Packing and Preparing, Part 1

Packing for a four-month bike tour is an interesting thing. We'll carry a tent for shelter. We'll bring different clothes to help us survive. Everything we bring matters. Even if we don't use it, we have to carry it. Previous bicycle tours and backpacking trips have taught me that lighter is better. Ray Jardine is right. Carrying less weight allows us to travel more efficiently and have more fun. But I've also realized that I'm not just packing for a bicycle tour--I'm packing for the next four months of my life. Do I need to bring my ukulele? No, but I probably will. I brought it on my last bike tour (2005's 1,500-mile Rocky Mountain Bicycle Expedition) and found it to be well worth its weight. Being a guitar player, I am used to playing my guitar everyday. But my guitar is heavy. So is my banjo. I thought about buying a mandolin, but didn't have enough money. I guess I'll save the mandolin for another tour.

I carry paper and pen because I never know when a good idea will come to me. I carry my ukulele because it gives me the means to create something, to solidify the musical ideas that are floating around in my mind.