Hola todos, I’m Osali. I hit the eject button on my life and left my husband, left my country of residence, and moved back to the United States — something I swore I would never do. With unstable housing upon my return, along with a leave of absence granted by my new employer, I decided to pack up a touring bike and ride from Missoula to Missoula, making a 10,000 mile oval around the US.

Writing letters to my BearVault started as a joke, but quickly evolved into an earnest endeavor of introspecting, something I admittedly have never been all that good at. I consider myself an “outrospector;” I need to talk things out with someone else in order to understand things and process them. But on the road, there is no one else more consistent than my BearVault. I think I’m happier than I have been in a long time.

In my letters, you’ll come across some characters.

• La Bitchicleta (La Bitchi, Osali): Me

• Col Riza: The Ride-or-Die Best Friend

• Pelmeni: The College Best Friend

• Red Pepper Flake (Red Pep, RPF): The Ex Husband. (We were barely married and I qualified for an annulment….”husband” doesn’t exactly seem right.)