Sena Wakabayashi of Essentials Took on a Road Trip Outside her Comfort Zone

Every year there is a global Harley-Davidson dealers ride that takes place in a new location, anywhere in the world. For five straight days and nights, hundreds of dealers from all over the world get together to ride the route mapped out for them.

A Rockies rev-up 

This year, I was able to ride pillion with my husband who is one of the partners in the recently launched Harley-Davidson Hong Kong and Macau dealership. Our ride was called Rev Up the Rockies. We rode from Las Vegas into Utah, through Arizona, stopping in Durango and Vail in Colorado, with a final stop in Denver.

Ride out the bumps

I was promised that a bus would trail us on the route and carry my suitcase full of photo-worthy Saint Laurent outfits that I could access each day. Let’s just say the bus didn’t show up until our final stop in Denver. I had to live out of a side pocket on the bike that held the bare necessities. The first two days were a tough detox, brought discomfort from seriously hot weather and were more of a rough holiday experience than I am used to.

Leave your troubles behind

Once it sank in that there was little I could do but to let go and enjoy the ride, all of the small stuff that I had been hanging onto slipped away, and everything became much more clear. We were fortunate to be riding through some of the most beautiful landscape and I was able to see it from a front-row seat. I have such a vivid memory of the trip and it helped reinforce some of the things that I truly believe in.

An exciting lesson is learned

Many unexpected things happened during the ride, including losing one of the riders en route. It was an intensely terrifying event for us all. A day that began with a scenic stop nearly ended with a search by helicopter. We found our missing friend thanks to faith and persistence or perhaps it was sheer luck. It was just one of the surprises that came up en route and that helped make the ride what it was. We knew where we had to be at a specific time but everything else along the way was a journey that unravelled on its own. It reminded me that it is the journey that counts and what we remember once we have arrived. Our presence and excitement is what I understand as the most valuable ingredients for creating unforgettable experiences.