Senior Jeff Roy recently completed a motorcycle trip that took him to the bottom of the world. Along the way, he posted a blog titled “Jeff’s 9th Semester.” But this was far from a typical college experience.

Roy’s journey lasted nine months and 11 days, covered more than 28,000 miles, and included stops in 13 countries. It began on May 23, 2008 in Enfield, Conn. and officially ended March 2, 2009 in Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America.

During the trip, he took time to study Spanish in Mexico and Guatemala, became adept at repairing flat tires on his Suzuki DR 650, and grew accustomed to being the center of attention, as children in remote villages flocked to see the tall, red-headed stranger in motorcycle attire who suddenly appeared in their midst.

He also found time to update his blog in internet cafés along the route, often in small out-of-the-way villages that offered little else in the way of modern amenities.

Thirst for Adventure

A former Marine who has served in Japan, Bahrain, and Iraq, Roy, 27, knew that Connecticut was one of only a few states in the country that offers a tuition waiver for veterans. When he enrolled at UConn, he didn’t have a particular major in mind, but once he’d taken a class with business professor Richard Kochanek, he was hooked on a career in public accounting.

Although eager to further his education and start a professional career, and committed to his campus job as a veterans’ representative in the Office of Student Financial Aid Services, Roy still dreamed of adventure.

Rather than waiting until he graduated, he decided to take a break in his studies because he thought the timing would look better on his resume. “I decided to take the trip so that I could come back, finish my degree, and take advantage of the resources offered at UConn,” he says. For him, this includes interviews with the Big 4 accounting firms that will take place on campus this fall.

Traveler’s Tales

The photographs on Roy’s blog tell only part of the tale.

He took plenty of pictures of the scenery. He says he was awestruck by the changing landscape, especially the vastness of the American Southwest, the mountains of Peru, and the salt flats in Bolivia. But because he is shy about asking strangers to pose for the camera, his photos don’t reflect many of the extraordinary experiences he had with the people he met along the way. When he talks about these, his eyes light up.

Roy wrote in his blog, “It always amazes me how the most memorable moments of the trip are found when I least expect them. They’re not places I’ve read about in guidebooks, and they’re not things I can take pictures of. They’re the chance conversations I’ve had with people at bus stops, teaching English to children in the street, and all the other faces I’ve seen and personalities I’ve met along the way.”

Roy says he loved Peru. “It had checks in all the boxes I wanted to experience. If you’re only going to visit one place in South America, that’s the place to go.”

But, he continues, “Colombia is by far the friendliest country I have ever been to. When I was there in November of 2008, everyone I met was concerned I’d be on the road alone with no place to go for Christmas.”

As luck would have it, by the end of November Roy had left Colombia behind and he celebrated Christmas Eve at Machu Picchu, the historic “Lost City of the Incas.”

Accomplishing a Goal

The highs and lows of his journey converged in Bolivia in January. Setting out for the town of Quetena across rugged terrain and with temperatures below freezing, he followed what turned out to be flawed GPS coordinates into a land of rocky desolation. Expecting to spend the night in a makeshift shelter he had built out of large, flat stones, he seriously considered making a ‘farewell’ video for his parents in case he didn’t survive.

Just as the sun was setting, he looked up and saw a bus rounding a hill 200 yards away. The driver was headed for Quetena, and Roy followed on his bike for a harrowing night-time ride that included a river crossing illuminated by the bus’s headlights.

The next day, he set off to ride the highest motorable road in the world, up the Quetena Volcano. At the top, 19,060 feet above sea level, he felt both literally and figuratively on top of the world.

When he reached Tierra del Fuego in March, Roy had accomplished what he’d set out to do nearly a year before. He flew home to Connecticut and is now scheduled to complete his final semester at UConn in December.