What comes next?
I crashed my bike a few weeks ago. My collar bone and two vertebrae broke. At a minimum, I can't ride for a few months, and being forced back to the Midwest and the looming threat of winter will keep me off of a motorcycle until the weather gets better.
Within a few hours of hitting the ground, I was fortunate enough to be sitting in an emergency room trauma bay in Kingman, AZ. The doctors, nurses, and techs did all sorts of tests and exams on me, eventually deciding that I didn't need to stay overnight. Between coming to this conclusion and discharging me from the hospital, they left me alone in the room. It felt like a massive room, which made me feel particularly small.
With every small shift, I was acutely aware of the injury to my back. The treatment they prescribed was to wear a back brace and take it easy for a few months. Hopefully, it heals fine and there's nothing more to do. Without a doubt, my prognosis is good, especially considering how bad hitting the ground at 40+ miles per hour can be. Sitting in that trauma bay, though, I was focused quite a bit on the amount of legwork that word "hopefully" was doing. I've made good progress in my recovery, but there is still a possibility that I can't sit up straight for hours at a time. It might make it impossible to travel on my motorcycle like I had. The thought has been nagging at me ever since.
The bike was totaled by my insurance company and the check cleared the other day, leaving me without reliable transport for now. It's disappointing, but also a chance to reevaluate. In more ways than usual, I don't have much of a plan.
My first choice would be to buy a replacement bike today, kit it out like my old one, ship it far enough south to avoid bad weather, and continue on the road as if nothing had happened. My last choice would be to get an apartment somewhere and give up on being a nomad. It would be stupid to do the former--neglecting medical care that could impact the rest of my life--and the latter sounds miserable. Somewhere between those two options is the next right thing. I've spent quite a few nights laying in bed, lulling myself to sleep by imagining what it could look like. An awful lot of it depends on how strong my back gets in the next few months, but I have three good options so far.
Option 1: Wait it out, try again.
Spend a few months at my parents' place, or maybe find a short term rental in Chicago, NYC, or some other city where I don't need transportation. Buy a bike when the weather gets better. Set out again with just a little less reckless abandon.
Option 2: Something sporty
If a motorcycle is off the table, a car might be a good substitute. There are even some advantages. It would afford more flexibility in adverse weather, especially in winter, and I could go further in a single day. Both of those would make more of the country accessible more of the time.
Practicality is not the name of the game, though. A motorcycle, even an adventure tourer like my GS, was already a serious compromise for a full time traveler, so there is no need to hone in on capacity or off road chops on a replacement. Might as well have fun right?
It turns out that 2 years ago, a 10-15 year old Porsche Cayman was going for roughly $25k. In today's car market, it's more like $35k, but still not nearly as expensive as I expected. As long as there's a decent road, it would be a good tourer. By car standards, it's got terrible storage capacity, but for my needs it's plenty. Since it's a luxury car, even the older ones have niceties like Bluetooth and heated seats
Being mid-engined and read wheel drive, it should be a hoot through curvy mountain roads in good weather. Supposedly it's not too bad in the cold either, at least as good as any two wheel drive vehicle. The engine itself has plenty of power for me. I test drove it a few weeks ago, pulling out from behind a semi-truck to pass. It gave me near instant acceleration when I pressed my foot down. That's all the power I need.
Maintenance could be expensive though. I saw a video from an owner that said he basically expects everything from tires to regular services to be at least $1000. On top of that, it takes premium gas, insurance is higher, and I'll feel worse when it inevitably gets dinged up parallel parking in Chicago. To get down to that $35k price range, mileage has to be around 60,000, which isn't all that many miles, but as a vehicle to live out of, it worries me a little bit.
The costs will likely smooth out if I consider smiles per hour. I don't know if there's a car in my price range that will be more fun to drive.
Option 3: An all weather workhorse
I've grown to hate snow and ice a little bit in recent years because mostly I want to be on two wheels. If there is any possibility of freezing weather, I have to steer clear. In a car, that is much less of a concern. It's certainly not worry-free, but a car won't tip over from lack of traction, and proper snow tires can actually do pretty well in cold weather.
I can imagine myself spending a month or two in a sleepy mountain town with a community ski park and heading up to the slopes every afternoon to learn how to snowboard confidently. All wheel drive isn't exactly a necessity in that situation, but it would help an awful lot.
Some off road pretense would also be nice for camping in the warmer months. I carry a full camping setup on my bike, but it's really more of an emergency thing. After a long day riding, the last thing I want to do is sleep on the ground. A car would be less exhausting, and more conducive for outdoorsy exploring.
The Subaru Crosstrek fits those neatly within those goals. It has an all wheel drive system that is ostensibly pretty good. The differentials don't lock, so it's not a true off-road explorer, but the vast majority of my driving would be highway and urban anyway. The electronic traction control is more than enough for the mundane snow and dirt situations I'm imagining.
Beyond that one thing, it is an entirely uninteresting car. It has an adequate engine, and a CVT that works. There is plenty of room in the hatchback. It will fit four of my closest acquaintances. Taking a look at metrics beyond that is a waste of time. This is not a car that you buy to drive. It's a car you buy because you need to get somewhere.
That is advantageous, though, when you look at the price. The absolutely top spec, tricked out, premium version, with maybe 20k miles and only a few years old, is roughly the same price as the Porsches mentioned above. Skimping on creature comforts and premium materials, it can be found for even less.
What choice would you make?
