Coming Alive on the Ride : A Memoir of Motorcycle Travel, Self-Discovery, and Korean Heritage

When Michael Yang bought his first motorcycle, he was a teenager who'd just moved to America. Yang's inspiring memoir is a reminder that, if we slow down and tune in our senses, adventure inspires and instructs the way nothing else can. Yang shows what magic awaits when we make room for adventure in our daily lives.

Answering the call of the open road—from Seoul to Silicon Valley to riding 40,000 life-changing miles across America.When Michael Yang bought his first motorcycle, he was a teenager who’d just moved to America. He knew little English and had few friends. Still, whenever he rode that green Yamaha, he felt more in touch with life’s possibilities. The bike was stolen a few months later, but Yang never forgot the feeling.It wasn’t until he was in his 40s that Yang got back on a motorcycle. By then, he’d settled into Silicon Valley amidst the technology revolution; and founded, scaled, and sold a half-billion-dollar tech startup. Life was a blur until he revved up his adventure bike and began riding into unfamiliar landscapes. Coming Alive on the Ride narrates more than 40,000 miles of Yang’s travels, from California’s coast to the upper reaches of Alaska, to Canada’s far eastern edge, and more.One of the things about long motorcycle trips is that there’s a lot of time to think. Yang describes the unique bliss of watching the miles pass beneath two wheels as he relives moments from his past—growing up in Korea during the turbulent years after the Korean War, and moving to America as a fourteen-year-old—all the while taking in North America’s astounding scenery, from the stillness of the desert to heart-racing glimpses of a bison herds and grand mountain ranges. Somewhere along the way, it happens: Past experiences and future aspirations converge into a present discovery.Yang’s inspiring memoir is a reminder that, if we slow down and tune in our senses, adventure inspires and instructs the way nothing else can. Yang shows what magic awaits when we make room for adventure in our daily lives.