People often ask how difficult it is to pack for six weeks on a motorcycle. It’s pretty easy when you get in the groove. Simplicity is the watchword. Oh, and quick-dry fabrics.
On the bike
Camping gear:
Camping in the Redwoods, Crescent City, CA
- tent
- rain fly
- sleeping bag
- yoga mat (for yoga and a sleeping ground pad)
- tiny flashlight on a carabiner hanging from the apex of my tent
- pepper spray (until the Canadian customs agent confiscated it)
- small waterproof flashlight (could forego with my smart phone’s flashlight app but I like it)
- dutch oven
- fork-knife-spoon set
- cooking spoon and spatula
- cooking ring, fuel, matches
- squeeze bottles of oil, Bragg’s, Balsamic vinegar
- camping pillow (the kind you can squish down to nothing)
- microfiber body towel
- toiletries
- tool kit
- first aid kit
Motorcycle gear
- computer, ipod, smart phone, cameras
- front and rear tire inner tubes
- chain lube
- plastic cleaner and microfiber towel
- map book
- jacket
One of the dozen ways to wear a Buff
- boots
- pants and rain/cold liner
- helmet
- heated jacket
- 3 pr gloves, of which I only wore 2 (and one not much at all)
- silk liners for the gloves in case my heated grips were insufficient
- 3 Buffs — I should be a Buff spokesperson for the many ways I’ve used them!
- Camelback
- 2 pr of compression shorts
- 2 sports bras
- 3 short-sleeved performance shirts and 1 long-sleeved
- 3 pr motorcycle socks
- cooling vest (dunk in water, wear)
- 2 cooling neckbands (dunk in water, wear)
Non-bike clothes
- pair of jeans
Sporting the long-sleeve hooded t-shirt and sundress/nightgown. Cat sold separately.
- PJs (un-necessary but nice)
- 2 pr underwear
- 1 bra
- 2 tank tops with built-in bras
- zip-up knit jacket
- long-sleeve tshirt with hood
- sandals
- combination sundress/nightgown
- 5 t-shirts (3 too many)
- denim vest
- yoga shorts
- crushable sunhat
- sunglasses
- skort
- small purse (I knit it!)
Soundtrack
See my little Nano dangling from the bra strap? Believe it or not, I didn’t own an iPod until about two weeks before I left. No time to go through scratched CDs, I downloaded a friend’s CAKE collection and want to especially recommend these songs:
- War Pigs (Live version), when you really wanna get it and go
- The Guitar Man, for the mellow sweepers
- I Will Survive, when you’re running out of gas
- Race Car YaYas, for heavy traffic
- Rock’n’Roll Lifestyle, for SoCal roads
- Comfort Eagle, when off-roading hills
Audio books
- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
- Me Talk Pretty One Day
- The Glass Castle
- Moscow Rules
- River in the Sky
- The Inimitable Jeeves
- A Palm for Mrs Pollifax
- Laughter of Dead Kings
- Lake Wobegon Summer, 1956
- The Triumph of Caesar
- Confessions of an Economic Hitman (still listening)
- The Odyssey (still listening)