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Home  /  Blog  /  Travel is the Most Patriotic Thing an American Can Do
07 June 2017

Travel is the Most Patriotic Thing an American Can Do

Written by Steve Johnson
Blog 1 Comment
Sash chats with a couple of beer drinkers at a bar in Martinsville, VA, in the heart of NASCAR country.

It seems so much effort is being spent these days arguing each other’s differences rather than celebrating what we have in common. Pointing out the dirty laundry in each other’s backyards, shaming them in public, and force feeding our solutions, seem to be the preferred methods towards “progression”.

All it’s done is spread more anger, fear, and shame. This country couldn’t be further apart from itself.

Sash once wrote…

“The most American thing I have done in my lifetime is to go and see America. In these moments, my patriotism flourishes to it’s greatest degree. Perhaps remembering the atrocities of our government seems unpatriotic to some, but to me, this is part and parcel of being American; to not blindly love my country, but to love it with my eyes wide open from the seat of my motorcycle as I travel across it.”

She and I toured through 36 states on our motorcycles over a 2 1/2 year span, spending enough time in each city to see it, hear it, feel it, touch it, and taste it. Each has a unique culture that deserves to thrive.

Yet today, people seem more interested in homogenizing these cultures into their own idea of correctness. They push their agenda at the federal level so that every American across the country is affected. In a nation that prides itself on diversity, why are people on the left and the right trying to destroy each other’s community?

Americans rely too heavily on media channels for their understanding of the world. These channels are heavily biased towards the left or the right. Obviously, people are forming opinions without really seeing what’s going on in person.

Travel is the most patriotic thing an American can do.

To travel is to visit a new culture.

To travel is to understand history.

To travel is to appreciate what we have.

To travel is to bring us together.

We should be fighting for what we have in common, not for our differences.

Me with Steve (right) at “Steve’s Place”, a transvestite bar in Burlington, IA

To be an American is to set aside your pain and anger, open your arms and celebrate that we’ve arrived to a new land that opens its arms to us. And then just leave it at that. There’s no point in trying to resolve our differences because we are a nation of differences. We should celebrate the fact that we have differences in opinion on how people should behave, think, feel, not try to enact laws that legislate each other out of existence.

For those of you who truly find joy in arguing and hating, let’s create a new state for you so that you all can hash it out there.

But for the rest of us that don’t want to fight, hop on your motorcycle, or get in your RV, or bicycle, or sailboat, or whatever your preferred choice of transportation is, and physically get yourself to another part of the country. See how nice people are in places you thought were ideologically wrong. If you decide you still can’t stomach those places, then pick another city or state and visit there. But otherwise, leave them be.

Maybe the only evil is trying to take away the joy that people have.

Steve Johnson
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Having first started riding in 1985 on a Kawasaki KZ400, Steve has ridden all across the United States and Canada. He currently travels full time on his Honda ST1300, living wherever he can find a friendly roof. Follow him on, "Motorcycle Philosophy".

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1 Comment

  1. Alex White Reply
    August 29, 2017 at 12:27 am

    You know, I think that there is a patriotism even in travelling abroad. To see how other nations is different from yours and understand that you love your homeland not because you was born there, but because of her inherent features.

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