First post and thoughts on planning (or lack thereof)

So here it goes, the first post and a small step forward in starting the new adventure.

There’s a certain thrill in the organising of a trip like this. Burrowing deep into the details brings a sense of control to what is by its nature a deeply uncertain endevour. The planning also sucks you into the trip before it even starts. You get to fantasise about the different scenarios that you might encounter and the people you might meet. Nevermind that you couldn’t possibly conceive of what will happen (that’s the whole point of the thing anyway, isn’t it?) and that you lack the basic experience required to imagine what really might take place. Well, I certainly do as someone that has never done a long distance bike tour and who’s only experience of Africa is South Africa and Namibia as a child.

Either way, I haven’t had much time to delight in planning this trip. Partly because I’ve recently had a joint reconstruction on my thumb and I was firmly told not to touch the bike until two days before I leave. Partly because I’ve been working a lot recently trying to wrap up everything in a neat little bow before I leave. And part of it is plain old procrastination - this whole thing is so big that it’s sometimes hard to know where to the start. People (you!) are asking for a website already so this is as good a place to start as any.

So, five weeks out from my leaving date BoB is laying idle with flat tyres and handlebars that are definitely too narrow to be comfortable for a long distance trip. I managed to put a big hole in my panniers (made in the 80’s before I was born) that a coworker was kind enough to donate to me. A friend at the repair cafe that I volunteer at was kind enough to hand stich a denim patch onto them for some structural support and I’m going to put a water bed patch on either side to waterproof it - hopefully it will work! I still don’t have a frame bag or front panniers.

Maybe it’s because I’ve done some overlanding before or maybe it’s because I’m looking for an excuse for procrastination, but I’m really not in a hurry to fix this. I’m more interested in seeing people, party planning and wrapping up work than researching the latest gear. All power to you if that’s your thing but I think there’s a real risk of overplanning or at least overvaluing planning before the trip.

The plan is essentially to start the trip in Munich with the bare minimum and use the European leg as a kind of shakedown to see what work and what doesn’t about my setup and buy and upgrade along the way anything that I need. I’m sure I’m going to curse this lack of planning at some point in the next few months, but future me always seems to have something to gripe about so I’m going to leave him to it.

So there it is, the first post of a chronicle of an amazing adventure and one of the most eventful years of my life.

Cheers, Jason and a slightly deflated BoB