... I am surprised my pre-trip preparations are coming along so well. Almost every day, I am getting items I order through Amazon.com. Whether it's a motorcycle mount for my GoPro, imprinted wristbands or luggage pieces, I am getting excited every time the UPS truck rolls up. Currently, I am awaiting shipment of some last minute stuff, a 1 TB hard drive to transfer video and picture files onto, a cup holder and a few more GoPro mounts. I am also awaiting delivery of a new modular helmet with Bluetooth. It's nice and relaxing to be able to listen to music on a long ride like this one. Which reminds me....gotta download some tunes!

This morning was set aside to organize my luggage and items, I will bring along on the trip. First, I laid out on a tarp what I had accumulated during the past few month. Then I looked at my luggage space and determined what to stow where. There is actually a prioritization process involved. I have a total of seven stowage locations to work with, 4 different size soft luggage bags, 2 panniers and 1 tank bag. I decided, to put camping hardware in one pannier, all electronics in the other. The biggest of the soft luggage is for camping software, such as sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress and flees. One of the smaller soft bags holds some of the tools, such as tire pump, tire repair kit There is also a custom tool box behind one of the panniers, which houses the main tool kit. An additional, a smaller tool kit is located underneath the seat. The two remaining soft bags hold clothing and personal items. The tank bag has "quick access items", such as maps, flashlight, matches, snacks, water, paper, pen, batteries for the GoPro, toilet paper, etc. The tent is separately secured on to the luggage rack with two bungee cords..

On top of each panniers sits a ROTOPAX. WHITE = 1 gallon of fresh water. RED = 1 gallon of fuel. Always good to have enough liquids on board...

So far, so good :-)