Time is winding down

After almost exactly one month Leah and I are leaving Hawaii tonight. From here we head back to Seattle for 6 days where we will be finishing the overhaul on our bikes, packing stuff in our panniers, realizing we have WAY too much stuff, throwing stuff out that won't fit or we don't think we will need.

No matter how many blogs or books we read on bike touring, how many packing lists we check out or how many maps we look at, we still really can't anticipate what it is going to be like. I have trekked, backpacked, hitchhiked and roadtripped, but I have never bike toured. We're bound to throw more things out that we'll realize we don't need and that weigh too much on our ascent up the first big pass and bound to curse ourselves for not bringing something else.

This is also a time of personal reflection for ourselves. A couple of days ago I just found out that a friend of mine in Australia passed away a couple of months ago from cancer. He was a great kid, a lot of fun to be around, he was a dj on the radio and was a laugh a minute. My heart goes out to his parents and family. Events like these cause me, like most of us, to reflect on my own life situation and emphasizes the notion that in life there are no constants, anything can happen. As I think about this I think about the luck that I have had in my life. I feel so lucky to have the awesome family, friends, and opportunities that are present in every aspect of my life.

As we head off on our adventure we are aware of some (never can be aware of ALL) of the dangers that we could face (plenty), we know that ANYTHING can happen. Obviously traveling as we are, on bikes, on dangerous narrow roads, in remote areas, sometimes dangerous areas or cities, places where at times you have to be just as careful, if not more, of the police as the common thug (if there is such a thing), causes us to be slightly more vulnerable than your average backpacker. We want you all to know that we have done what we can to prepare ourselves and plan to take all possible precautions as we go along.

As we tell people about our plans for our journey we have received ample amounts of encouragement, well wishes and "Oh man, I wanna come"s from our family, friends and even strangers. We have also received no shortage of valid expressions of concern for our safety (parents especially). I don't want to sound cheesy, but we want you all to know how much we appreciate all of these and more importantly how much we appreciate and value each unique relationship we have with each of you (even if you don't know us and are just checking out the blog - really!). We love you all and hope to see you somewhere down the road.

Peace out for now,
David