Pre-Trip Entries How We Did It G Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 I wanted to sit down with Tara and document how we got where we are today before it became a distant memory. As it turns out this was a great idea; it was incredibly difficult to remember accurately... Room to Breathe G Saturday, March 28th, 2009 For the past month or so, Tyler and I have taken turns having breakdowns and then supporting and encouraging each other through them. Tyler mainly worries about the massive workload he has to compl... Arnis de Mano White Sash Test G Saturday, March 14th, 2009 Tyler and I just tested for the first level of Arnis de Mano, white sash. This was unlike any white-belt test Ive seen or participated in. For starters, it was hard. It really was a test of my s... Final Preparation G Friday, March 13th, 2009 Tara and I spent the evening attending to some of the final details for the trip. We tore down the bikes, test fitted them in their boxes for the flight and divvied up the panniers into second hand ... Reflection G Thursday, March 12th, 2009 Before planning this journey a year seemed like a long time. It isn't. As the days and months fly by I have really come to realize what a short time we have here (on earth). There is so much that ... Food for Thought (and Tummies) G Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 Each time I cook something now, I think "I could make this on our trip!" During the day while I'm scanning files, I dream about what I'm going to cook for dinner so that I can make the most efficien... Another List: Things to Purchase/Do Upon Arrival G Saturday, February 14th, 2009 I've had all of these ideas of things we should buy and things we should do once we arrive in Scotland. They've been floating around in my head and I didn't want to forget any, so I decided to write... Overwhelmed? Make. A. List. G Thursday, February 5th, 2009 As Tara and I were driving home from visiting her parents last weekend I had a lot of time to think about all of the loose ends we need to tie up before we go. I started to get a little overwhelmed ... Training G Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 Tyler and I started taking Arnis de Mano lessons at Dual Dragons after it got too cold for biking so we could stay in shape until we leave. Last night we had the hardest workout I've ever experience... Portable Oven Update G Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 We found a fabrication company to run our portable oven prototype a few weeks ago and it was remarkably affordable! Many thanks to Orion @ KMT Waterjet for all the help. Their pricing and customer ... Arnis de Mano G Thursday, January 15th, 2009 When we started the process of moving and packing our exercising routine totally fell by the wayside. With only 75 days left before our trip, it is time to get back in shape! As my sore bum can att... Google Maps & Spot GPS G Sunday, January 11th, 2009 We received our Spot Satellite Messenger this week. I spent some time this weekend working with their sharing interface to set up a Google Map that will show our current/past locations on the home p... Around the World in 80 Days G Saturday, January 10th, 2009 Icannot believe our trip is only 80 days away. Sometimes I think about this whole process as being similar to pushing a boulder (not sure why you'd need to push a rock, but whatever…) It fel... Average Cost of Living G Saturday, December 27th, 2008 Want to know the price of a bus ticket in Hanoi, Vietnam, or a bottle of beer in Beirut, Lebanon? Estimating how much money to set aside for each country in the world can be a bit tricky, but I foun... Ultralight Camping Oven G Saturday, December 27th, 2008 Here is a screenshot from SolidWorks (a 3D CAD design program) of the assembly for our camping oven: Learning how to do 3D CAD design the last week or so has been an absolute blast, I feel like a... Backpacking Oven Prototype G Saturday, December 20th, 2008 Tara and I spent the morning baking bread and building a full sized prototype of our backpacking oven. We're missing vent holes on the bottom where the stove will be located and a porthole for a the... Backpacker Oven G Saturday, December 20th, 2008 Our backpacker oven arrived today and frankly it is pretty unimpressive. It is far from sturdy, the straps that hold it together when it is packed are useless (not as advertised either) and it doesn... Gardening on the Road? G Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 Right before I moved to Minnesota, I started growing potted plants and was pretty fiercely bitten by the gardening bug. (just a little advice for anyone thinking of moving in the near future: I sugg... Making a Fire in a -3°F Snowstorm G Monday, December 15th, 2008 …is ridiculously difficult, apparently. Tyler and I bundled up for another fire-making adventure- this time, on a snowy, -3 degree ("feels like -27") evening. Despite our best efforts, we we... Alcohol Stove Making: Part 2 G Monday, December 15th, 2008 I've really enjoyed tinkering with our penny alcohol stove over the past few weeks so I've decided to try some other designs. Up for today was the "Cat" a super low tech unpressurized stove. It has... Another 16 Hour Workday G Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 …eye on the prize. I can't wait to get out of here! ... Ooh Look! I made a fire! G Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 I've never made a fire before. With frigid fingers I gathered little grassy things and made a tinder. It's kind of like a nest. And then I gathered little pieces of birch bark, small twigs, bigger... Going Slowly: Biking & Baking G Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 When Tyler suggested we change the name of our website from "advriding" to "goingslowly," I heartily agreed. Going Slowly fits our trip much better than Adventure Riding does. For me, this trip is ... Vaccinations Lookup Chart G Thursday, November 20th, 2008 We just finished putting together a handy Vaccination Lookup Chart that will let you look up any country in a few seconds. Hopefully this will help somebody besides us :) ... Rain Gear (Showers Pass) G Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 The rain gear we want for the trip is terribly expensive so we've been hunting for deals the last few weeks. Last night Tara discovered Team Estrogen (already the most affordable vendor for Showers... Happy Anniversary to Us! G Saturday, November 15th, 2008 We celebrated our one-year anniversary of being together with a trip to the cities to get vaccinated. This was not my ideal way of celebrating, but it does have its perks, like being able to rest ea... On Getting Vaccinations G Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 We just paid nearly $400 each for someone to make our arms very very sore. …well, mine are anyway, Tara seems to be fine! Ow. ... Ultralight Alcohol Stove G Monday, November 10th, 2008 Tara and I spent all day Saturday working on what was supposed to be a fun learning experience making emergency backup stoves. To our surprise what we wound up with works better than our WhisperLite... Winter Camping G Sunday, November 9th, 2008 If someone were to ask me, say six months ago, if I would go camping in 20 degree weather, four days in a row, the answer would be a resounding "absolutely not." That is, though, exactly what we hav... Vaccinations G Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 I just spent the last 3 hours on the phone with various travel clinics in Minnesota trying to put together pricing for our immunizations, what a nightmare. It boggles the mind how much bureaucratic n... Updated Route Plan G Thursday, October 30th, 2008 Not much has changed on our proposed route but costs continue to fall as the US dollar gains on foreign currencies and we re-evalulate what we think we can live on. Here is our plan as of today. ... REI Extravaganza! G Sunday, October 26th, 2008 What a wonderful, wonderful day! After sleeping in, waking up to beautiful sunny weather (the first sunny day in awhile…), and puttering around in the kitchen making hash browns and biscuits f... Bicycle Boxes G Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 I picked up our bicycle boxes from the airport today; they are huge! Five months should be plenty of time to test tearing the bikes down/putting them back together :) Nothing much else to report, ... Selling Everything G Sunday, October 12th, 2008 Moving We are spending the weekend boxing up what few belongings we want to keep and giving, selling or throwing away everything else. Unsurprisingly it is very cathartic. We are almost done sorting... Simplifying G Sunday, October 12th, 2008 Our trip around the world is fast approaching. While I feel very excited about everything now, I was pretty stressed out about it a couple of days ago. One moment I was baking in the kitchen, takin... Buying Tickets G Thursday, October 9th, 2008 This week we found a renter for the house. With the final big step for leaving out of the way it was time to order the plane tickets. We pulled up a few websites to look at prices and managed to find... Commuting G Monday, September 29th, 2008 I've been biking to and from work lately, and I love it. It's very peaceful to have some time to myself before I have to begin the work day, and it is equally rejuvenating to have some time to relax... Summer Biking G Sunday, August 31st, 2008 We had a goal of riding at least 10 miles a day every day this summer. Although we didn't get out every single day we did have a lot of great weekend / weeknight rides. Late night grocery shoppin... Actually Riding G Friday, June 6th, 2008 More information on that later today! ... Updated Route Plan G Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 It has become apparent that there is no way we can save for this trip in time for a November departure. Rather than wait another year (we were hoping to ride west through the seasons in a way that w... Updated Route Plan G Monday, April 7th, 2008 More changes here… the route is starting to shape up a bit. ... Tara's Green Frame G Monday, April 7th, 2008 ... Updated Route Plan G Friday, March 28th, 2008 More route planning updates… I wonder if we'll even follow this thing once we get out there? Even if we don't, this is fun anyway! Here is our plan as of today. ... What's the Skinny? G Friday, March 28th, 2008 A couple weeks ago, after a little bit of bike drama, my hand-crafted wheel set arrived from Peter White Cycles. I'll let Tyler write about the Peter White drama if he wants to. I'm just excited to ... Route Planning G Monday, February 25th, 2008 Here is a very rough outline of the trip. ... My Purple Bike Frame G Monday, February 11th, 2008 I just received a phone call from the powder-coaters (it is powder -coaters, right? not power-coaters? Well whatever. It should be power-coaters… I want my bike just covered in POWER) and ... "I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm..." G Friday, February 8th, 2008 …which elevates me to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillize the mind as a steady purpose a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye." Mary Wollstonecraft She... The Road Awaits G Thursday, February 7th, 2008 Every morning I look at my bike and my longing for this trip gets stronger. I can't wait to give up life as I know it in favor of the road in a strange country with no worries except where I am goin... Southeast Asia - 2009 G Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 …on a bicycle. I'll building up two touring bikes for us over the first half of 2008. My frame arrived last week and I sent it off to the powdercoaters to get rid of that ugly green. I'm... This Time Next Year... G Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 We will be exploring the ruins of Buddhist temples at Angkor Wat, in Cambodia. Hopefully elephant-riding and talking to ancient incense-sellers will happen as well.Smiling at Buddha's feet.Tyler, let...