Thursday, July 9, 2009

Motorcycle Travel - Pack Light!

"Everything I need for the week is packed on my bike, or it's not coming" Many a rider, BMW MOA Forum.

FingerLakes 173
If I were traveling alone, and staying in a hotel, I might be able to agree with this quote. But as a I drop off 30 lbs of gear with UPS I can only laugh at the idea of being away from home for a week, traveling two up and being able to carry everything I need. Need? Did I say need? What do two people need for a week away from home? Well if those people are me and my kiddo...here is what we shipped to the rally site:

  • queen size air mattress, and pump

  • blanket and sheet

  • two bath towels, two hand towels

  • a tarp for the afternoon thundershowers

  • clothes for 2 - shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, sandles

  • rain poncho

  • flash light, bug spray

  • box-o-wine

  • tent stakes

  • Tiki Wine Cup

Here is what what we'll take on the bike:

  • two full sized folding chairs, with drink holders. Sure some people would leave these home, but there is only so much roughing it we can take!

  • 2 person tent (technically 4 person)

  • DSLR camera - 1 lens (no room for the big camera bag)

  • We each have a point & shoot camera

  • My new 10.1 Acer netbook - the full sized laptop was out of the question, but the little netbook, has a little case for it too.

  • rain gear - jacket/pants, boots, rubber gloves for two, that's half a bag.

  • spare faceshield

  • extra gloves

  • a few bottles of water

  • power supplies for 3 cameras & two cell phones.

  • sun screen

  • an overnight bag for the stop in Harrisburg

  • Garmin

  • an atlas

  • bunch of other stuff in the tank bag

So much for traveling light...I need a trailer!

Thank you so much for the kind souls who have hit the paypal button and helped us out with gas for the trip!

Give us a wave if you see us!

7 comments:

Runner said...

box-o-wine...good for you! See you in Beemerville next week!

Derek said...

Ride safe and have fun.

Lucky said...

Thanks for posting your packing list. It's always interesting to compare what others are packing with my own list. In my case, there's the SLR with two lenses (Sony Alpha 350), a small point-n-shoot Sony, and a Sony Camcorder. One of my problems was always packing three different chargers/power adapters for the cameras - but then I found a universal charger about the size of a cassette tape on eBay for $20. It even works off 12v - so I can charge my camera batteries in my tankbag while I'm logging miles.

Cheers,
Lucky

Lucky said...

Oh... and I forgot to mention. If you're serious about getting a trailer, I highly recommend the Monogo.

http://www.monogo.com/

Very light, low center of gravity, and excellent weight distribution that doesn't overload your rear suspension.

Oh, and it's cheap compared to other one-wheel trailers, $995CDN plus the cost of the hitch.

Cheers,
Lucky

Baron's Life said...

actually this a good packing list...thanks for sharing it...always interesting to see and learn how other people pack/travel

The Oracle said...

Gotta love netbooks - they were made for motorcycle touring. I love my Dell Inspiron Mini 9.

Unknown said...

Great stuff! I saw you at the Green Mountain Rally in Ripton, VT in 2008, although I don't think we actually met. Your story and photographs in American Motorcyclist were inspirational! I look forward to hearing about your future adventures.

Tyler Yandow
BMWMOV/BMWMOA
www.tyleryandowmotorcycleworld.wordpress.com
www.yandowarchitects.com