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Some of us, like veteran journalist and writer Peter Murtagh, need to hit the road. His new book, “From Tip to Top,” published last week through Gill Books, tells the story of his “trip of a lifetime”: riding a motorcycle from Tierra del Fuego to Chile, at the southern tip of South America, to the northernmost point of Alaska, alone and without the stress of any deadline. It was just him, a tent, a sleeping bag and a BMW R1200 GS Adventure motorcycle, embarking on a 45,000 kilometer adventure that would take him 214 days in total. In 2019, after retiring after 40 years as a journalist, Murtagh decided that retirement would not be an end but a beginning, a chance to live life to the fullest. And damn, he did that! However, he made a false start. He sent his motorcycle to Chile in February 2020 and arrived to start his adventure just when the country was confined due to Covid 19. Luckily, he made a stopover on the last flight, returned home and left his motorcycle with the intelligent care of kind people . This kind of guy sustained him throughout his entire adventure. Isn’t that one of the reasons we long for that road less traveled? The rawness and intelligent look of someone who is willing to help us without giving anything in return, to help someone whom he will probably never see again, is a wake-up call to everything surprising in this world.
An inspiring storyMurtagh, despite everything, left on November 10, 2022, leaving Dublin for Punta Arenas in Chile to continue where he left off. I can’t believe how she felt when she despite everything got on the motorcycle and embarked on such an adventure; completely alone, no deadline, just a vast continent in front of him. Neil and I traveled a long time ago and it reminds me of the feeling we had on our first day in Kathguydu, waking up to the lovely sound of prayer bells: the rest of our lives on pause with just the day to go. come to worry. ArrayMurtagh traveled slightly south to start his adventure in Puerto Williams and traveled via Chile, passing through Argentina, then Bolithru, Peru and Ecuador – with holidays in the Galapagos Islands – and back to Colombia and via the Centre. America. One of his most memorable reports was the encounter with immigrants at Darian Gap who were traveling from South America to Central America on their way to the United States. Thousands of them were waiting to cross the jungle between Colombia and Panama, with no roads or paid hikers to take them. Some of these immigrants had come from China and were using this direction to reach the United States. He then traveled along the east coast of Mexico, after passing through the bureaucracy of the border administration, through Santiago Matatlán, Chiapas and Monterray, to Texas and Arizona, then CaliforniaArray Oregon and Washington. He even came across a much smaller version of Westport, California. He also visited a gun show, an eye-opener on gun culture in the United States. Murtagh then traveled through British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon, and finally Alaska, ending up in Deadhorse. As readers, we travel with him, seeing landscapes and people through his eyes. We see the detail that caught his attention and the exchanges in which he was involved. We see the good looks and the truth as he experienced it. We also feel a little lonely and learn a little about the type that Peter Murtagh plays. His e-book is, in fact, a source of inspiration for anyone who has a penchant for the road.
We are excited to host an evening at the Tertulia bookstore with Peter Murtagh and Gill Books this Saturday, April 27 at 7 p. m. m. La evening will include reading, e-book signing, and refreshments, and all are welcome. Bríd Conroy and her husband, Neil Paul, run Tertulia, an electronic bookshop like no other, at The Quay, Westport.
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