LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Ex-Iraqi hostage Peter Moore from Lincoln, England, landed in London, Ky., to begin a trip of a lifetime on Friday, May 25.  Along with friend and London native Princess Nash, the two plan to tour the United States via motorcycle.

Moore’s trip was planned in 2006 with friends as he worked as an I.T. with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) in Guyana, South America, but at the end of his volunteer service, he took a three-month job in Iraq to pay off his student loans.  Soon after, he was captured in the Iraqi capital in 2007 by Shia militants with four other Britons.  He is the only known survivor of the two-year hostage in Iraq.

Following his release, Moore returned to Guyana and discovered his friends were no longer available for the national tour.  He began to spend evenings at a local bistro in the capital city of Georgetown with friends, playing a trivia game.  He then met Nash, a well-traveled member of Peace Corps and a 2003 South Laurel High School and Berea College graduate.

“He’s always said that he wanted to do a road trip across America on a bike, and I felt like as an American I should probably see a little bit more of my own country before galavanting across the world,” Nash said.

The two joined together and made plans for their return to the states.  Moore purchased a 2007 Honda ST 1300 from American Motorsports in Nashville, Tenn., last week. It’s what he says was an “obvious choice.” Although, he yearned to do the U.S. Tour on a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle but the ride wouldn’t be as smooth, he said.

“My only other thought was to travel around in an old police intercepter like the Blues Brothers,” he admitted.

As for Nash, she wasn’t too fond of the motorcycle idea, but after riding a few hundred miles already upon Route 66 after visiting St. Louis, Mo.’s Gateway Arch, she’s grown to like it.  The friends will hit every popular stop along the way such as Disney World, the Hershey Chocolate Factory and the Grand Canyon, as well as quirky stops like swimming with manatees in Florida and The Corn Palace of South Dakota.

Packing a few months worth of belongings into a single saddlebag is the biggest feat Nash said she will face, while Moore is keeping his head up with no worries.  Crossing cultural barriers is what Nash said makes their friendship interesting, and they will be doing just exactly that as they cross state borders on two wheels day after day.

“It’s the differences that make you laugh and appreciate that you get to hang out and spend time with people that are so different than you, yet value a lot of the same things,” Nash said.

“Being badged ‘The Longest Held Hostage in Iraq’ will always be with me, but it does not have to stop me from getting on with life,” Moore said.

To follow the friend’s border crossing tour of the U.S., their Facebook page at http://facebook.com/Princessandpeter.



mmccrarey@sentinel-echo.com