Tip2Top

Peter Murtagh’s journey by motorbike from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska

‘America is nuts about guns … experiencing it for real is different’

Peter Murtagh felt no gun pressure on his trip all the way through South and Central America but that all changed in Texas

Sat Apr 20 2024 - 06:00

‘I felt a bit emotional. This truly was the end. The final ride of this adventure’

After reaching Deadhorse, Alaska, the last stop on my journey up the Americas, I took a dip in the Arctic Ocean and reflected on what I’d learned

Mon Jul 10 2023 - 06:30

Peter Murtagh: No grocery stores, banks, medical facilities or cell phone service. You may not hear from me for a while

Coming out of Fairbanks on my journey up the Americas, there is a warning for would-be users of the Dalton

Mon Jul 03 2023 - 05:00

‘I told ‘em there was people buried there, but they didn’t listen’

Things are changing for locals in Moricetown, where I stop on my journey up the Americas

Mon Jun 26 2023 - 05:00

‘We get a lot of people who want a joint on the go, on the way to work’

The cannabis industry in Canada is a rapidly emerging major player in the economy of British Columbia

Mon Jun 19 2023 - 06:00

In Canada, I visualise myself trying to reason with a bear by waving my T-shirt at him

People I meet are helpful and friendly in British Columbia, where I stop on my journey up the Americas

Mon Jun 12 2023 - 05:00

Once again, I am reminded just how young the US is in places

I don’t much like the sound of Dismal Niche and Cape Disappointment but stop in Ilwaco, Washington on my journey up the Americas

Mon Jun 05 2023 - 05:00

Are there ever earthquakes? ‘Oh for sure. There was one a couple of weeks back’

I find warm hospitality and spontaneous friendship in Gualala, where I stop on my journey up the Americas

Mon May 29 2023 - 05:00

Best breakfast in San Francisco? It has to be Mel’s Drive-In

Peter Murtagh continues his journey up the Americas with a stop off at the famous Mel’s Drive-In Diner. He isn’t disappointed, and meeting a rock queen is an added bonus

Mon May 22 2023 - 05:20

As I travel through California, the Mexican influence is impossible to miss

Peter Murtagh: On my journey through the Americas I stop in Salina, where fields that stretch on forever are farmed at an industrial scale

Mon May 15 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top: One of the odd things about California is the names. You catch yourself thinking ‘Oh yeah, I know that place’

Peter Murtagh continues his long journey up through the Americas, reaching California with its famous roads and protected land developers would kill for

Mon May 08 2023 - 05:00

The metal fence I inspected in El Paso is a monument to the politics of Donald Trump

Peter Murtagh ventures along Interstate 10 through the poor, dry, baking hot landscape of west Texas to see an intimidating fence on the Mexican border

Mon May 01 2023 - 05:00

Boy, they sure don’t like Joe Biden down here in Texas

Tip2Top: On Peter Murtagh’s journey up the Americas, he ponders how a president of such reforming zeal as Lyndon B Johnson could emerge from such a place

Mon Apr 24 2023 - 05:00

Tip2top in Mexico: There are saints at work here. I just hope there are no monsters too

In north central Mexico, where I stop on my journey up the Americas, I meet people in a desperate situation but am in awe of those trying to help them

Mon Apr 17 2023 - 05:00

‘I’ve never been 70 before, I’m not really sure what to make of it... I don’t think I much like it’

Relieved to be in a big city with Easter in full swing, it’s good to be among people and celebration as I turn 70 on my journey through the Americas

Sun Apr 09 2023 - 06:00

Arriving in Mexico, it dawns on me this is a massive, massive country

The scale of Mexico is apparent when I stop at the capital of the state of Chiapas during my journey up the Americas

Tue Apr 04 2023 - 05:00

‘What the feck are you at?’ I’ve asked myself at times over the last 14,000km

In El Tunco, where I stop on my journey up the Americas, I make a friend for the long road to Antigua

Mon Mar 27 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top Nicaragua: First impressions were good. Then I got pulled over by the police

On the latest leg of my journey up the Americas, I crossed from Costa Rica into Nicaragua, where officials don’t seem to like journalists and I don’t care much for the grasping arm of the law

Mon Mar 20 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top Panama: In the crater of an extinct volcano, there’s a touch of west Cork

My journey from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska: Having got lost, I hailed a taxi and got to the Sendero Cerro Gaital

Mon Mar 13 2023 - 06:00

Tip2Top in northern Colombia: In a small town, migrants pursue the dream of a new life in North America

This year, over 360,000 will trek to Panama to progress their dream. This truly epic human drama begins on a beach in Necoclí – the latest stop in my journey up the Americas

Mon Mar 06 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top in Cúcuta: Colourful chaos at the last frontier

Colombia and Venezuela share a 2,220km border and it is here where I stop on my journey through the Americas

Mon Feb 27 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top in Colombia: Here, I see most degrading scenes I have ever witnessed. I feel diminished just watching

Covid scuppered my plans to ride from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska. Now, my ‘great retirement project’ continues

Mon Feb 20 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top leaving Ecuador: Border crossings can be strange places at the best of times. This one is definitely on the weird side

I have left Ecuador and have technically entered Colombia, as my passport proves, but my bike has not – or at least not legally

Mon Feb 13 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top on the Galápagos Islands: It’s animals galore and they are utterly unfazed by people

Up close, iguanas look ferocious and medieval, or like something out of one of those sci-fi-meets-vikings nonsense series

Mon Feb 06 2023 - 05:00

Tip2Top in Cabo Blanco: Hemingway once held court here, in all his degenerate glory. The rich still fly in to hook a prize marlin

The writer came to Cabo Blanco, where I stop on my journey up the Americas, as this Peruvian village was where much of The Old Man and the Sea was filmed

Mon Jan 30 2023 - 06:00

Tip2Top in Valparaíso: How Chile’s wine producers are trying to address their country’s water problem