Yeah, I have mixed feelings about the whole d'Antin issue. On the one hand, he had faith in me and brought me into the World Championship. On the other, well, there's a lot of stuff in this series that would surprise people. I'll probably wait until I'm a few years removed from the system before the statute of limitations is up and I can start speaking freely about everything I've learned.
This weekend I'm packing up for 8 weeks on the road. EIGHT. This will be my longest stretch of travel to date, although if you consider that SF is my actual homebase, then all the time I've spent away from the Bay Area has been one long trip, hahaha. Can you imagine paying the rent/mortgage and just saying, ok everyone, see you in 2 months? It's a bit weird.
I'm consciously trying to travel "light", meaning only two pairs of jeans, one decent jacket (probably a sweatshirt, too), and some shorts. It's to the point where I pick out the thin fabrics in my gear closet, simply because every ounce adds up. It's a compromise, like everything. The more durable, heavy-weight pants/shorts will hold up longer and stronger, but I can only carry one pair as opposed to 2 of the thinner ones. What's a guy to do? The consideration here is to have spares/back-ups of everything in case someone spills something or some other goofy thing. Then there's the weather to consider on the journey. Indy will be warm, SF will be chilly, Motegi will likely be hot and humid, Phillip Island will be cold (usually it's COLD), Singapore will be tropical Hawaii weather, hot and humid, but without the tradewinds, Malaysia will also be sticky, and then there's Valencia, which should be perfect in late October. We're staying to test for a few days after the final race of the season, like normal, and there's also the end-of-season party to consider . . . . and I want to look sharp for my girl who will be attending that race (booyah!).
Soooo, more casual clothes for travel comfort with lots of pockets? This would be ideal, which is why I tend to keep baggy cargo shorts handy, and I'll bring one of my uglier jackets simply because it's got more pockets and is better at holding more gear at airports and around town. One pair of sneakers, some flip-flops, surf shorts (one can pray, right?), and a bunch of t-shirts that I won't feel bad about wearing when they're all wrinkly from being jammed into my luggage. Puma stepped up by giving me a couple shirts and sweatshirt, plus some new camouflage shoes (is there some kind of trend going on with camo sneaks?), and A*s has always been behind me, so in this regard, I'm lucky because some of the things I'll be bringing are nicely folded up in bags and they pack easily. A lot of it is also what I would consider to be "disposable" clothing, too, should the need arise to simply junk something along the way. Half of this stuff doesn't seem to hold up well after repeated washings, especially in large industrial hotel hot water type machines. Meanwhile, my uniform pants/shorts are really thick stuff this season, and heavy! Just bringing along 3 race weekend shirts, a polo, a tshirt, 2 shorts, 1 longpants, a sweater, and a jacket, seriously adds up, and with the team shoes, it's easily about half of my weight allotment. I tend to find ways around carrying every single thing with me (i.e. I will jam my jacket into the flight boxes to help "protect" a spare fuel tank), but for the most part, I have to take it along with because I'll need to have everything laundered at the next event location either by the hotel, or in the case of Phillip Island, at a do-it-yourself laundromat.
Due to space concerns (two luggages, one backpack), I'll be without any of my Axio hardpacks. I've travelled with them exclusively for a few years now, but because this trip is going to be so long, I'm opting to take a larger A*s backpack that I can stuff full of most of my electronics and necessary items, plus jacket/umbrella. The electronics are heavy, so they oftentimes go with me in the backpack to avoid being weighed in at check-in.
1 Macbook, plus spare battery and charger with multiple connector tips.
1 half working Sony digital camera, plus charger, spare batteries, and USB interface. I plan to retire this one in Tokyo, where hopefully I'll be able to buy another old-stock one for super cheap in Akihabara.
1 PSP, plus USB charger (gotta love Mega Man and watching movies)
1 Nintendo DS, plus USB charger (man, USB is the way to go! Also, mad props to Scott for the hookup on the special cartridge that accepts downloaded games. I never have to buy any!).
2 celphones, plus chargers (US and Intl)
A couple memory sticks, big retro headphones (40mm drivers!), 2 iPod shuffles plus cabling, spare 250 gb hard drive, 2 pairs sunglasses (maybe three, I'll hide the ugly one in the flight boxes), and then we'll get to the miscellaneous gear, like alka-seltzers and medicines, bathroom kit, head shaver, and anything else I think I might need along the way. A travel power adapter is a must, and except for Australia, which has a weird 45 degree angled prong set-up, it handles most countries.
This accounts for most of my standard travel kit, anyway, so I'm pretty sure I'll be alright. About the only thing that really bothers me about the long haul flights are short connection times, potential lost luggage (every year, 2 or 3 times minimum), and cramping in one of my knees. I can generally zone out children and nasty people on the planes, and either sleep, watch movies, or knock myself out somehow, but I can't tune out my team mates, hahaha. We'll be seeing so much of one another, and banding together when we travel in strange places, that it reinforces this feeling of team/brotherhood. After almost three years with these guys, we have a good understanding of what we're like, who's crazy, who wants to go out, who wants to stay alone in the hotel every night to "sleep", and so on. I'm almost always a sure bet to go out and people watch, and I really get a kick out of shopping for knick-knacks around the world. My watch collection has definitely grown as a result, and I'll likely pack a few of those as well, simply because different situations call for different approaches. Camo Gshock for the rough and tumble things, Ti Pathfinder for its weather reading capabilities and compass, and a couple autos because they make me smile.
I think one of my biggest dilemnas is whether or not to bring back one of my helmets in case I go riding in SF after Indy. I'll be there for a few days and I absolutely love riding with my girlfriend. I keep a full kit of riding gear at our house in SF, boots, suit, jacket, gloves, but I always keep my helmets with me for some reason. Maybe it's time for a change? If I did bring and leave a hat there, how would I get it back to Europe? It's not like I'm doing a ton of riding out here anyway, hahaha, so maybe I'll bring my Arai VX and leave that there. It goes great with my Monkey, hahaha. Yeah, that's probably what I'll do
Plus, you never know when you'll get a chance to boogie around on a Hypermotard or some other cool hooligantastic machine.
Oh, I'll bring a couple beanies and a hat, because I don't like resting my head on the greasy seats on airplanes, and maybe, just maybe, my light jump rope. I spend so much time traveling and eating processed and/or restaurant/hotel food that I have to watch out for myself. I'll be off my bicycles for another two months, not that I've ridden in the month since I wrecked anyway, haha. This week in BCN, after a week of some superduty Napoli-style Italian food (lots of cheeses and fat-fat), I've concentrated on eating salads and fish. I can pretty much predict that Indy will be filled with chain restaurants and BBQ for me, and then more fish in SF. Then fish again in Japan, Italian in Australia, and asian goodness in Singapore/Malaysia, then Italian again in Valencia, haha. Good thing is, I love food, so I'm not worried. I've never really had any problems with putting on the weight, and since I've moved out here, the problem is keeping the weight on! Really can't explain it other than the lifestyle and foods I eat here. Fast food a handful of times a year also helps, I'm sure.
I'm finally starting to get excited about this trip, though I've been in process of planning it for months. Some last minute juggles in Misano meant that instead of wasting a week in Kuala Lumpur after the P.I. race, I would get to stay in Singapore and catch up with family instead. Not like they're that far apart, I think you can nab flights between the two for dirt cheap, but it's been a while since I've seen Changi and the rest of Singapore (Orchid Ave, Sentosa Island, etc), and getting the chance to spend time with my elders is a huge gift. The team will pay for the big flights, well actually, all flights if I am strictly traveling to and from the events, but oftentimes we can alter the schedules slightly to stay longer or go earlier to a certain place and it's not a problem. After d'Antin left, we switched travel agencies, so for this world flight I have to pay some differences out of pocket, but it's no biggy and I'm just happy to have the opportunity to spend time doing what I want when I'm not at the races. I'll still have to check in daily and sort through logistical issues, but it's not like I have to be in the office right away, particularly when it's 1-2 days travel to get back to Europe and then again to get back out to a race within the same week. It's just going to be easier to stay in Asia after P.I. instead of heading back to BCN.
Alright, back to work. I am supposed to get a lot of things done this weekend, and when I land in the states on Monday night, I'll probably nap and go shopping on Tuesday at a real Walmart. It'll be time to load up on supplies for the team, like glass cleaner and other consumable goods. It's cheaper to buy them in the states not only because of the exchange rate (which is starting to suck, hahaha) but because it's less weight and material to bring (I think it works out to about 10 Euros per kilo for our air freight).
Ok, let's get to it. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, hahaha, but over the weekend I'll get it all sorted. See you guys at Indy!
How's the hangover
