Preparation

Yes, we have become members of the rare group of individuals whose bicycles are worth more than their cars. We bought such nice bicycles and accessories, it almost seemed like we needed to extend this trip for more than one year! Our bicycling and camping expenses were heavily subsidized by registering for our wedding at REI. We also got very lucky on our health expenses. Microsoft has great health insurance; a rough calculation shows our health expenses would have been over $2000 if Microsoft didn't cover most of our immunizations and prescriptions. Liquidating all of our assets except for our 1999 Honda Civic netted us $5130. Much more details on what we brought can be found on the Gear page.