The Luxury Of Time

BigLaw is notorious for pummeling the souls out of their worker bees with grueling 70-80 work weeks.  Despite working hard for my work / life balance, I was not immune.  With a job that required my brain to function at 110% all the time, the last thing I wanted to do after work was anything that required me to stare at paper or at a computer.  So I pursued hobbies like dancing, martial arts, hiking, parkour, climbing, kayaking, whitewater rafting, and biking.  

This trip is not just a chance to explore the world, but it offers to me the luxury of time to do all the things that I wanted to do, but was just too damn tired after a 12-hour workday to do.  

Drawing

Little do many of my friends know, but once upon a time, I was voted "most artistic" in the mock elections both at the end of middle school and at the end of high school.  For many years, you would never find me without a sketchpad, and I remember losing entire afternoons to a piece I was working on.  Over the years, I would pick up my drawing pencils and paper every so often just to prove I could still do it, but that was mostly before law school.  Only one drawing remains that I haven't thrown out or given away, tucked away in a box to be stored at my parents' house.  

Circa 2009-ish.

As I was packing this past weekend, I found all my old drawing pencils and decided to buy a Moleskin notebook to embrace the artist in me that was sacrificed over the years.  Since I'm using mini-dry bags to compartmentalize my belongings in my already waterproof panniers, I'm not too worried about losing the notebook to the elements.

Photography

I've always had an eye for photography.  I can observe a scene, find the angle, picture in my head what I want a photo to look like, but I've never had the time to actually learn how to make my pictures look like the mental image I have.  Most of my amazing travel photos so far have been the product of naturally good lighting or an amazing subject that anyone with a decent point-and-shoot would get an amazing outcome.

Death Valley: The Racetrack

Death Valley

Tanzania: The Serengeti

Tanzania: The Serengeti

Sure, these pictures look nice, but that's only because I lugged around a pricey DSLR... and when I say lugged, I mean lugged... those things weigh a ton.  Now that I've traded the DSLR for a mirrorless camera, which provides me just enough options and lenses to get good results, but doesn't weigh 400 pounds, I'm determined to play around with the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed to get the pictures I want.

Writing

I've always like the idea of writing a novel.  I'm not a writer in the sense that I wake up wanting to write, but I've come to enjoy being a wordsmith of sorts.  A well written brief or research memo is probably the part of being a lawyer I find the most satisfaction from.  Usually, it is the combination of boredom and a desire to create that drives me to write.  But that's the thing... I haven't been bored in years.  I started a novel in college before I had figured out that I am happiest when pursuing a goal of some sort.  So I wrote three chapters that to this day, I still like.  I'm not sure if I will finish that novel, but I want to write something meaningful on the road.

Oh sure, this blog is "writing," but it was never meant to be anything but a way of keeping myself accountable and documenting the greatest adventure of my life for myself, my friends, my family, and possibly others cycling nuts.  And while I may find myself waxing philosophic on bike touring, gear reviews, and routes, it's really just a fancy journal.  Maybe this trip will inspire a separate book based on these ramblings, but that's something I think needs to be written with reflection after the passage of time.

And All Those Other Things

I have dreams of becoming a bike mechanic (oh Park Tool School blue repair book, you will be my new best friend), a fluent Spanish speaker (I'm good, really good, but always looking to be better), a scuba instructor, and a dozen other hobbies and potential career paths that involve gaining expertise.  I'll be keeping my mind open as I roll along for opportunities to better myself in whatever ways I can.

Frequently Asked Questions Redux (Or, Yes, This Is Really Happening!)

My friends have known for the past year about my trip, but now that I have less than a month until I leave, it finally feels real to them and all of a sudden the panicked requests for happy hours and dinners and questions about my trip have come pouring in.

How Do You Carry Everything?

For those who know nothing about bike touring, it seems unreal to carry everything you could need for a trip this long on a bike.  Hey, European backpackers have packed everything they need into a single backpack for their gap year trips.  Even though I have to take into consideration bike repair, camping, and food, in some ways it is actually easier because I have a steel beast of burden to portage everything.  Granted, I travel lighter than the average person because, well, I'm little... so my things are little.

My beauuuuutiful Troll!  And my beautiful panniers, thanks to Karim for making the splurge for me!

You can check out my gear and equipment list to get the full rundown, but this is basically it... although there are still things to do like trim down the kickstand (wheeee, fun with dremels!) and work out any random kinks or last minute additions (seatpost water bottle mount for my fuel!).  This setup has evolved several times from a traditional setup to a minimalist setup to a setup designed for the ultimate flexibility, and is the product of endless hours reading reviews, blogs, my own past touring experience, and doing test rides.

Also, check out this website dedicated to pictures of fully loaded touring bikes for the way others do it, with setups that range from milk crates and zipties, to setups that look like they weigh 200 pounds.

The cockpit with my tent riding up front.

Isn't This Dangerous?

Yes, some cycling tourists have had fatal accidents in other countries, but that doesn't change a thing.  Biking in DC is dangerous.  Believe me, I've gotten hit 5 times now by 3 doors, 1 taxi, and 1 pick-up truck... the most recent this past weekend 2 blocks from home. Yes, Mexico has some areas that have travel advisories.  But then again, most middle-class suburbanites wouldn't feel comfortable in my cozy corner of Capitol Hill, and I've never felt more safe.

I've lived, worked, or traveled through all of Central America and half of South America...  I've backpacked by myself through unrest in southern Thailand, and braved solo travel in Egypt.  The scariest incident I had was when I was studying abroad in Spain and a druggie made some threatening advances on a fellow student.  This awesome British couple driving from Mexico to Argentina says it better than I can... No, it's not really that dangerous, just be smart.

What About Insurance?

But I'm not stupid.  I'm a lawyer.  I'm a lawyer who has had some experience in insurance practice and who has a penchant for extreme sports and adventure... of course I'm getting insurance for my trip!  After an incredibly huuuuge amount of research and carefully analyzing policy wording, I found the closest thing to a perfect policy I could find.  I present, World Nomads!  No, this insurance will not cover my annual visits to the dentist or pre-existing conditions, but the policy will cover most everything else, including theft of my bike, repatriation of my remains, and rental car collision coverage (which is always outrageously expensive when purchased at the rental car counter).

For the grand price of $1211.78 per year, and renewable on the road, this policy covers all the good stuff.  Among countless other activities, it explicitly covers:

• Abseiling
• Base Jumping
• Cavern Diving
• Dirt Boarding
• Trekking in Antarctica
• Cycle Touring
• Flying an Aircraft
• Heli-Boarding
• Rock Climbing
• Shark Cage Diving
• Snow Rafting
• Ziplining
• Mountaineering

Are You Going Alone?

The wonderful thing about the world is that there are an estimated 7 billion of us out there, which means the odds of finding someone else out there as crazy as I am pretty good with resources like the Adventure Cycling Association, Crazy Guy On A Bike, and Warm Showers.  I put an ad in the "Companions" section of the Adventure Cycling Association website (which also was featured in the February issue of Adventure Cyclist!), and got a surprisingly large number of responses, but most folks were still in the dreaming phase rather than the execution phase of their planning.

Hey, look at me!  I'm famous!

That is, until Gonzalo de la Pena emailed me.  He has a ton of bike touring and travel experience, and so we agreed that he would come visit me in DC to meet, and he did!  We got along well, geeked out over Star Wars Legos and cycling gear, and he didn't seem like a serial killer, so we agreed to start the trip together.  He will actually be flying to meet me in Denver and joining me on my cross-country trip so we can get to know each other better, and share our love of the outdoors at various national parks along the way.

For those who worry, you can see his photo blog from his bike trips at: http://bicimundista.com/.

Dear Washington D.C.

Dear Washington D.C.,

It's been a good run.  We've had 15 long years together, on and off again, some years for the better and some for the worse.  I've played softball on the Mall, cried at the Holocaust museum, eaten gallons of Ethiopian food, witnessed election history in the making, eaten my way through your food trucks and multitudes of ethnic street food fairs, kayaked the Potomac, biked your trails, gotten nearly kicked out of the midnight showing of The Goonies at E Street, marched in the name of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, watched award-winning plays, discovered your artistic side, battled taxis on my bike, fallen in and out of love with you, discovered every nook and cranny of your four quadrants, paid my dues as a BigLaw attorney, and danced countless nights into the sunrise.

But it's time for me to go.  No regrets and no hard feelings, but it's just time.  There's nothing left for me here.  While a part of me will always cherish these 15 years, you aren't home anymore.

My datebook for the next couple of weeks is nothing short of a stunning show of the wealth of love, good memories, and laughter I've amassed here during our time together.  Here's to good food, Belgian beer, mussels, stogies, live music, growler hours, happy hours, kung fu, and the best of friends who, when it really matters, show up and help me realize that the best is ahead of me.

Nostalgically Yours,
LeeAnn

P.S.  I'm officially relinquishing my status as a D.C. resident and making my roots out west to your cousin out west... Washington State!