Synchronizing Art, Travel and Exchange.

Synchronizing Art, Travel and Exchange.

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chelsea.southard@gmail.com

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When I first started riding I was given this advic

When I first started riding I was given this advice… Look where you want to go, not where you are or that rock you are so desperately trying to avoid will be the only thing in your path and you will crash.

If applied to life one could say I have been staring at rocks all year.

Perhaps after that accident I should have just flown back to my family in Pennsylvania, to address my injury properly. But I didn't. I could still sort of ride on pavement with one leg. So I rode to San Diago first where my cousin Rachel lives.

Feeling unsure about what to say or write anymore, I disconnected and rode without sharing for the first time in years. Only me, the road, my bike, my busted leg and eye.

For the next two months I rode up the Pacific Coast visiting nearly all of my closest friends. I had some truly real and precious conversations with those who I hold closest to my heart. These visits were the best part of my year and they only happened because of my accident.

Eventually I made it back to the East Coast just in time for the holidays, as I had always planned. I shipped my CRF and belongings from California and the shipping company lost my freight. My bike in Guatemala was relocated without me. The state of my machines and my most precious belongings moved into an unknown state.

Have I lost everything I hold of value?

Someone told me a few months ago... If one made it through this year alive, consider it success. If one was able to do anything of value, it was an accomplishment.

It is hard for me to accept that. I don't think that way even when the odds are far out of my favor. It is not easy for me to settle. If my momentum downshifts I twist the throttle to compensate for the loss of power. Perhaps this year I ran my engine too long and too hard in the wrong gear and I am now feeling the result of the wear this reaction has caused.

I am going to restart my engine for 2021.
Feel the revolutions beneath me with a more refined sensitivity,
And upshift as time allows.

I have had both success and accomplishment in my year and I can recover from the wear I have done to gears.

A true test of my interior mechanic.
Goodbye 2020.

#unusmundusproject
📸: @moskoash

I had two major accidents this year. A large shar

I had two major accidents this year.

A large shard of metal sliced through the cornea of my right eye in the metalshop and I crashed on my motorcycle crushing my right foot.

Both of these incidents have dramatically affected my year on top of everything else and they still ail me every day.

I have what seems like permanent vision loss in my eye and walk with pain and a limp. The eye accident was not my fault, these things happen when you work in fields such as I sometimes, even when you wear all the protective gear.

There were a lot of faults in the motorcycle accident that could have easily been prevented.
I was alone, I wasn’t feeling well, I was dehydrated.
So for this one, the biggest fault was mine.

I don’t always take the best care of myself.
I'm realizing that more as time goes.
I’m not very good at asking for help.
I play things down so that the challenge of overcoming them feels like less effort.
That optimism has gotten me far and I attribute much of my success to that mindset
however, sometimes it transforms into an illusion.
A trap that bites back hard when it catches me.

I rode alone, in poor condition and crashed.
Crushed my foot and smashed my face.
Unconscious in that hot Death Valley sun for 30 mins, the taste of iron in my mouth, unable to breathe or walk, still seeing clearly with only one eye, remnants of my recent eye accident.

Get up Chelsea. Get up.
I peeled myself off that oh so familiar dust and gravel once again and rode out.
But not the same as I rode in.

Sometimes things don't work out as you plan,
Sometimes life has another path,
Sometimes you crash.

From that crash;
some doors closed and others opened.

I’m going to take one single post, tomorrow’s post, the final post of this fucked up year to get off my chest a synopsis of what these doors looked like so I can look into 2021 with my porch swept clean and stop holding onto this storyline that ails me as if it is my third accident.

#unusmundusproject

¡Feliz Navidad! Things this year have been pretty

¡Feliz Navidad!
Things this year have been pretty mixed up but I somehow managed to make it back to my family in time for the holidays. I am alive, mostly healthy and with my loved ones; that’s a lot to be grateful for this year.

Wishing you all a beautiful day in whatever combination of gratitude you find yourself in ❤️

#unusmundusproject

I had another post drafted for today. For my birth

I had another post drafted for today. For my birthday.
It was incredibly depressing, if I'm honest.
I feel incredibly depressed right now, if I'm honest and that's not something I normally feel.

But after posting yesterday for the first time in months and reading the messages you all were so kind to send me, I realized the post I drafted wasn't fair to myself.

Instead of sharing that, I will share instead what I am most proud of this year.
I may not have traveled where I wanted, built what I had hoped, accomplished what I had planned but I did have a book written about me. And that's pretty badass.

Jennifer Degenhardt found me on Instagram mid 2019, she is an author and a Spanish teacher who lives in Guatemala. We met for dinner in Antigua and I told her my story. Over the next year she wrote a Spanish children's book about my life as a nomadic motorcycle artist and my adventures riding in Mexico.

¡Una gran parte del libro es sobre cómo conocí Los Mañosos un club de motos en México y MUY buenos amigos míos! Gracias Kettzy, Alejandro y todos Los Mañosos para tus amistad y ayuda en mis aventuras. ¡Te quiero mucho!

This year the book was published. She named it Moviendo Montañas which means Moving Mountains. The cover art was designed by a Guatemalan student of hers. It was sold to schools and institutions across Mexico and Central America for children to learn and be inspired by. All money from the book sales will be donated to a school in El Hato, Guatemala, where I build Vaho, to help buy books and supplies for the students there.

I feel so honored by this. I am grateful for all of Jennifer's love and effort. It makes me think more deeply about how I want to communicate with the world which is much of what I spoke about in yesterday's post. However I did meet Jennifer on Instagram. If it wasn't for this platform, the book may never have happened. So you see my dilemma.

I am very proud of this accomplishment. I hope the children who read it are inspired to move mountains just as I do.

Because even if right now the mountain feels like it’s crushing me, it is only a matter of time before I raise it above my head.

Gracias a todos!
Book link in bio!
❤️

It feels too long now for me to bid you a proper f

It feels too long now for me to bid you a proper farewell.
One that tells you why I will disappear and what challenges I hope to overcome from the time away. An emotional unloading of how I need space to think, get over something or rest from this exhausting year.
A hiatus from social media; that was what the farewell was to be about.

I never wrote it.
But I did stop clicking on that sunset gradient.
And the further I got from that breaking point, the blurrier this digital realm got to me.

I have always used this platform first, for myself.
Not for the followers or likes.
To keep me writing, to have a physical memory bank to look back on and remember
even if the timeline is only for me because I know an astounding majority won't even look past the first line of this post. It makes me feel time differently when I can see the stories I have written and that in itself is worth the effort.

This hiatus has proved this claim but with a catch.
Since I stopped posting here, my writing slowed to a snail's pace. That has been eating me away and mixing my mind into a mess of unprocessed memories and time dilation.

I may use this platform to keep me writing
but if without it I stop writing all together,
then it is a toxic codependency that must be broken.

Sharing is a very integral part of why I write at all.
To decide on the words to describe my feelings and then put them somewhere where they become eternal.

This makes it so I cannot change what I felt at that time.
And so what is created is a timeline of encapsulated experiences that I can look back on for guidance and understanding.

If I do not share, these memories live in an ephemeral space where I can go back and edit my life to fit a preconceived notion relevant to the present moment which isn't as close to the truth from where it was initially written.

So how do I sever the toxicity of this codependency yet still retain a platform for sharing?
Does social media best support my timeline?
Should I do it anymore?
Is there a better way?

Well how about I start by sparing you the sentiment of the proper farewell and instead get right to the points I came here to make before I leave you again.

The first ever long distance trip I took with my D

The first ever long distance trip I took with my DR650 started in Death Valley.

And like my last story, it began with an accident.

I was riding a gravel road down from the north looking for camping. Maybe I was going 35mph. I hit a ditch of deep, loose gravel, went over my handlebars and slammed into the ground headfirst.

I couldnt recall 20 mins after that. I slowly remembered seeing myself on my bike and wondering where I just came from. My head hurt but I didn’t really know why and it took me a while to piece it all together. I had a concussion. Not my first but always shocking regardless. Pain and bruising all over my body. That’s where that gash on my barkbusters came from that I never painted over.

It didn’t end the trip. I recovered, brushed it off and rode the AZBDR, NMBDR and UTBDR @ridebdr over the weeks following.

But I am starting to see a trend here regarding the valley of death...

What do you think happened the first time I came with my third bike?

#unusmundusproject
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@moskomoto
@procycle.us
@superplushsuspension
@advmotomag
@doubletakemirrors
#oneworld #synchronicity #dr650 #solofemaletraveler #mototravel #mototraveler #storiesfromtheroad #livetoride #deathvalley #california #bdr #overlandlife #dualsportlife #womenadvriders #dualsportwomen #storytelling #womenwhoride #womenwhowrite #moskomoto

The first time I crashed a motorcycle, I was in De

The first time I crashed a motorcycle, I was in Death Valley on my first bike ever, on my first moto trip ever, years ago. It happened near moments before I took that first photo.

I had only really learned to ride a few days prior but I was off across the country for god knew how long.
Learn on the way, I told myself. And learn I did.

Not sure how hot it was that day but the ball of fire in the sky reflected off that black pavement like the devil straight from hell. The sky was a sharp contrast to the heat, a milky blue heaven meeting the golden rolls of sandy cliffs and craters making up this arid basin.

Taken by the view I must find a stopping point.
There on the edge of a turn,
where that edge met a cliff,
where the cliff met death; an opening.

Giving no mind to the gravel or the aforementioned edge.
I approach with no mind of caution.
My bike slips out from under me pulling me with it.
The tire leans off the edge, then stops; gravel following.

Heartracing, I scurry to pull myself out.
Wideyeed, I peer over the ledge
Sweatdripping, what have I done.
Super strength, I right the bike in one motion.

And ride away.
Shaken.
A mile later I approached a five mile stretch of gravel.
I stop at the edge before the bed of rock and look at my contender.

WIthout my lesson just before, I would surely have hit that gravel with far more speed.
And neither heaven or hell would have given me pardon that time.

#unusmundusproject
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#oneworld #synchronicity #deathvalley #mototrip #mototravel #mystory #storytelling #getbackup #adventure #solotravel #solofemaletraveler #womenwhoride #yamahavirago #firstmoto #womenwhowrite #deathvalleynationalpark #california #lifelessons #liveandlearn #livetoride

This photo is filled with so much generosity. The

This photo is filled with so much generosity.

The helmet and camp kitchen from @moto.brad
The moto luggage and riding gear from @moskomoto
The boots and mirrors from Ned @doubletakemirrors
The powder coating from Elliot and my friends at Champion Powdercoating in SF.
The sleeping bag and pad from @alloy_and_ink
The kite from @herodotus415
The tools from @titanadv
The tire tubes from @flying.moto
The clothes from @oldhawkeye
The tent from my parents @markssouthard @southardjeanne
The sweet @kuiu_official thermals from @jinpack
The gps from @advmotomag
All of my supporters on @patreon
And so many motoparts from @procycle.us

I have a lot of people in my life that believe in me.
And I am thankful for each one of you. ❤️

#unusmundusproject
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#oneworld #synchronicity #mototraveler #solofemaletraveler #crf250l #moskomoto #womenwhoride #nomadlife #livefree #generosidad #motofamily #mototravel #advrider #womenadvriders #sunset #desertsunset #graditude #crf #motogear #overlandlife

Dear Death Valley hooligans, Thanks Ash @moskoash

Dear Death Valley hooligans,

Thanks Ash @moskoash for the LED campfire sculpture each night.
Thanks Pete @moskopete for leading the pack.
Thanks Andrew @moskoandrew for the amazing soup.
Thanks Ames @amesconant for getting lost in the desert with me.
Thanks Spencer @the_gear_dude for the late night laughs.
Thanks Paulina @paulindoh for pushing me in the sand.
Thanks JC @pathworkslife for getting real with me on our drive together.
Thanks Jack @megadinosaur5000 for your ghost stories.
Thanks Dan @candox11 for sharing my pain.
Thanks Jen @jennjean_ for the honest advice on the jackaloft.
Thanks Ryan @eat_sleep_moto_beer for riding all the way there.
Thanks Beth for the reminder that Indian food makes for bomb camp food.

Thanks @moskomoto for all that you do.

Love,
Chelsea

#unusmundusproject
#moskomoto
#motofamily

Wherever path you take, make sure it’s a fun one

Wherever path you take,
make sure it’s a fun one.

#unusmundusproject
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@moskomoto
@procycle.us
@superplushsuspension
@advmotomag
@doubletakemirrors
#oneworld #synchronicity #deathvalley #moskomoto #crf250l #offroad #overlandlife #dualsportlife #dualsportadv #womenwhoride #solofemaletraveler #elcamino #california #crf #advrider #womenadvriders #livetoride #getoutside

I thought I cleaned all that dust off!? Oh well.

I thought I cleaned all that dust off!?

Oh well.
Get dirty y’all!
Also Death Valley is a seriously beautiful place.

#unusmundusproject
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@moskomoto
@procycle.us
@superplushsuspension
@advmotomag
@doubletakemirrors
#oneworld #synchronicity #moskomoto #deathvalley #womenwhoride #mototrip #solofemaletraveler #crf250l #offroad #dualsportlife #advrider #motofamily #california #nevada #livetoride #getdusty #getdirty #ridehard #reckless80revolver

What other motorcycle company takes two entire wee

What other motorcycle company takes two entire weeks off a year to take their employees riding?
NONE.

@moskomoto is unique in so many ways when you look at the motorcycle industry.

What they make are ideas sprouted from real life adventure.
They are actually out there riding.
They test their products themselves on the trails and on road.
Innovating on ideas and building the future of adventure riding gear.

If this isn’t proof enough of their passion and their products.
I don’t know what is.

Greatful to be a part of the bunch for this trip!

#unusmundusproject
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@moskomoto
@procycle.us
@superplushsuspension
@advmotomag
@doubletakemirrors
#oneworld #synchronicity #nevada #lasvegas #crf250l #womenwhoride #moskomoto #livetoride #advrider #dualsportlife #offroad #brapp #advlife #adventuretravel #dualsportadv #deathvalley

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Juégame
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