La Pulga Poderosa!
A personal blog about Round the World adventures, Long Journeys, and Life
Che Guevara named the motorcycle that he used to take his epic voyage through Latin America “La Poderosa” — The Mighty One. His book chronicling the trip, Motorcycle Diaries, was a huge inspiration for my own trips.
But… I’m no Che Guevara. (I’m fine with that.) Plus, my motorcycle — a small Honda CRFL 250, is just a wee one compared to his, a Norton 500. Finally, I’m doing my trip not in one long journey (impossible in these days of Covid and random shutdowns), but instead, leaping from here and there to complete the different legs.
Thus, the name of my motorcycle, my journey, this publication, and even, myself: La Pulga Poderosa! … The Might Flea!
About me, Mark Jacobson
I’m a guy in the last year of his fifties who is looking forward to making this chapter of his life — the sixties and beyond — the best one yet.
That means doing some things differently. Such as singing out loud, saying what I think, and putting it out there, ugly as it might be.
I’m also going around the world on my little Honda 250 motorcycle.
I’m not the fearless type, the guy with the aviator glasses, or ex-anything military. I have no tattoos (at least not yet), no bomber jackets (never), nor knife or bullet wounds on display (God forbid.) When one of my boys was ten years old and he wanted to mime his Dad, he mimed typing on a laptop. In other words, I’m not a natural born adventurer or extreme risk taker in any way.
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I didn’t learn to ride a motorcycle until I was 54. Before then, I avoided doing so, much less any kind of trip with it.
The point is — if I can do it — go around the world on my putt putt dirt bike — or whatever adventure that beckons and yet, due to fears, remains undone — so can anyone. So can you!
That’s the gist of it, but if you really want to know more about me…
I’m a meditator, journal keeper, solace seeker, sobriety keeper, self-reflector…
student of the Stoics, secular Buddhist, growth nut…
reader, writer, closet musician, hiker…
pescatarian, runner, sleep demon, seven minute workout nut, and long health-span seeker.
For those into personality typing … mine are:
Myers Brigg — INFJ (if you’re an infj too, please let me know; we’re the rarest type!)
Jung archetypes — creator, seeker, sage.
MAPP assessment — favor change & variety, the cultural and philosophical, the strategic.
Seligman Signature strengths — love of learning, curiosity, gratitude, critical thinking
I spread myself thin instead of going deep, I haven’t achieved anything of greatness except my boys, but I do think/read/study/learn/listen a lot–and just recently seek to do scary and wonderful things–and so feel I can contribute usefully to The Conversation
I’m half-Gringo from being born to North American parents, and half-Latin from being born and raised in Guatemala.
When not on the road, I split my time between two places: Antigua, Guatemala and Tucson, Arizona (USA)
I ran a hotel development/operations business in Central America for a couple of decades. For the past several years, I’ve been involved in social entrepreneurship, co-founding an impact investment fund and some co-working spaces in Central America. I continue to stay in touch with social entrepreneurs; they are modern-day heroes in the midst of adventures that are truly gargantuan, and that bring hope and joy to many.
I’m married to an amazing woman, Jayne, who despite my propensity to interrupt and offer solutions, still loves and wants to be with me twenty seven years later. I plan to be with her the rest of my life.
We have two sons, twins — Peder and Mathias — born at the start of the millennium. They’ve been a glorious handful, the cause of most of my grey hairs, as well as most of the gratitude I cultivate on a daily basis.
