Hi everyone!
Do you recognize the feeling you get when you are packing for a holiday of two weeks in a hotel somewhere sunny? Most of the time you're switching between "I am taking way too much" and "Oh, I forgot this" and "Do I need to take this? You never know when ....". It can be hard sometimes to figure out what you need to take and leave home, even for a short trip. Most of the time you can solve it pretty good just by taking a big enough suitcase with wheels, to make transportation and decision-making easier. I have had friends going to Japan for a year (studying) and they could take up to 23kg with them on the plane. For one it was more than enough (she even took printing paper, just because she could) and for the other it was a really tough decision. And here I am... . I will not be staying in one place, but will travel all the time. I need to be self-supporting during this trip, which means I'll have to be able to manage my own meals and sleeping spots. My outfits need to be accommodating the tourist days, but also the many many cycling days. I will be going away for 15 months, most of the time in very good weather, but some weeks in colder weather due to the mountains. I have to take stuff with me to fix my bicycle and to keep it going. And with all this to take along I always have to remind myself that I have only one way of making transportation easier. That way is to take less stuff (less volume and less weight). In the summer of Japan I managed to cycle with 12kg (excluding bicycle, food and water). For this trip I'm aiming for no more than 15kg (once again excluding bicycle, food and water). I also aim for only 2 big bags on my bicycle (and one very small pouch). How can I achieve this? Every item I want to take with me has a friendly chat with the weighing scale, even a fork of 9 grams! When I need to buy new stuff I tried to find the version that weighs less, is still very useful and isn't overly expensive. Wherever possible I try to find more than one use for my items. My cooking pan is also a lid for the cooking pot and can be used as a plate. A liner bag can be used to keep your sleeping bag clean, but also to make it warmer and it can be used on its own in very warm weather, or when sleeping in a bed with dubiously clean sheets. A buff on the head can be used during the day(to keep the sweat away and to not have a sunburn on your head) or at night, to make it less cold. It can also be used as a neck scarf, wristband or to make your pillow softer. Further more I consequently think about weight opposed to the advantages of taking items. Initially I planned to take my DSLR camera with me, so I would be able to take gorgeous pictures. This meant a lot of weight: 1kg for the camera, 800grams for the handlebar bar that I would need to take, a tripod of 400grams, ... . I noticed that I didn't take full advantage of the camera though and didn't use it as much as a small digital camera, due to it's weight and need for taking your time. I was planning on buying a new lens for this camera but decided to spend the money on a quality digital camera instead. This means I don't have to take a handlebar bar, saving me a lot of space and weight. It also means I can take a tripod that is smaller and weighs a lot less and of course the camera itself is a lot less heavier. I can put it in a small pouch on my bicycle, so I always have it close. In total the weight gain will be around 1,5 kg! The most important things I'm still lacking at the moment are my sleeping bags, a pump and a water filter. I already know which sleeping bags I'll buy, but I'm waiting for the winter to buy them (so I can buy them in a group sale and get a discount). The pump will be ordered soon. For the water filter I still need to do a lot of research before I purchase it. A final big question about my gear is the one concerning my clothes. I believe I'm taking too much clothing with me, since I have to be prepared for colder and warmer temperatures. I'm still trying to figure out how I can diminish the amount I'll be taking with me... . Once I have ALL of my stuff I will take some pictures of it, so you can see what I'm taking and where on my bicycle I'll leave it. That will be for somewhere in 2016, hopefully around March-April. If you'd like me to write a post about something specific, let me know! Hugs, Kelly
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Hi there!
Those who liked my page "kikitjah" on Facebook will already know that this blogpost will not be about my packing list, but about my week of cycling in the Netherlands! Very early in the morning on Saturday I took the train to Assen (near Groningen, in the north of The Netherlands) and cycled to the man who will build my new bicycle. Over tea we discussed possibilities and preferences and prices. Afterwards I cycled a bit south, bought food in the supermarket (pasta and sushi!) and went to a camping. I ate the sushi and didn't feel so hungry anymore, so left the pasta for another day. I had wifi, so I arranged a WarmShowers address for the next night. I noticed that my sleeping bag was just a bit too cold (as in: I'm going to buy a new one because this one is only useful in very warm weather) and by morning I could hear the rain falling.... Guess what I forgot to pack that friday-night at 21u30? Indeed... warm clothes or even anything remotely useful when it would rain... . I ended up buying an expensive (but very good) jacket and –obviously- it didn’t rain again after that… . My first WarmShowers experiences were very positive, but it does need some getting used to. I'm used to being on my own during cycling trips and selfsupporting and all of a sudden you're in a house where people feed you and provide you with all the warmth en things you might need. It was a very nice experience though and it made me feel more comfortable with using this system during my big trip. I cooked a real meal on the camping for the first time some days later: pasta with a watery sauce and some tuna and ansjovis. I discovered a lot of things doing that! First of all I noticed that even the smallest of my cooking pots is more than big enough for one person: I even had pasta for breakfast. This immediately led to a second discovery: I NEED MORE PLASTIC BAGS! Normally I get them when I buy groceries and I use them as trash-bags, but now I also needed one to drain the water from the pasta and another one (without holes) for the leftover pasta… . Another realization came earlier that week: I only packed my front bags and noticed that they are quite okay, until you want to put in some groceries. So from now on I’ll cycle with back bags everytime I cycle longer than a weekend. It did made me realize that I should have enough space with only my bag bags. A final realization had to do with my camera. I planned to take a big SLR camera with me, to take nice pictures. I realized however that I took a lot less pictures then when I still had my small digital camera with me. My big camera is placed in a handlebar bag, with other stuff. So every time I wanted my camera I had to stop, take it out, try not to drop other stuff, get the cap off, use the correct settings and by then whatever I wanted to photograph was long gone. I also noticed that most of the times I just used the auto setting, so that I didn’t take advantage of the possibilities of the SLR camera. So instead of buying a new lens for my camera I’m going to buy a digital camera. This also allows me to leave the handlebar bag at home and save me at least 1,5 kg (no handlebar bag and the new camera weighs a lot less, as will the tripod)! Once again I had a lot of fun cycling during this trip, even though I –once again- had a lot of issues and hurts along the way (mostly muscles in my right leg and a lot of sadle hurt). This made me decide to make sure I start my big trip slowly, so I can allow my body to adjust properly. Hopefully the new bicycle will also help with this! Stay tuned for more news! Kelly |
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July 2016
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