Huckleberry Addict. Adventure Traveler. Loves Motorcycles. Hates Squirrels. Bohemian Gypsy. Mom. Aspiring Blogger. Dual Sport Connoisseur.
Judy (a.k.a Maya Huckleberry) has an adventure-seeking soul. Because she resides in Alaska, adventure is found in her backyard. Judy has a passion for exploring the world while sitting atop a motorcycle. She also loves hiking, riding her bike, traveling, photography, coffee, trying new beers, and eating good food.
Judy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. At a young age she felt repressed by a religious upbringing and instead sought after her natural curiosity which led her outside. Her first love was bike riding and playing in the mud. Being told these activities were “not what girls do,” drove Judy to embrace them more. She searched for anything that sounded dangerous and fun. In high school, she met her future husband Michael. Judy was immediately drawn to Michael because he rode motorcycles. Thus stemmed her second love: motorcycles.
As Michael and Judy spent time together their love of adventure grew as did their love for each other. They were married when they were 18 and later had their first daughter, Nikole. Judy went to college at the University of Utah while Michael joined the U.S Air Force. In the following years, their second daughter, Linzy, was born, Judy graduated, and the entire family was off on another adventure: moving to Alaska.
After a short stint owning her own coffee business, Judy was hired as a web designer for the National Park Service. Michael and Judy raised their two daughters to embrace adventure as well. Family vacations included battling the mosquitoes while camping every weekend in the summer, exploring the historic town of McCarthy and the Kennecott Mine, entering into the Fireweed 400 cycling race, traveling 8 hours to see Fairbanks, Alaska, and hauling supplies to a cabin in the middle of nowhere in the winter to spend Christmas beside a pile of branches the family called a tree.
Judy’s desire for experience is rooted in acknowledging that life is short and every second should be spent living in the moment. When she was little, it was discovered that Judy had a progressive auditory condition that would eventually amount to a complete loss of hearing. When she was 22, she suffered a heart attack. Years later it was confirmed that the hearing loss and heart condition were related and she was diagnosed with Jervell and Lange-Nielson Syndrome. She had a pace-maker placed and has worn hearing aids for several years. Recently, she received her hearing-aid dog, Rasta.
Judy has refused to accept any limitations and instead viewed these setbacks as simple hurdles to overcome. She has rode her bike across America (twice!), runs marathons, competes in triathlons, is learning to play the flute, is slowly covering all the continents by motorcycle, and most importantly, laughs every day.
Nikole and Linzy have now moved out and are pursuing their own adventures. Judy, Michael, and now Rasta, are also continuing their own adventures as the Wandering Alaskans.
Not all who wander are lost.
Maya’s Motorcycles:
