride Our World

When I started this trip I was running… running from mediocrity, running from complacency, but most of all running from myself and what I was sure to become. To put it simply, I was scared that the life I was leading was ordinary. I sacrificed too much as a child in order to ensure that my future was all but “ordinary.” I mean I went to the “right” schools; I got the “right” job; I even fell in love with the “right” girl. BUT there I was staring mediocrity in the face…so I RAN!

I guess the question you are probably asking yourself is, “What exactly do you think is ordinary?” At that time, I could only think of one thing….a white picket fence. This particular fence is actually the perfect metaphor for the life I was running from. Think about exactly what the “White Pickett Fence” symbolizes. First, you have the obvious middle-class suburban life, with a family, kids, house, and even a garden. Then, you have the underlying theme which is too profound to miss; the fence is a symbol of complacency, congruency, and namely, conformity. The idea that my life was headed down the road to my own white picket fence scared the Hell out of me! So, I found a solution and fast….TRAVELING!

I read somewhere that to live a life without traveling is like picking up an enthralling novel, reading only one page and stopping. If that were true, then my traveling sabbatical would be sure to answer all the questions I had. The QUEST began. During my numerous pitches to potential Ride Our World sponsors, I was always asked,”What is the trip really about?” My scripted answer was the same. “This trip is about self-exploration and self-definition.” My journey was not only across the globe, but it was also an inward search in hope of answering that age old question, “Who am I?” The trip was to be a DEFINING moment in the life of Cole Patterson.

As the global assault comes to an end, I must admit that I am no closer to answering that question today than I was when I left. Truth be told, I am more confused now than ever. What initially started as a quest inward has erupted into an a outward explosion of the ideals I was running from. My journey has SHOWN me that mediocrity and complacency are ALL in the eye of the beholder. The only person that can tell YOU your life is ordinary is yourself. You can have everything in the world and not be satisfied. After all, its not about getting what you want its ALL about wanting what you already have.

Now that I think about it, its far too easy just to say that an ordinary life is in the eye of the beholder. Truthfully, we must break from the clutches of what WE think society dictates as mediocre, normal, and middle-class. Is it not WE, as members of society, who CAN dictate our own ideologies? Is it not OUR own choice to NOT conform but REFORM an institution of thought previously instilled inside each of us? I firmly believe it is our duty to do so.

So as I sit here in Madrid enroute to our final destination–Paris, I find myself RUNNING once again. However, this time, I am running in a different direction. I realize exactly what it is I have at home. I am running towards my extraordinary friends, towards my extraordinary family, but REALLY I am running TOWARDS my EXTRA-ordinary life!

The Easy Life

The more I travel the more I see how much of a sham the American Dream CAN really be. This idea that we can be anything if we aspire to it has been embedded in our psyche since birth. However, we are not told that during the pursuit of our dreams we will surely miss out on the simpler things in life.

I read a story that I will paraphrase for you that is quite germane to this topic. It goes as such:

An American businessman was vacationing on a beach somewhere in Mexico when he came across a fisherman. He started chatting up the fisherman about life and such when the businessman asked, “What does your normal day look like?” The fisherman responded, “I wake up early and head out to fish for a couple of hours. I catch enough fish in 3 hours to feed my entire family, and I often even have enough to give some to my friends. After fishing, I play with my grandkids, take a nap, make love to my wife, read, and sometimes drink with my friends. Its a pretty good life.”

The businessman responds, “Sounds great but you are doing it all wrong. If you catch enough fish in 3 hours to feed your family and friends, then if you worked 8 hours you would have more than enough fish to sell and make a profit. After you sell enough, you can one day buy a fleet of boats to work for you. Once you get the fleet of boats, you will probably need move to Mexico City so that you can sell to more customers. If you sell enough in Mexico City, then you will probably need to take your company public so that you can make some REAL money. In doing so, you will need to move to New York City to keep a good eye on this multi-billion dollar business you just built.”

Confused, the fisherman asked, “That sounds fantastic, but once I do all that, then what do I do?” The businessman replied avidly, “You simply retire and play with your grandkids, take a nap, make love to your wife, read, and sometimes even go drink with your friends.”

Life is truly this easy….we just need to see it!

What I’d give to be twenty again. Not only was life much easier–for I was in college–, but I was also in the best shape of my life. My body could take the rigorous beating of college football and all that it entails as well as the constant punishment I did to my liver in New York City. Oh and the kicker is that the next morning I could wake up and run a couple miles to sweat it all off. Ahh to be young again. Now, my body simply doesn’t recover as fast. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem except that my mind REFUSES to believe that I physically cannot do these things any longer.

If I were still in my early twenties, I would laugh at the mere thought that a 3-month snowboarding trip around the world would wear me down. After all, I WAS INVINCIBLE! It wasn’t until Austria (13 countries into my 17 country trip) that I really felt my body wearing thin. It all started when I woke up that morning and scurried over to the window throwing open the blinds to stare at the snowcapped Alps. The potential for that day was endless.

As I got my gear together and began the 30 minute trek to the mountain, my body uttered the words I thought I would never hear, “Hey moron! I’m BEAT! You haven’t fed me properly; you haven’t rested me well enough; Now, I will NOT perform.” Of course, I heard everything that was told to me, but I didn’t listen. After all, its mind of matter…ISNT IT? Haha Boy was I wrong!

Several hours later I found myself ripping down the Alpine Mountain with powdered snow under my feet and the warm sun on my face when disaster struck. I was headed for some trees and QUICKLY. Normally, this would not set off any internal alarms, but on that day mutiny struck within my body. I leaned hard into the turn… NOTHING! I tried to jump into a harder turn…NOTHING! My brain’s commands fell on deaf ears. Whelp! The last resort was upon me; slam on the breaks and hope for the best. Well, I did and fortunately my back was there to break my fall. Trees aren’t nearly as forgiving as I remembered. Ugh! NOT GOOD!

My day seemed to go downhill after that as I’m sure you can imagine. Needless to say, the following day both my back and ego were quite bruised. I guess it was finally time for that much needed day of rest. Oh never mind, I forgot it dumped snow all night that night. Sorry body, maybe tomorrow. A couple of Aspirin should do the trick..right?

At what point do you just give up? “Giving up” has gotten such a bad rap over the years. We’ve all heard that if you give up you concede defeat or even worse you quit. BUT let’s be honest, isn’t there a time to fold a losing hand? I guess the question is, “When is walking away acceptable?”

In my life, I have always been taught to NEVER give up; however, I wish I was taught the contrary. Life would be so much easier if we were taught when the right time to push away from the table really was. Take for example my last relationship, if I knew then what I know now I would have walked away long before it was forced upon me. Now don’t get me wrong, this does NOT mean I have regrets. This does mean that the relationship had run its course long before either of us wanted to accept it. If we could have just walked away before it tanked, then we could have saved the heartache I am sure we’ve all been through.

Of course we can talk about love lost or even poor business investments, but what about a fallen country? I thought that my travels throughout Budapest would have been filled with beautiful visage and majestic architecture. Contrarily, I saw a beaten and complacent country. What was once a marvel of modern civilization is now struggling for any individuality. Again, at what point did you just give up? I know they lost their Arch Duke which helped set off WWI, but that isn’t enough to just quit building and quit trying. We humans are truly resilient creatures.

WOW! Now that I think about it, the Trolley Car Police didn’t even chase us when we ran for not having a ticket. Come on guys, we had bags and everything. You didn’t even make an attempt to follow us. THERE IS NO NEED TO EVER GIVE UP. That actually reminds me of a famous quote by Winston Churchill. England was on the brink of destruction when he walked out on stage and said….oh I forget the line….Whatever, I QUIT!

Billionaire or Bum? The answer probably lies somewhere in between. It’s said that Kings often wanted to be neither rich nor poor, rather to have enough to want but not too much to want more. The truth is that life is really this EASY if we just open our eyes and accept what we have. My trip to Russia really solidified this for me.

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Big Ball’n” which of course refers to someone who has more than enough money–to put it modestly. Well, let me say that Lady Luck was in our presence the day we landed in Russia for she introduced us to two of the nicest and modest men I have ever met. The catch here is that these men ran in the circles of Billions of dollars. Think of that! One thousand Million! As luck would have it, we got to see what it was like to live and act like a Billionaire.

During this unbelievable day, we were able to see and play with a seemingly endless amount of toys. I’m talking about things like gold pistols, one of a kind Salvador Dali pieces, half a million dollar watches, and even Bentleys–that’s right PLURAL! Oh and of course, what collection isn’t complete without the Rolls Royce Phantom? Our new Russian counterparts really know how to live.

But it wasn’t the cars or the money that impressed me most. It was actually something that the youngest billionaire–seasonably aged at 23 years–said that moved me. He said, “Look around! You see a lot of things you would like to have. However, when I look at you, I see a lot of what I WISH I had. You know what it is? TIME. I wish I had time to take a three month trip around the world to see everything I wanted to see and to do everything I wanted to do. Since I graduated college, I have been working non-stop and I don’t really have the luxury of time. I envy that about you guys. Enjoy it and make it worth while.”

That statement really made me question if the age old adage is really true, “Is the grass ALWAYS greener on the other-side?” I wouldn’t mind pondering that from the inside of my own personal Rolls!

“Hey, let’s make a quick run down the mountain to get our legs warm before we hike that ridge and bomb that EPIC Line.” Mere minutes later, the clouds roll in, the winds pick up, and the mountain closes.

“I know it’s a blue bird day and the powder is fresh, but I’m so tired from traveling the past 36 hours. Let’s just do some laundry and catch up on the video podcasts. We’ll ride tomorrow!” The next three days it rained!

We all go through life thinking about the opportunities that passed us or we passed up never taking responsibility for our actions. Moreover, we always BLAME it on something like timing or misfortune. I will be the first to say that my missed opportunities are MY FAULT! If there is one thing that traveling around the world has taught me it is this, “If an opportunity presents itself…JUMP ON IT NOW!”

As this trip progresses, I am thinking about all the things that we missed out on doing. The worst part of it is that the missed opportunities would have not only provided the absolute BEST footage, but also the absolute BEST life experiences. I guess life is funny that way. It shows you exactly what could have been if you weren’t such a wuss. Try to imagine a life where we simply had the courage to say “Yes” to all the great opportunities. That’s the life I want to lead!

For the remainder of this voyage, my goal is to test myself and my courage. I’m going to work my hardest to not miss out on anything else. Whelp, some one just asked me to come and eat some authentic Polish food with them. The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. In this case, probably to the bathroom.

Anyone who has ever made a snowboarding trip or any outdoor based journey for that matter knows about down days. These are the days where the weather simply doesn’t cooperate. To say days like this are boring would be a huge understatement. For me, it’s like I am back at the Academy listening to Professor Donovan lecture about the History of Seapower. I would much rather put an electric drill in my ear than be put through that once again. Unfortunately, there is no way to control the weather thus making down days inevitable. The question is what do you do to occupy your time?

Most often, I find myself struggling to keep ALL my free time occupied. It is amazing how many things you can do in only ONE HOUR. Seriously, I can read, email, nap, eat, write, nap some more, read some more, eat some more…ugh the list goes on! The crazy thing is that time drags and drags, but when I’m on the mountain, the day seems to fly by–I guess that’s Einstein’s theory of Relativity at work. But what can we do to make time go by faster?

I guess now that I think about it, I lose myself in my thoughts for most of these days. You know, contemplating the next move in the Chess game of life. Looking several moves ahead is a lot harder than one would think; especially because once I’m inside my head there is no turning back. I can spend hours staring out window watching the rain fall….lost. Mostly, analyzing and over analyzing everything that could or should happen. All the while playing out scenarios for each of these hypothetical situations. But really what am I doing?

HA! Who am I kidding? I’m just praying for SNOW!

Nothing is ever as bad as it seems and if it is then the light is definitely right around the corner. All too often on this trip, we seem to find ourselves in crummy situations. The truth of the matter is that life is cyclical. There are always ups and downs, and as long as you know where you are then nothing can really surprise you. At least that is what I am realizing as the trip progresses. Just when I think things can’t get any worse something happens and totally revitalizes the trip.

Take for example the first couple of weeks of our adventure. Of course there was the computer fiasco which was followed by the monkey debacle, but then, it dumped snow and we rode in Japan like champs. We got some killer footage and met some great friends before heading to China. This upswing continued well into the week we spent in India. That is before disaster struck once again at the end of our Indian portion of the trip.

We got slammed with the largest snow storm in India’s most recent history. I’m talking about meters of snow overnight. Not only did the airport close down stranding us in India, but the roads to and from Gulmarg were one lane and also closed. What seemed too good to be true–being stranded in India with endless amounts of fresh powder–actually turned out to be a curse. First, ski-patrol rendered the mountain too dangerous to open saying that it was just a matter of time before they got hit with a huge avalanche. (Later, we found out the mountain did indeed slide killing a number of Kasmiri Soldiers.) After they closed the mountain for a couple of days, the airport reopened and we made the trek back down the mountain to the airport. A trip that should taken only one and a half hours ended up taking us closer to six. Of course, we missed our flights once again. Just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it DID.

By the time we got to Sochi, Russia–days later, we were amped and ready to hit the mountain and the heli-boarding we had planned. The only problem was that the there was NO SNOW! It was right at about 50 degrees and raining. Having had some logistical errors early in the trip, we thought it prudent to book some non-refundable hotels and flights for our entire Russian stay. Yeah so we couldn’t even cut out the Russian portion of the trip! Things were definitely in the trough of life when two gentlemen walked into our lives forever changing us.

Vladimir and Kostia, two Russian brothers and successful businessmen, decided to take us under their wings and show us some Russian hospitality. After a few shots of…yep you guessed it Vodka, Vladimir invited us to join them at the bania, or spa as we know it, before accompanying them to a five course dinner. Obviously, we agreed as we were soaking wet, grumpy, bummed, and starved. What happens next forever solidified my outlook on the Sign Curve of Life.

The bania was and still is the best spa experience of my life. Now, it must be said that I have spent some time in Las Vegas and the numerous spas scattered about Sin City. This authentic bania trumps them all. It’s like comparing Major League Baseball to Wiffle Ball. I know that sounds like a bold statement but I assure it is validated. Let me explain. The treatment here in Russia consisted of a man dressed like Link from The Legend of Zelda overwhelming all of your four senses before pampering your fifth with a branch full of leaves. It started by you disrobing completely before putting on a traditional tunic and hat. After you’re dressed, a tour of the modest facilities ensued.

The facilities consisted of a hot and cold tub fed from natural springs, a dry sauna, and a smoked sauna which unfortunately wasn’t prepared at the time. So the protocol was to sit in the sauna before making the much needed plunge into the outdoor cold pool. Then, you head back to the sauna to warm up. Once you are warm, you rinse off in another tub and settle in for some Russian tea. While you are enjoying tea, our therapists prepped for the next phase of treatment consisting of a scrub down with numerous leaf-covered branches. It must be noted that these branches are not only treated with aroma-therapy fragrances, but also drenched in natural cold water so as to cool your body as this treatment took place inside the sauna. Once you think you can not take anymore, you make the jump back into the cold pool cooling you to the core. The beauty of it all is that you get to do this until YOU SAY IT’S OVER! We only did a few cycles as we were starved and ready for the dinner portion of the venture.

In certain Muslim communities, it is said that you become family after sharing three cups of tea. I am a firm believer that if you share three bottles of vodka with two Russian Businessmen then you truly become brothers. Our dining experience with Vladimir and Kostia was incredible. We ate and ate and ate for hours while toasting to everything from friendship to my newborn nephew Joshua. The six hours we spent with our new brothers speaks volumes on Russian people as a whole. Once you get passed the stoic persona, they are the friendliest people I have ever met. Vladimir and Kostia changed the course of our downward-spiraling trip and for that I am forever thankful.

As exciting as it is to travel the world, there is no place like Western Civilization. China and India house so many beautiful and cultural experiences that one can never see or breathe without venturing out there. However, these countries also are home to cold showers, power outages, sketchy internet, food parasites, and…did I mention cold showers! It turns out that my sheltered life has grown accustomed to some of the world’s finest luxuries. Let’s be honest for one second; there is nothing better than waking up in a warm house where you can turn on your 50″ satellite TV, while drawing a hot bath and reading emails as your beef sausage is cooking on the electric stove. Ahhh the good life we take for granted!

While standing in the Delhi airport getting ready to board the plane bound for civilization, we couldn’t help but stand there wondering which of all the things we missed most. It was unanimously decided that we were all craved what every man needs when he has been out of touch for so long…a big juicy hamburger. IT WAS DECIDED! The only problem was our flight landed in London at 735 in the morning and lunch didn’t start until 11. With our flight leaving promptly at 1210, we knew we had to hurry.

Of course we scoped out where we would dine for lunch, but we had 3.5 hours to anticipate the mouth watering burger that was in store for us. In the mean time, we got to catch up on emails, shopping, and even real toilet bowls. So as 11 o’clock approached, we got in line for our burger. Let me say that it was worth the wait. We all devoured our burgers so fast that the British Server even made a reference to “Americans and their burgers.”

Now one would think that with a departing flight so soon the passengers would hurry to the gate. OH NOT US! We decide to sit around and chit chat like girls to the point where we MISSED OUR FLIGHT. Yeah you heard me correctly. We had a 5 hour layover and we missed our flight. I bet if never had any of the luxuries that we were deprived of we would have been first in line for our flight. Oh the irony!

YEAH BUT I WOULDN’T TRADE IT FOR THE WORLD.

To say my arrival in India was a “Cultural Experience” is like saying the earthquake in Haiti was “Pretty Rough.” I mean we get it, but not until you gaze upon the destruction can you truly grasp Haiti’s devastation. That is not unlike India as a whole. We sit comfortably on our thousand dollar couches in our heated living rooms watching Slum Dog Millionaire thinking, “Man, that is really bad over there…good movie.” I’m not going to lie; I am guilty of the same. It wasn’t until I landed in India and drove outside of the airport’s compound that I realized exactly what it meant to be Third World.
Life in India is defined as a daily struggle to survive. The Indians aren’t concerned about the stock market or the Wall Street scams; they are in constant search of their next meal and struggle to keep their families warm at night. This is evident as we drive through the streets of Srinagar and numerous people humbly ask for anything you can spare. What is more devastating is they do so with shame in their eyes. What do you have to feel ashamed about? That you are a victim of circumstance! That you were unlucky enough to be born in a geographic war zone. You have nothing to feel ashamed of. Contrarily, you have everything to be proud of.

The Indian People are the friendliest and kindest on the planet. Throughout all their hardships, if you are in need they will provide. If you are hungry they will share. It is unbelievable to me the fortitude these people have to push forward in life with a smile on their face. I humbly admire their drive and perseverance continuing to live everyday as if they were the wealthiest people on Earth. Well, in some ways they are!

Family and friendship defines a person here in India–after all, survival is based on such. Life is so much simpler when you remove the clutter. Think about it, what if we woke up everyday just to live in that day alone with all your family and friends? A wise man once said that not until you live in the present can you be truly happy. Unease and uncertainty lies in thinking about your past and your future. Being in the moment for that moment is when you can truly understand the simplicity of life.

Many try to live the famous slogan, “Carpe Diem” meaning seize the day. The only problem is that we seize the day in pursuit of something greater. We work extra hard that day in order to get that promotion or buy that new house. What I think what is lost in the shuffle is that to truly seize the day is to live as if you are not guaranteed tomorrow. I firmly believe that is what Ride Our World is all about. I hope if you pick up nothing more from this adventure I pray you truly understand that.

I will leave you with this from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too….live fully in the moment”

With over 56 different ethnicities spanning China’s 34 provinces, it is no wonder that this country touts a population of 1.3 billion. It simply amazes me that a single government can control these masses. It seems that a communist regime might just be the most viable option. Now, don’t get my wrong, I am not advocating communism, but let’s call a spade a spade. What if 1.3 billion people had a say in China’s political outlook? Seriously, there are only 300 million Americans and we bicker over the time of day to eat lunch. It’s borderline ridiculous!

Granted, there are times where I feel like my say in government is needed and warranted. BUT let’s be serious, I (as a commoner) don’t know enough about most political issues to provide a fact-based opinion–let alone a BILLION other people all having their own fact-LESS opinions. It is quite unsettling to hear the voices of the uniformed. AND the worst part of it is that the uninformed are usually the loudest! Hahaha Go figure!

On the other hand, there is much to be said to have the “RIGHT” to voice your opinion. I do like the fact that I can stand outside the White House and say, “Hey, you’re doing it wrong!” Or even get on Facebook or Twitter and say anything I want! All in all, I guess when it comes down to it if I had to choose between 1.3 billion people bickering over the time to eat lunch or 300 million people worrying if the wrong person overheard a political conversation I WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY CHOOSE THE FORMER.

Hey there again, the POWER of free speech. I guess democracy prevails again and I answered my own question.

-Cole

The last couple of days have been packed with Japanese sights and culture. We’ve done everything from rubbing the belly of the Great Buddha to watching ten thousand people cross the famous intersection in Shibuya. It seems that no matter how long we stay here in Japan there simply isn’t enough time to break through to the inner layers of the Japanese culture.

Take for example the Japanese youth. As much as you see timid and shy children leaving the comforts of their parent’s eye-sight, the under ground scene here in Japan is crazy. Fortunately, we ran into an American plastic surgeon, Mike, and his wife, Rose, that knew the scene I speak of intimately. Having taken four to five business trips annually to Japan, Mike and Rose seemed like local celebrities–that is for Gai-Jin (Whites in Japan). Our new friends seemed very eager to help fellow Americans out by introducing us to the underground network of cafe’s, clubs, and cribs.

The first stop on our new-found tour of Japan started in Shibuya where every famous Tokyo-movie has a scene (i.e. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) You know the one I am talking about, the huge intersection where over ten thousand people cross the street at EVERY light change. Seriously, where do all these people keep coming from? Now, what most don’t see as they watch the people crossing the street is the youth that repeatedly cross the street hoping to be seen in the wildest outfits you can imagine. Some even carry bags with new outfits to change into periodically. This first hang out is generally for the under-aged, non-drinking group of kids that are fighting so hard for their individuality–in my opinion, they succeeded.

After Shibuya, we all headed to the world-famous Atom Club for a drink. This spot has over 5 floors of music and the best DJ’s in the world. Unfortunately, some Japanese Royalty was having a private party which we weren’t invited too–the nerve. Mike tried to work his magic, but to no avail. I then tried to pull the “Media Card” with Dave and camera in tote. That definitely was a bad idea as who ever was in there definitely DIDN’T want to be seen. Oh well, next stop was Harajuku–the fashion capital of Japan.

Harajuku was probably the craziest set up yet. It is simply a street where Japan’s younger more fashionable people hang out. This place is so popular that even Pop Star Gwen Stefani wrote a song titled “Harajuku Girls” where she claimed to want their fashion-sense. These girls just cruise up and down this strip in the wildest get ups. We actually saw a girl wearing an entire Hello Kitty outfit. WOW! It is so hard to even touch on the amount of face paint or make-up we saw. Did you know that the hip-hop culture out here will paint their faces BLACK? Yep. they are called Ganguro or “Blackfacers” and they might be the trendiest, best-dancing Japanese of them all. Japanese fashion is simply remarkable….and this coming from a guy with little to no fashion experience.

As time ran out, we made one final stop on our underground tour of Japan. Shinjuku was definitely the wildest spot of them all. Surprisingly, Nigerian men practically run the under ground casinos and clubs in Shinjuku. After questioning the reasoning behind this, we found that in their native tribes they will speak nearly six languages. It is said that upon arrival into a new country, a Nigerian man can be fully conversational in a matter of months. Unbelievable! Anyway, while we strolled through the streets of Shijuku, we set off small turf battles as each man tried to lore us into their spot. It was definitely an exciting experience to see the Japanese Mafia and the Nigerian Posse’ battling over who gets our Yen. After a drink or two at a “classy” establishment, we packed it up and headed back to the hotel.

All in all, Ride Our World luckily got to taste both the touristy Japan and the REAL Japan. What more can you ask for? Hopefully, we are able to encounter these same type of experiences as we move around the world. It goes to show that every country is truly like an onion with multiple layers specific for every one’s taste.

What an awesome day for Ride Our World. The Penke Panke lodge where we are staying is simply out INCREDIBLE. The ambiance is next to none with about 15 other guest all hanging around the common areas chit-chatting and watching snowboarding flicks all the while waiting for breakfast to be served. Which by the way is included in the insanely LOW NIGHTLY ROOM RATE!

Once we all had our fill of breakfast, we teamed up with the owner of the Penke Panke Lodge who graciously allowed some of his workers to show us the mountain. We rode hard all day with two CRAZY CANUCK siblings, Lora and Paul Girardi. Riding with locals makes all the difference! They know all of the secret stashes.

After a great day of riding, Lora had a great idea to make a Hot Pot for dinner. Now, before I can go on, I have to explain what a hot pot is. Are you ready for this? It’s ANYTHING YOU WANT IN A POT! hahaha we must have had 20 different ingredients ranging from mushrooms to squid. It must be said that one of the local shredders and hotel manager actually cooked this. Of course, there is no way for any of us to make an authentic local dish. It was amazing to say the least.

W all sat around the tables here at the Penke Panke Lodge and had a family style dinner. This is what traveling is all about. A table full of friendly people enjoy Sake’ and stories. About halfway through dinner, it started DUMPING SNOW!

2 hours later, with our stomach full we all headed to bed to prepare for tomorrows EPIC day of riding. What a PERFECT END to a PERFECT DAY here at the Penke Panke Lodge.

“Anything that can go wrong WILL GO WRONG!” That is the easiest way to describe exactly our first 48 hours in Japan.

Upon arriving in Japan, we find out that Ride Our World could not travel to Niseko because we incorrectly booked our connecting flights. As if that weren’t bad enough news, we remembered that all of our Eurail passes were being shipped out to the Hooting Owl Lodge in Niseko…Oops! Now what do we do? Well, the show must go on and so it does! We forward the mail and head to a different locale’.

After checking with out handy dandy World Snowboarding Guide, we decide to head out to Happo One–home of the 98′ Olympics. Okay, not that bad so far right? Well, it gets better, as we now have no clue how to get into Tokyo to catch a train to Nagano before busing it to Hakuba where Happo One is located. Confused? Good because so were we! Oh and did I mention that we hadn’t slept in roughly 30 hours? Try wandering the streets of Tokyo looking for a train sign written in Japanese with huge snowboard bags in tote. NOT FUN! A few blisters and numerous strange looks later, we made it to a hotel that was WAYYY out of our budget. Don’t worry, we will be begging you guys for money later.

After a good night’s sleep we were off to Happo One. Once we arrived things seemed to go smoothly. That was until I woke up in the middle of the night to find that someone spilled an ENTIRE GLASS OF WATER ON THE COMPUTER. The computer’s motherboard was fried!

Fortunately, we were smart enough to buy insurance. Well, off to get a new computer..only WHERE DO WE BUY ONE? Turns out, there was an Apple store only 2 hours away! haha! YAY! Off to the store we go. How we managed to break the language barrier and retrieve a new computer and all of our data still baffles me.

I mean think about it, imagine if you worked at the Geek Squad and a Japanese guy walks up to you and speaks Zero English. hahaha! That was the best game of Charades I have ever played!

After leaving the Apple store in Nagano, we heard about some crazy Monkeys that hung out in some natural Onsens (Hot Springs). Turns out they were just an hour away so we decided to make the hike. We caught the last bus there only to find out that we had an hour an a half until the last returning bus. That does sound too bad right? Did I mention it was a 40 minute hike up the mountain? 40 minutes up and 40 minutes down means only 10 minutes to see the monkeys. DOABLE, but we decide to run and make it 25 minutes up and 20 down leaving us plenty of time to play. Only we missed the turn while running up the mountain and ran 2.5 KM up a mountain only to find….NOTHING! Some guy told us on the way down that we missed the turn and now the Monkey Haven was closed! With our tails tucked between our legs we headed back to the lodge in Habuka to sleep. However, all was not lost as we saw one of the most beautiful sights these eyes have ever seen. WHAT A DAY!!!!