Mourning Father Sets Off with His Dog on 10-Year Moto Journey
After the loss of his son, man rides 300,000 miles across America with his dog.
Ten years ago, Ara Gureghian lost his only son Lance to cancer. Devastated by the loss and finding life hard to endure, he rescued a dog that was just one day away from being euthanized at a shelter.
The dog he named Spirit, had been a victim of abuse by his previous owner and was also in need of some healing. So the two set out on a moto journey to restore their souls, riding across America on a BMW R1100GS with sidecar. “I have always camped all my life and after my only child Lance passed away, not able to cope with the every day life, having the motorcycle, sidecar and Spirit, there was nothing to lose while becoming a nomad.”
Ara also had to deal with the loss of his beloved mother while on the road, but found comfort in his faithful companion. After 10 years of traveling together, the duo have developed a tremendous bond. “He has become my life as I know vice versa is also true. We are one now.”
The pair have covered roughly 300,000 miles around the United States and Ara is now 67 years old. But there’s no finish line in sight for the duo. Ara’s only goal is to continue to ride and seek out isolated places of beauty with his furry friend.
Over the years, Ara has documented their journeys through photography and videos on their website “The Oasis of My Soul”. There is also a book about their adventures “Freedom on Both Ends of the Leash” and a photo book “Hues of my Vision”.
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Ara nice to meet you and Spirit. Map for Los Mochis, Sinaloa Mx, if you do Baja again let me know, I might join you just grab the ferry boat to La Paz. There’s lots of solitud, magic and spiritualism, pls search in FB for “motolandermex”, the tale is in spanish with few pic’s. Francisco