Man plans to "define adventure" on cross-continental journey


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CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — Brent Carroll plans to live out his dreams no matter what, even if that means quitting a job months after earning his doctorate.

The 47-year-old Chesapeake resident told co-workers at the Coast Guard Command and Control Engineering Center in Portsmouth last year that he'd be calling it quits. He sold many of his belongings and put most of the rest in storage. He bought a 2014 BMW motorcycle, and he's preparing to ride it for 40,000 miles.

The former naval officer and Coast Guard engineer was set to leave soon on a cross-continental tour around North and South America, he said, in order to see with his own eyes the beauty that is the world and the people within it.

"I believe, in the visits I've made in the Navy and on vacation, that the world is full of good, purposeful and thriving people that are no different than we are," Carroll said. "Most things we hear about places are negative, I just don't believe it. ... One thing that I would like to do is share my knowledge first hand of the peoples and cultures that I encounter on a trip like this."

Carroll plans to make a loop of North and South America - from Virginia through Canada, Alaska and down to South America. He wants to go from the most northern tip of Alaska, the town of Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean, to the southernmost point of South America - Ushuaia, Argentina. Carroll expects the trip to take more than a year and a half; he'd return around November or December 2017.

Carroll's domestic partner, Tracy Carroll, said she is proud of him for making his dream come true.

"He aims to reach out with a vulnerable soul and connect with people who look, sound, think, believe, differently than him, to absorb and share with them, to feel the connections, and then to share those experiences with the rest of us," she said.

Brent Carroll plans to use Facebook, Twitter, and his website, LovingLivingAdventuring.com, to share dispatches from the road.

"I want to generate an ongoing narrative that pulls the curtain back on the world and the people who live here who are trying their darnedest to feed their kids and keep a roof over their home," he said.

What's motivating him? Carroll simply said, "I've got to do this." He said doing something like this was always a dream but life held him back. He also said his father, Dennis, was an inspiration. He died at 51.

"I said if I keep pushing this dream down the road, I won't be able to do it," Carroll said.

Carroll said he was especially inspired after seeing a friend travel via motorcycle and camp, including using his bike to carry firewood.

"I saw that and thought that was some adventurous spirit right there," he said.

Carroll then discovered an organization known as Horizons Unlimited, a group of adventure motorcyclists, in the spring of 2015.

"When I went to that meeting and learned that people do this. They travel on their motorcycle across countries for long periods of time," Carroll said. "I just got hooked, I got to do that."

Carroll has been preparing himself mentally and physically. He's been working out three times a week for a year and has lost 20 pounds. As a result, he's been able to stop taking blood pressure and cholesterol medications.

While on the trip, Carroll plans to spend no more than $50 a day and camp in a tent when he can. He has been saving money since the planning of the trip began. He also plans to travel only 125 miles each day so he can spend more time in the areas he likes.

"There's an element of risk, but the reward is you get to discover new things," he said. "That sort of defines adventure in my mind."

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com

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