“Three weeks?” my neighbor asked. “You can get that much time off of work?” Yes, because this was for work. Barely. Yeah, I was covering and announcing the Monster Energy S-X Open in New Zealand and AUS-X Open in Australia, the biggest supercross races Down Under, but I also packed my wife and two kids. We took in beautiful scenery and fantastic cultures. Yet I had the most fun seeing the least. For instance, my daughter came down with a stomach virus, so we skipped a day of hiking and watched movies all day in a hotel room. It was a blast. We should have days like that at home more often.

That was the theme of these races, too. On the other side of the world, racers hung out in ways they don’t at home. The more serious stuff? Save that for American life.