Preparation

“Let’s get someone to stay in our house and travel for a year or a year and a half“, we said. “Let’s take the bikes and go to Alaska“, we said. “In fact, let’s start biking in Prudhoe Bay and head south. It will be fun” we said. Turns out, coming up with the idea was the easy part. I’m not complaining mind you. I’m thrilled that Sharon keeps coming up with these awesome, brilliant ideas. I’m more than happy to tag along. However, preparing to be away from home for 12-18 months, mostly traveling by bicycle turns out to be a big deal. So far we’ve spent several months getting ready to leave. We’re both ready to be done “getting ready.” In case you’re wondering what the prep looks like, here you go.

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Step #1 – Find trustworthy people to live in your house and take care of things. Check. Jack and Abby are awesome world travelers in their own right. We’ve gotten to know them through church and having spent time camping and hiking with them around northern AZ. They’ll be making our house their home and we couldn’t be happier with the arrangement.

Step #2 – Empty the house. While they will use some of our furniture, Jack and Abby have their own belongings and furnishings. Imagine getting ready to move – without actually moving. That’s what we’ve been doing for the past several months. It’s also been an excellent opportunity to do some major purging. Lot’s of toys, furniture and little used possessions have gone on the auction block. This has the double benefit of clearing space and funding our adventure. Quite a bit more has gone to local thrift stores. While there is some stress and hassle involved, downsizing is such a freeing experience.

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Step #3 – Finish home projects. You know all those little jobs around the house that need doing? Why put off ’til tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow, right? Well, when someone else is moving in they kind of need to get done. Unfortunately, it has been a little like playing “Whack-A-Mole”. Every time I finish one project, two more pop up.

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Step #4 – “Get the gear!” We already have all the gear – or so you’d think. However, Prudhoe bay is far north of the arctic circle and home to some truly heinous weather. Years ago when I spent a “summer” working there, it actually snowed in the middle of July. Thus, it seemed prudent to make sure we’re ready for cold, wet weather. Enter the famous KB Gear Skunk Works Laboratory. So far the Lab has churned out a new bike rack on the trailer, new rain mitts, rain booties, waterproof helmet covers, rain pants, softshell tights, waterproof seat covers, bike stands, eye masks for the 24 hour sun, just to name a few. Hopefully now that we’ve “got the gear” – we won’t need it.

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Step #5 – Food. One of the benefits of bike touring is that normally food is readily available in towns along the way…normally. In this case, it is 250 miles from Prudhoe Bay to the first tiny foothold of civilization. It is another 250 miles to Fairbanks. Basically what that means is that we need to make and carry food for the first two weeks of our trip. Since we make our own ‘backpacking’ food, it is just one more thing that needs doing.

Step #6 – Enable remote access to finances. Apparently life doesn’t stop just because we’ve decided to move a ways off the grid. Fortunately modern technology makes this far easier than in days of yore when we did our first long trip. I already do all of our finances online. Unfortunately it is almost all tied to our desktop computer. That’s meant some long hours setting up cloud and mobile based applications, as well as getting all our passwords into a password manager. Naturally all this “gee whiz” tech doesn’t always play nicely together. Nevertheless, we should be able to get enough cell coverage and wifi to stay as connected as we need to be.

Step #7 – Packing. It’s one thing to pack for a weekend get away, or for a two week vacation. It’s something entirely different when you plan on being gone for more than a year – and a significant portion of that time will be spent on two wheels. Granted – there’s always Amazon – but Jeff Bezos won’t be much help when a spoke breaks 100 miles from the nearest town if I don’t have a spare or the means to replace it. So we’ve spent a fair amount of time putting together the tools and spares we are likely to need – keeping in mind we have a very finite amount of space. And keeping in mind that we have to carry it all. Same goes for clothes. We’re trying to find that perfect balance between having everything we need – without overloading ourselves with stuff we don’t.

Step #8 – Logistics. We are leaving Flagstaff in Bumpy3 with the Tardis in tow. This is quite luxurious by our standards. But what to do with our home away from home when we transition to two wheels? We needed to find some safe place to park for four to five months. We checked in with friends. Sharon made countless phone calls to storage facilities and RV storage lots. Nothing was working out or made sense. Eventually we connected with an awesome couple on the Warmshowers website. They have a large lot and are willing to allow us a lengthy parking spot.

Step #9 – Say goodbye. “Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” Saying goodbye is hard, but is an inevitable part of travel. We’re taking every opportunity to connect with folks here in Flagstaff, as well as family and friends scattered around the southwest. Fortunately the number of vaccinated folks continues to climb, and the generally nice weather has allowed outdoor meet ups.

That’s about it. I’m sure I’m missing something – which is why Sharon insists that I make lists. Currently mid-April is still our tentative launch date. Our flight arrives in Deadhorse on June 2nd. As I have opportunity, and as we have something worth noting, I will attempt to post once a week. If you haven’t already done so, you can sign up to get email notifications of new posts. Directions are on the bottom of the page. We’re looking forward to taking you on the trip with us. Hope we can make it interesting for you.