Head Start for “The Shed” while we are still working hard

Man! This weekend was manic, we had so much to do and so little time to do it in. I thought it would not be possible to get it all done but we did it all and its mainly down to calling upon, and receiving loads of help from family and friends.

First part of the weekend was to finally pack "the shed" up ready for export to Canada. It was very odd sticking stuff into the panniers knowing that the next time we see all this would be under Canadian skies….. I was to be proven very wrong on this over sentimental thought. We packed all sorts for camping, toiletries, medication, spare parts, and the mountain of shoes, even a couple of camping chairs. Press the video link to see it on you tube.

The next step was to take "the shed" out of the garage for the trip to Heathrow airport. Very heavy now indeed, maybe too much gear I am thinking.

The journey was uneventful with a planned 10 minute stop at Fleet services on the M3 to …. well to er…. have a chat! Sandra followed in our car so we had transport back. Sandra knowing full well we had set off too early and saw through my so called planning.

We have chosen James Cargo to send the bike to Vancouver , what a nice experience it all was, unhurried with plenty of chat and advice. Other people exporting bikes too which led to a natural camaraderie that travellers see all the time, and we haven't even left England yet.

"The Shed" will be stuck in a create and sent off. Mind you we had to remove all the dangerous goods in order to be safe. I was completely unaware that a small tube of rubber solution could cause so much fuss. I admitted to having a mattress patching kit with a small amount of glue in it and a small tube of loc tight. Both glues have very small words on them "dangerous substance" so rather than causing issues in customs and causing a delay it was safer to remove them. Both where at the very bottom of the panniers so I got to see all our careful packing undone and everything was just stuffed back in.

The next part of the weekend was moving all our worldly goods into storage, This involved hiring a truck, packing up and travelling nearly 300 miles to drop off the stuff in families garages and lofts.

This impossible task was only possible with help from my son who, on his 18th birthday, volunteered to carry out this boring task. Similarly it was a few days earlier explaining the issues to my best friend Richard, who without a moment's hesitation drove some 100 miles to help out. Thanks lads this could not have been done without you.

Thanks as well to all the family and friends who helped when we arrived up north, Lucy, Dave and a big thanks to Patrick too.

Back Home the reality bites, Our house is empty and we will be leaving it soon. Both Sandra and I are a little sad about this as we have had a great 2 years in it and have loads of very good memories. Will it be the same when we return? Will we be the same?

What's left to do? Sandra is working hard getting all the work done around the house in preparation for new tenants. I am still at work trying to earn a few extra quid for the trip. Tickets are booked, passports renewed, insurance obtained, things seem to be in order.
In a few days time all will be done, then its time (almost) to relax a little. We have a couple of parties to attend in our honour, All of which are back up in the north of England, (Middlesbrough and Preston), In between we can chill. No bike to rebuild, no house to prepare, no work to go to, just chilling. We plan to spend a few days in the old city of York which will hopefully be sufficient to hit the big red stress reset button.

Its real now and I can't wait. I can't wait to spend all that time with Sandra enjoying everything around us, meeting people seeing landscapes, solving problems and riding our bike……… I'm ready let's go!

Packing … unpacking and working out (for working out read “drinking beer")

Well we are nearly sorted (I keep saying that). As Sandra has mentioned we have had our practice pack of the bike, which went well except that we missed out a lot of stuff (shoes) out, and when the real deal came along oddly enough we had twice as much. The "Shed" is now stuffed with all our equipment and frankly weighs more than a small bus. So we are going to do a re-think prior to us sending her to the shipping company. This company is located in Heathrow and we have to deliver the shed with all paperwork fully packed and ready to go. This means almost draining the tank of fuel which fortunately I have made provision for when I put the big tank on, the battery has to be disconnected and that's about it. The company will crate her up and stick it on a 747 to Vancouver. We in the mean time have to finish packing our other processions up and move them to storage. This involves hiring a massive truck and going on a bit of a road trip as all our "stuff" is being stored in the North of England.
Just a few more days at work for me and already I have said my goodbyes to one or two work colleagues who won't be here next week. Its going to be really odd not working but quiet frankly I can not wait to leave, not for any other reason than I just want to get going.
Mental preparation for me has been reading as many travel adventure books I can find. My personal favourite is Lois on the Loose, a great read and Lois doesn't bog you down with too much detail. We are following her route (kind of anyway) so it's very useful to us and very funny too….. Recommended.
Physical preparation has seen me visiting the gym twice a day and running half marathons every month………………….. or was it just visits to the pub. Either way, I am in peak physical condition and can actually get the bike onto its centre stand as long as I have good rest afterwards.
Everyone who has been on such a trip tells me that body mass reduces significantly as your system gets used to less food. So I made it my intention to "bulk up" in order to survive the trip. I may however, have overdone this a little.

I just want to get going now.

Editors note
Please note that any mention in this blog to physical preparation is solely in the mind of the author and should not be viewed as been factually correct or even remotely correct ….. In fact it's a lie.

Things change, deadlines develop and excitement mounts

Well, what a difference a day makes. To be honest we where getting a bit bogged down with the final touches to the adventure and things where getting a little fraught. Doing all this “adventure stuff” seems pointless unless you are enjoying everything including the preparation.. A decision in a pub over a pint of larger sorted everything out. A trip like this needs some full time attention and neither of us could afford the time to do it well, This led to frustration In short we decided that Sandra should quit her job earlier than planned and from that moment everything changed.

We are now back on track and loving every moment of the preparation.. I can’t wait to finish work now and get stuck in. Sandra is now rattling through lists quicker than I can generate them and things are really getting done.

What else do I need to tell you about, I made a major cock up with travel insurance spent nearly a £1000 on what effectively is non valid health insurance if travelling on a motorcycle. The Insurance company insisted I did not tell them about our mode of transport (very unlikely in my view after all it’s a motorcycle trip). Anyway I insisted they send me the recording of our conversation (all insurance companies record calls) and lo and behold they told me the file was to big to e mail but I would get a full refund….. Phew!!!!

Proper insurance now bought.

We have also got motorcycle insurance paperwork though today. This is biblically expensive costing over £800 for 90 days cover, but essential for North America and Canada.

The adventure now has its first deadline. We are only allowed to spend 90 days in the United States America at any one time and popping out to Canada or Mexico and popping back in does not reset the clock. So when we cross the Alaskan border from Canada the clock is ticking as we have to cross the Mexican border before the 90 days is up. This is just as well as we have arranged to meet my daughter, Shelly in Cancun Mexico early September.

The flu scare at the moment may also have an effect on the adventure, evidently health insurance is invalided if the Foreign office advice against travel on public health concerns. We are hoping this should be sorted by the time we get to Mexico, watch this space.

Sandra has mentioned the practice packing, which went very well I thought, everything kind of went into the panniers and what did not will be strapped to the rear rack.

We had a practice pitch of the tent, and no matter how many times we pitch this thing both Sandra and I have sometimes opposing views on the best way, this often leads to some very mild tension often followed by me doing it Sandra’s way.

The Shed is scheduled to start its adventure on the 22nd May when she is off loaded at the shippers at Heathrow airport. A major milestone overcome. We had a choice of sea or airfreight and to be honest there is little difference in the way of cost, just much quicker by air. So It’s the short trip to Heathrow, drain the tank, disconnect the battery and stick the Shed in a box. I am sure we will video the whole thing as we will un crating her in Vancouver. These are indeed very exciting times.