This only works for adventure motorcycles, definitely not Harleys, sport bikes, or motocross bikes. But if you really want to get into adventure riding and you don’t quite know how to open the dialogue with your wife, do this. Borrow or buy a copy of Long Way Round, a documentary about traveling the world on BMW motorcycles starring Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman. Your wife will want to watch it because it stars Ewan McGregor. That’s the Trojan Horse. That’s what you use to wheel the conversation about getting a motorcycle within the gates of “categorical NO.” As you watch episode after episode, you will imagine yourself being the crafty Odysseus, on a seemingly never ending journey home. Home is when your wife gets to the end of the DVDs, and says, “that looks pretty cool, I bet you’d really enjoy that, honey.” Not exactly a “yes,” but sort of an implied OK. Home is that spot in your garage that you start clearing, long before you have made your purchase, where you will eventually wheel in your new ride. It also can work when you have already had the conversation without a definitive green light, and you are in a sense taking your own “Long Way Round” to seeking your wife’s approval. You waive the element of surprise, because if you bust out LWR at the very end, she will know what you are up to and be suspicious. But it stars Ewan McGregor, you keep telling her. At this point, you might as well be throwing a hail mary pass into the endzone, in which case, this is the only play you’ve got left. So what do you have to lose?

Here is a quick video update from Nato and Ben in Mongolia. Can’t wait for the boys to return and share their photos and videos of this epic moto adventure: