This post is a little different for me. I thought of it, of all places, on my motorbike. I never wanted to buy a motorbike. I don’t really think of them as “cool” or “fun.” (I’m a mom of six, what even is fun, anyway?).
In fact, I was adamantly against buying a bike when we arrived in Vietnam. It wasn’t until COVID barred all public transportation, and the streets were eerily post-apocalyptic, that I considered becoming a “biker chick”—out of necessity.
So, here we are, a year and a half into this tour and motorbiking. It’s been an…experience. I’ve learned SO much!
1. Go with the flow…of the fish!
A friend compared riding a motorbike to being in a school of fish. This is true in a society where the primary mode of transportation is motorbikes. Multiple bikes will take up a single lane of traffic, sometimes 4-5 motorbikes might take up the space a normal large car would occupy on an American roadway. With that many bikes, in close and constant proximity, you have to move together and pay attention to the other fish. On a motorbike, you don’t take up enough space or have enough independence to go it alone. You have to act and react in tandem. Give a little, take a little…all the way home (or to work, or the market, or the mall, or wherever you are going).
2. Never slow down, never stop!
Stopping on a motorbike means complete loss of momentum and balance. Motion keeps motorbikes upright. It’s inconvenient to have to stop and put a leg down. It requires complete repositioning of the body, unlike riding a car. The traffic lights count down the seconds from red to green here. But please don’t pay attention to that. Because traffic lights do not matter. Traffic lights, like traffic laws, are helpful suggestions. Just act like a fish and follow your school.
3. Head on a swivel.
Know your surroundings. Scan, scan, scan, scan. But, also, don’t…because…
4. Don’t look back!
You can never look back. Blind spots? Not a thing! Just move. Keep going. If you stop, you die.
5. Creativity and imagination matter.
Bad traffic? See that sidewalk? It’s a freeway! Zoom, zoom.
6. The kids will outweigh you, out maneuver you, knock you down!
Kids, man, geesh. Extra weight on a motorbike will get ya! Every movement matters. Alone, you determine where you are going, you control and react with the bike. With kids, you are at their mercy, and, if they are heavier than you, they control the bike. They might make it easy for you (i.e. remain complete or still). Or, they might randomly jerk to the right because they saw a street-cart with cotton candy. You just never know. Be prepared. Or don’t take your kids…anywhere…ever.
7. Life might just be passing you by…
Some of the coolest things I’ve seen here, I’ve seen via motorbike (hello, random man singing loudly into karaoke machine while meandering down the yellow centerline). Of course, I’m usually going too fast to take it in (kidding, dad, I don’t drive fast). Maybe it’s time to slow down?
And the greatest lesson: At the end of the day life is a long (short) ride. Each chapter is a new opportunity. Enjoy the ride (even when it’s terrifying).
Will Travel with Toddlers 