1. Preparation: Motorcycle crated and shipped

MotoASIA_2013-14

Part One: 

1. Preparation

The countdown is now -4 days to the beginning of The Big Motorcycle Adventure.

A few weeks ago I hauled the BMW motorcycle inside a rented truck to the professional crating company CrateTech Inc. near Chicago O'Hare's airport where it was encased in a custom wooden crate, ready to be shipped by Vanguard International Shipping and Accord Express Shipping Lines by ocean freight to Bangkok.

From the craters I had to take the finished wooden box in the truck to an enormous warehouse on the south-side of Chicago, where, among all the 18-wheel trucks and their interesting drivers, my little U-Haul looked like a caricature. Nevertheless, it took a special forklift to get the big wooden crate out of the truck. It vanished from my sight into the depth of the warehouse, without much ado. With mixed feelings I saw it disappear.

In the next weeks it will be first on a truck from Chicago to Los Angeles/Long Beach CA, and then on a container vessel, first to Singapore and later to Bangkok.

I am eager -and a little nervous- to see it back in Thailand.

The next step in the process will be my flight out of Chicago and the BMW's -hopefully- smooth way through customs at Bangkok Harbor.