Lesson 5: Pack light

On all of our bike tours, we have been totally self-contained. No sag-wagons to carry our gear; no pre-determined, pre-tested routes; and no other cyclists. Just the two of us, two bikes, panniers, and a bunch of maps. We spent 5 weeks in Europe back in 1995 living this way - truly a transformative experience. Of course, other things found their way into our pack: trashy novels (Mark), erudite intellectual novels (Laura), and the occasional bottle of single malt scotch for “emergencies” like the third flat tire of a rainy day. Since this gear has to be carried up every hill, crag, and mountain on our tour, sometimes covering 100 miles in a day, every ounce counts. That means polypropylene underwear, no blue jeans, and only 4 or 5 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, and 1 set of long pants for 42 days. Our stay in the NICU showed us that while we love our life in Athens, it is amazing how much of it we could leave behind for weeks at a time. Our jobs slid to the backburner.  We subsisted with one suitcase full of clothes, one bag of books, and a laptop for each of us, with nights spent in an inexpensive hotel room near the hospital. A 1 x 3 foot desk at the bedside for Mark, and none for Laura. Yet, it was more than sufficient, and we quickly adapted to this new, simpler rhythm. Our lives are cluttered with physical and mental detritus – packing light and keeping things simple is good practice.