October, 2009 Give and Take G Saturday, October 31st, 2009 Before embarking on our journey, we blithely lived in the land of "everything you could ever need or want, 24 hours a day" and completely took it for granted. While preparing to leave, if I couldn't... Stealthy G Friday, October 30th, 2009 This evening was the most blatantly public free-camp we've ever attempted, easily trumping our most daring nighttime caper so far: sleeping in the middle of a highway. After a breezy fifty kilometer... Merino Wool G Thursday, October 29th, 2009 It keeps you warm when it is cold. It keeps you cool when it is hot. It dries almost instantly. You can sweat in it all day for weeks at a time without washing and still it won't smell. I remembe... Sicily at Last G Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 We took it slowly this morning, making crepes for the first time in what felt like ages. When we set out, we were hoping against hope for a flat day but of course, it was anything but! Like yesterd... Southbound Again G Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 We took two trips this morning, both of us pushing one bike at a time up the steep and very slick winding road we'd descended last night to arrive at our seaside free-camp. The climbing didn't end t... Free Camp Fun G Monday, October 26th, 2009 Our first free-camp was on the second night of our trip. We hauled our panniers by hand through the woods to a well hidden clearing and then returned for our bicycles, trudging through the brush in ... Blown Away G Sunday, October 25th, 2009 Tara: Lately, when we have a few days off it takes a bit of mental cajoling to get back into the groove of cycling. Already feeling a little reluctant to leave the comforts of civilization behind, w... Hotel Comforts G Saturday, October 24th, 2009 After our highway stealth camp, Tara's grandparents sent us another donation(!) insisting that we spend a night in a nice hotel! Following an awe-inspiring storm two days ago we decided to take them... Database Live G Saturday, October 24th, 2009 We started this trip by simply recording our GPS coordinates every night and maintaining a budget in excel. Over the last six months we've added all sorts of features to our website that we didn't o... Epic Storm G Friday, October 23rd, 2009 When the alarm went off this morning I could scarcely hear its persistent beeping over the noise outside. A train screamed by, shaking the ground beneath us, and the natural world seemed to be engag... What Rain? G Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 Bring it on nature! When it was time to pack our things in the rain this morning neither of us even flinched. Not soon after we left, the drizzle turned into a fierce downpour that didn't fully let... Run-Ins G Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 Our first run-in of the day was with a man in an ANAS van (the Italian highway maintenance service) shortly after leaving our seaside free-camp. He stopped us about 10km into a long ascent and did h... Feeling Capable G Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 When we groggily awoke to rain pattering on our tent roof, we promptly rolled over, slept in, and let nature run its course. Thankfully by 9AM the gray sheet of clouds had drifted out to sea, taking... Peaceful Day G Monday, October 19th, 2009 From an outsider's perspective, cycle touring may seem like a romantic, leisurely and relaxing way to take a vacation. There's the beautiful scenery, the wind in your hair, the open road, and the fr... South for Winter G Sunday, October 18th, 2009 We've been contemplating several different routing possibilities to wrap up our tour of Italy for several days now. Today, as we approached the point where the roads diverged and decision-making bec... Short Day G Saturday, October 17th, 2009 Saying goodbye to Melodie and Alex this morning felt very premature. We would have loved to spend more time with them but unfortunately, we're all headed in opposite directions. Before parting ways... Fast Friends G Friday, October 16th, 2009 Surprisingly when our alarm went off at 6:30 this morning, neither of us wanted to budge from our highway free-camp! Our tent had become a cozy, warm little den; a thick carpet of pine needles benea... Noisy Naples G Thursday, October 15th, 2009 Tara: Before leaving our volcanic campground we stopped for breakfast at the bar/shop on site. As we ate we noticed there were several cats wandering around (at least seven by our count!). One of t... Full of Surprises G Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 We've had our share of interesting rodent encounters on the road but this morning easily topped them all. While groping around for my shoes at 4am to go to the bathroom I felt something… furr... October's Bright Blue Weather G Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 The warmth and manic weather (repeated bouts of sun alternating with downpours) of the past few days have passed, leaving a distinct drop in temperature and crisp, clear skies. It is the quintessent... Making Jam G Monday, October 12th, 2009 Since today was our day off, I decided to make some jam with an unfortunate batch of fruit: two mealy oranges and three mushy, tasteless prune plums. First I peeled the oranges (roughly, with a kni... Changes G Sunday, October 11th, 2009 Since our last really crappy cycling day (on Elba), we have thought and talked a LOT about what we need to ensure our trip stays enjoyable rather than devolving into ceaseless hard work. What it rea... Just us Chickens G Saturday, October 10th, 2009 This morning began with a quiet thunder rumbling in the distance. Instead of ignoring the faint percussion, leaving our comfort to chance, I sprang to attention, shook Tyler awake and together we to... Riding Sicker G Friday, October 9th, 2009 Last night, as we were too tired to put our food away properly, Tyler said, "in the REAL wild, we'd have to be a lot more careful about what we do with our food, or animals would come and eat it." W... Riding Sick G Thursday, October 8th, 2009 One of the few downsides to free-camping near the ocean is a tent completely covered with dew in the early morning hours before the sun comes up. Our spot was so good last night we opted to sleep wi... Journal Update G Thursday, October 8th, 2009 We've received several emails over the past few months with people requesting an easy way to read our journal from start to finish rather than hunting through dates on the navigation pane. I've put ... Taking Care of Business G Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 I was surprised to find myself enjoying our ride this morning as we made our way out of the tangled mess that is Roman traffic. The shoulder, if you could call it that, was a huge line of haphazardl... Camp Chair: Walkstool Comfort G Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 My dad took our family camping every summer when I was growing up. While researching what gear to bring on our trip I thought about those outings a lot. Planning a nomadic life turned out to be a s... Ancient History G Monday, October 5th, 2009 For our second trip into Rome we decided to make it a "short" day, focusing just on the Colosseum, the Roman Forums, and the Palatine. It is a good thing we didn't plan anything else! When we arriv... Resting in Rome G Sunday, October 4th, 2009 We spent most of the day in our tent at Seven Hills Campsite in Rome today. Tara is working on a new writing project and I, as usual, had tons of programming to catch up on. Camping Seven Hills... Roman Holiday G Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 We left from our tent quickly this morning in hopes that we wouldn't miss the 8:30 shuttle to the nearest train station. When we arrived at the "bus stop" area, it was obvious we hadn't needed to ru... Exped DownMat vs Therm-a-Rest ToughSkin G Friday, October 2nd, 2009 UPDATE: One of our ToughSkin sleeping mats de-laminated. Click here for more information. It was clear when we started preparing to cycle around the world that doing so would require giving up c... Six Months on the Road G Thursday, October 1st, 2009 A lot has changed since our plane landed in Scotland six months ago (in April- what were we thinking?!) We've packed more exciting events into these 184 days than either of us can believe. With eac...