On February 27th at 12:40 we will take off from Manchester Airport to fly to Oaklands International Airport, San Francisco to start our 2 year trip around the Americas on our bikes. That is less than 6 months away; it is such a crazy thought.
Just for the record; I have never done anything like this before. I remember that after Sixth Form I wanted to go backpacking around Europe with some school mates as part of my gap year. Most of them went but I stayed home to work in a factory. While during the summer holidays at uni there were great ideas of travelling around the States or hoping on a train and heading off into Europe then Africa before coming back the next year. Again, friends went but I just found myself working in a shop up in Durham, a bus ride from my family home.
But in less than 6 months time we’ll be flying out to California to start our trip. And do you know what, I’m nervous and I have pretty much no clue what to expect. Loads of questions keep popping into my head:
- How do you find a safe, comfortable place to wild camp?
- What do we do if something goes wrong?
- Will we have enough money?
- How do I know if I actually like cycle touring?
At the moment I can’t answer most of these questions and there is a voice in my head that says “You know what Tommy Boy, this was a nice idea but give it up and just stay in Sheffield, stay in your job and stay nice and safe with these questions unanswered”. However, I am really bored of that voice and I hate the fact that that voice calls me Tommy Boy. So that voice can do one, I want some answers and in six months time I’ll start getting some!
5 September 2014 @ 9:04 am
You can do it Tommy!! You're a hard working, solving problems kind of person. What happens when there's an incessant beeping noise in the middle of the night? Katy hides under the duvet, Tom googles and fixes the problem. You'll work out your answers as you go along! Xxx
5 September 2014 @ 9:15 am
Thank you for the vote of confidence Katy, but what happens when I can't access search engines? Oh, there's those questions again, go do one stupid head.
5 September 2014 @ 9:35 am
Between you, you'll work out a plan. It's not all about search engines, you'll logic your way to a solution! All that thinking out of the box that you do at work will come very in handy.