Ready To Go

veggie 2 go ... gone dizzy

The Beauty

Maybe I should change my name to Dizzy or Dizzie... Over the last few weeks I've been dizzy - not busy - packing and biking.

I've discovered a new progression: busy - dizzy - crazy.
So, according to this, I should still be on the sane side of things. Nevertheless dizzy.


Although my travel plans initially started as a trekking trip to Asia and possibly South America, as soon as I decided to participate in the Tour d'Afrique that took precedence and I found myself deep in the tour preparations with no previous knowledge or experience in bike touring. Just another crash-course for me.

I have misjudged the effort and eventually got to do things at the last minute and miss some other important things.
If I read 3 books on Utah and the America Southwest for a 1 week trip to Utah some years ago, but I only managed to go through 3/4 of a travel guide on Nepal for a 4 months trip, you can imagine how unprepared I feel. And how much room there is for adventure :-)

This year has started under the sign of adventure. On New Year's Eve my best friend and I were drinking real champagne in a small tent nearby Whistler in the midst of a snowstorm - "To a wonderful year full of adventure!". Well, be careful what you wish for. So far adventure did not miss ...

Ready For Tour d'Afrique

Back to the trip preparations...
Every possible small thing that could go wrong, did. Nothing close to a disaster, but so much frustration and so little sleep.

The last bike ride ended in the bike shop with the rear brake cable almost totally broken. The new tires arrived the day after packing the bike. The first bike box was too small.
I've been selecting my profile picture at 4 am, serving edamame at 5 pm and refueling on chocolate in the bathtub at 6:30 am.
I lost my keys, baked the saltiest fruit cake in the world and burned a pot to death - just a few of my achievements during all this dizziness.


But...
I have awesome friends and a very supportive family. And the gatherings to say good-bye, the ice-cream after yoga and the picnic on the beach at sunset more than compensated for all the stressful moments.

And I have also learned not to even try to look through the camera's viewfinder with my bike helmet on. Either my camera or my head would take damage :-)

A more detailed view of the packed stuff can be seen here.