Calvin Wiley

Calvin Wiley wants to bring a touch of the world to Bowling Green. Having visited more than 50 countries and ridden his Kawasaki 650 through the Russian countryside, Wiley knows it is a big, diverse world out there.

The 31-year-old Barren County native, who is a licensed pilot and off-road motorcycle enthusiast, has opened Roam Sandwich Company at 4221/2 E. Main Ave. in the curving walkway off Fountain Square Park in downtown Bowling Green.

As a patron enters the front door, there is a display of periodicals about travel, including information about setting up a long-range motorcycle ride.

The 30-seat shop features reubens, Cubans, hot browns and house-roasted brisket sandwiches. Several craft beers are available. The patio about doubles the seating for the space.

Wiley, who would like to set up a hostel someday, said the restaurant is a midpoint step to begin to initiate travel discussions among people in Bowling Green.

Typically found in Europe, hostels are places where travelers, typically young ones on tight budgets, are provided accommodations. Wiley said he’s not rich but rather frugal in planning his overseas trips. For example, he recently rode his motorcycle in Ireland, then left it during the winter months only to return in the spring, pick the bike back up, and ride south to Spain. He will eventually travel from Spain into Africa, he said.

On another trip, he rode to Alaska on the motorcycle, left it there for the winter, then returned in the spring to ride it to Everett, Wash., before shipping it to Russia for a trip planned outside the metropolitan areas.

“I have a wanderlust that keeps me wondering what’s out there,” he said of his U.S. passport that’s acquired more than a few stamps over the years.

He’s also taken backpacking trips to New Zealand and Australia and visited Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

“I helped with an orphanage that was outside of the quake zone,” he said of the first experience outside America that took his breath away.

“It was the first humanitarian trip that I had done,” he recalled. 

The devastation in Port au Prince, well inside the quake zone, was mind-numbing, he said.

Wiley has been interested in far away places for nearly a decade and obtained a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Western Kentucky University in 2008. He also participated in a study abroad program at WKU in Costa Rica in 2008.

Assimilating into other cultures isn’t difficult, he said.

“I speak a little Spanish. I learn three or four words wherever I am at.”

Not really versed in the restaurant business, Wiley, who does know something about building, teamed up with Kristin Delaney, who designed the Roam menu. He worked on building book shelves and other furnishings in the space.

He said Delaney has been invaluable and he couldn’t have started up the new restaurant without her help.

“Due to our small size we constantly cycle in new stock and quality ingredients,” Wiley said. “They cook the meats like the brisket in house and most everything’s made fresh right before lunch.”

Locating in the building along the Bowling Green downtown walkway was quite by accident. 

“This was total happenstance,” he said. “I was walking down the alley and saw a ‘for lease’ sign in the window. I thought it was an interesting little building.”

“We plan to extend the hours when people start getting out more and the weather gets nicer,” he said.

The pilot owns a 1946 Cessna 140 and has been flying since 2003. He’s volunteered at an orphanage in Africa, helped build a library and worked with the children. He said the trip to Russia, which included riding in Siberia, was sobering.

“It is pretty grim. The people over there have resolve.”

— Roam Sandwich Company is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday; from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; and from 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

— Follow business reporter Charles A. Mason on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.