Packing, Preparation and Panic

Working out of town has offered some challenges to the preparation of my trip to Australia. Although I was working far from home, the magic wonders of the Internet have allowed me to prepare many important items such as purchasing plane tickets, purchasing travel insurance, researching routes and so on. However, fantastically wondrous technology aside, there are many items that can't be done at the click of a mouse or the three-fingered swipe of a Magic Trackpad and require actual physical movement and genuine human interaction. Since I also quit my oil industry job I unfortunately no longer have the means to throw my bourgeois money at a problem to make it go away.

Excuses aside, the fact of the matter is that I leave for Australia in a few days and I am still not packed! Not only do I need to pack, but I have left a few issues unresolved and I must take these issues into consideration. I will save you from explaining the endless and boring logistical details... except for one. Bicycle configuration is a pretty important subject when you plan to take a 6000 km bike ride. I do have a proper touring bike (thanks to Andrew at Brodie!) and I have a general idea of how my new bike racks and panniers will be installed. I know what to pack, and have an idea of how I want to pack it. My tent packs well on my bike with the help of a couple of bungee cords. What has me a little worried is that I haven't done any shakedown rides to ensure that all the pieces will work WELL together. I will simply have to hit the ground running... or rolling to be more appropriate... and adapt to any challenges. That's what I'll have to do instead of being properly prepared... Once I have my bike unpacked and assembled in Sydney I will post pictures of it. To give you an idea of how my bike will look once it is ready to hit the road, here are some other touring bikes that I used for inspiration:

The "This is a knife" bike

... of course you'll need to occasionally sharpen your knife.

The Mule

For the Great Barrier Reef, the Scuba Bike

Some people have asked me why I chose to tour Australia. Well here is my answer: