Day 0: T-minus 10 hours…
So I wrote down the list of things to take on my trip and I realized that there were two kinds of things on it: highly idiosyncratic items that only I would take on a 2500 mile motorcycle trip, and thus not super useful to tell anyone about, and then on the other hand, incredibly generic stuff like a toothbrush and underwear. I don’t think anyone needs me to tell them to bring a toothbrush and underwear on their next trip across the Dakotas; if they do, they are beyond the help of this or probably any newsletter.Tank bag!
With those caveats in mind, and so you know this isn’t advice per se but just what one guy decided to take (including some last minute panic shopping), here is a non-exhaustive list of the things I’m taking. I have two hard cases totaling about 70 liters of storage on the bike, plus a tank bag for one of my cameras; the balance of stuff, if any, will go in a dry bag tied over the tail of the bike. About 100 liters of space, or the sum of one large (but not oversized) checked bag and one carry-on sized bag, if you’re thinking in airline terms.
There’s a part of me that thinks maybe camping on this trip is a bit of a hat on a hat situation, and I could just not. But, having the stuff with me also means that if I get stranded I have shelter and warmth and food, all of which are pretty important. Also, if I go to camp and I’m miserable, I can always find a shipping store, put it all in a box, and ship it home.
Then there’s a bunch of tools, which again, specifics will not help you because what is essential for my late model BMW will probably be useless for another bike. If I’d been doing this on my old Versys, for example, I wouldn’t need any Torx keys or bits, but practically every fastener on the F900 is some variety of Torx. I’m taking stuff to fix a flat, futz with fairings to add fluids, zip ties, and that’s about it. The bike just had an oil change, so it should be good for about 2x the mileage I’ll get through on this trip (6000 mile service interval, baybee).
Clothes and toiletries: this is both so general and so personal I don’t think I need to list anything. Again: if you need someone to tell you to pack socks, then perhaps you should choose another hobby.
Motorcycle gear: armored jacket, airbag vest, helmet, earplugs, moto boots. Sunglasses. A two small fuel bottles which I’ll fill up there, in case I run out. The bike has a range of about 200 miles unloaded, so I’m not super worried about it, but it’ll be nice to have a little insurance in the form of an extra 30 miles stashed away.
Tech: I was going to try to take just my iPad, made a custom keyboard for it and everything, but making selects on it is just a pain in the ass. If I shoot a couple hundred photos a day, that effort adds up. That and stuff like making backups of the work, knowing everything is copied, all that, is just easier with the laptop. So I’m taking my regular MacBook Pro, the custom keyboard I have for it (different than the iPad keyboard, it’s a sickness, I make them like some people bake) and an NVMe drive in an enclosure for backup. And a big ass battery, so hopefully I can make it a while between outlets.
Cameras: all of them. Leica and the 50 (not the noct though), 35, 21, and 15mm lenses. The Nikon Z8, the 24-70, the 105 and the 50 (adapted Canon L glass). OK, I’m lied, not all of them: I’m not bringing any film cameras, and the small camera (Ricoh GR X) is also staying home. This is a photo-forward trip. The Nikon and its lenses live in a tank bag that I bashed together from a ThinkTank camera cube and some stuff I had in the sewing studio; the Leica is coming in my little red bag, probably to live in one of the saddle bags when I don’t need it.
Sundries: A Garmin InReach Mini II, so Sophie doesn’t worry. Headphones. Ear plugs. A pocket-knife. Probably too many pairs of shoes (sandals, tennis shoes, and Moto boots). Not many photos in this one, but I’ll fix that tomorrow.