I Remember My First Road Trip—A Letter From Marisa

I've been riding motorcycles since I was a young child. That said, it wasn't until college that I started traveling on one.

In the first few months of being out on my own, I made several weekend moto camping trips with friends, but nothing too far from home. The summer after my freshman year, I took my first solo long-distance ride.

The alarm went off at 5 a.m. I threw on my riding jacket, a dirt bike helmet, and a pair of sunglasses. I tossed a few items into my bag, slung my leg over the seat of my Suzuki DR-Z400—and I was off.

I was heading north to visit my then-boyfriend (and now-husband) who was working several states away for the summer. The final destination was my objective, not the route, so I merged onto the interstate at full throttle and stayed like that for the next 875 miles.