Vanakkam. My name is Jay Kannaiyan, and in March 2010, I quit my job in the US, sold my house and other worldly possessions and began a one-way motorcycle journey back home to India. The three-year and three-month journey took me 1,00,000 km through 33 countries across North and South America, Europe and Africa.
All through this journey, my steady companion was sanDRina, my Suzuki DR650 motorcycle who was my home on the road. Her panniers held all that I needed: a few clothes, minimal camping equipment, some gadgets to document the trip, and spares and tools to keep sanDRina maintained.
Being such an extended journey, it wasn’t possible to know where I would be staying every night and what my exact route was going to be. In the months leading up to trip departure, I pored over maps and travel blogs and tried to learn as much as possible about the route down the Americas and Africa – but I also realised that you can’t plan it all and just have to go with the flow.
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