"No, no, I MUST have my 5" heels"

When packing for a trip, people have their “must have” items. While I was packing for this trip, I realized the items that I just can’t do without may be deemed frivolous by some. Then again, maybe not. However, to me, they are practical

Tweezers - I can NOT have ugly eyebrows. I may have to woo a random cow in a country field
Nail File - Haggard jagged nails? Not on my watch
Make Up - Why yes, yes I do need to have bright red lips on this trip. Again, cow, field, woo.
Sunblock -It’s a given for a lot of people. When you have tattoos, it becomes a sort of religion to keep sunblock on your ink
Razor - I refuse to have hairy pits or legs. Little known fact: cows do NOT like body hair. Plus, Greg doesn’t like it either, can’t say that I blame him.
Moleskine - I draw, therefore I am

For those of you who know me, trust, if I could find a practical reason for bringing a pair of heels, I would. But I can't justify getting cow shit on my favorite leather Mary Janes

Getting stuff packed and stuff

Mel and I stepped on a scale with our fully-loaded bikes yesterday and things got real. We are going to be carrying about 110 pounds of stuff between us plus the bikes themselves are each about 30 pounds. It really gets you thinking about which belongings are important when you have to carry it all yourself. It's pretty easy math actually. Live out of a tent with all your belongings and you will carry as little as possible. Drive a huge car and live in a huge house and your belongings will collect to fill the space. Our space includes four bags each hanging from racks on the bike plus one bag each on our handlebars. And that space is filled.

Stuff and stuff

Tent - check

Sleeping bags - check

Pillows - check

Sleeping pads - check

Camping stove - check

Some rice and snacks to get us started - check

Rain jacket and pants - check

A few changes of clothing each - check

Laptop - check

Kindles and iPhones - check

Bike lock and cable - check

Tools, pump, patch kit, and spare tubes - check

Spare spokes - check

Ibuprofen - check

Water bottles - check

Guitalele - check

Now we are seeing what we can do to scale things down a bit. Do we really each need four pairs of socks? Three layers or four for warmth? How much shampoo and soap?

Pre flight-to-Europe update

...

Metaphorically, my steps in life are hurdling in lightning quick leaps and bounds like the great sprinter Carl Lewis, towards a finish line I can’t quite comprehend yet. The stress of packing your worldly possessions for 5 months, begging your mom to watch your demonic cat, planning a very long Europe bicycle trip, and oh yeah, get married, can kind of numb you to the excitement you should be feeling. I’m sure you think “Seriously Mel? You ungrateful hag”. As a result of all the above mentioned hoopla, I and my attached brain, have been full of a lot of static....

So here’s the update. As of March 18th, we are now ninja partners against the world. We enjoyed a very tiny civil ceremony on a pier in San Francisco; we’re talking parents, and a witness. His good friend,ordained in the Church of the Latter Day Dude (Big Lebowski fans rejoice), happily married us in a simple 10min “do you?”, “do you?”-BAM- “kiss” sort of gig. There was joy, there was tears, there was no seagulls using us as target practice. It was simple. It was perfect.

As of today, all of our stuff, minus what little we could stuff into bike bags for the next 5 months, is in storage at Greg’s gracious mother’s house . As mentioned above, my bi-polar demonic cat was driven down in our 64 bug to Riverside (a lovely 10 hour slow drive) to stay with my mother. The task of sorting, packing, and disposing of stuff, a mere few days after our union, was in short, crappy. But it’s done, and we now have the next 3 days to do nothing, and I mean sit-on-my-ass-in-front-of-the-tv-with-beers nothing. We are both breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Difficult decisions of what to carry around Europe and what to put in storage

This unassuming little shed now holds our pirate's booty

It helps that we don't have big kid things like a couch or dining table...but the 6 bikes between us might seem a bit excessive to some

For the most part, we are ready to go. I don’t think I’ve fully grasped the extent of how many miles my undercarriage will end up making sweet love to that bike saddle; we’re thinking 2,500+. The excitement hasn’t quite hit me yet (due to all the activity), and I don’t think it will until the day we’re leaving. I am quite surprised in myself to say I don’t feel scared riding into the unknown. My biggest fear thus far is hoping my body will hold up.