August 31st 2007 - Erzurum, Turkey
I've been asked a few questions by people and saved them up for this Q&A post.
If you have other questions send them in an email with a subject line:
"whereonearthisjeff - Trip 2007 Q & A" or reply to this email and next time I do a Q & A I'll be able to find the questions easily.
Q: Would I be right in thinking that, on the whole, you would be developing a sense of trust in humanity, as a result of the many examples of people's kindness and generosity shown to you during your travels?
A: I think I already had a trust in humanity - otherwise I wouldn't have chosen to do a trip like this. But the trip has definitely re-enforced that opinion. I'd Have to say that one experience that I.d rather forget in Greece is about it. Everything else has been positive. Although there are times when cultural differences makes reading the body language and tone of voice a difficult - and with the words in a language you don't understand it means that at some times you are unsure what someone is on about - but it generally sorts itself out.
Q: On a more practical level, are you using a trip meter, to keep a measurement of distance traveled on the bike? You mentioned going past a harvester at 50km recently, so I presume you do have a meter to confirm speed, daily distance and total distance?
A: Yes I have a trip/cycle computer. I keep the Odometer running a total of the trip to date and reset the other readings on a daily basis. the other readings are Trip distance (Daily total km), riding time (which stops when i do), average speed, max speed. At one stage I had some of this detail on the google map but it is gone now and wasn't there for everyday. I record the details in a little note book (which I'm bound to use at some stage during the year - so I also write the details for the day in my hand written journal.) and have often thought it would be good to spreadsheet & share it. This particular unit has a second trip distance which is good when you know you need to turn left after 22km or something.
Q: Also, are you managing to resist accumulation of objects as you travel? No doubt weight is a huge factor to consider, but have you purchased souvenirs and then posted them straight back to Oz?
A: As all travellers I do accumulate - although I've never been a big souvenir person. I have sent many parcels home. These contain exercise books (journal segments) CD's with images and maps on a regular basis. but there have been others containing a mixture of these plus souvenirs or things that I brought with me that have either outlived their usefulness - but too valuable to throw away - or that never really had a usefulness for the trip and are too valuable to throw or give away. The stuff that's been sent home serving no useful purpose included things like: A short sleeved riding shirt, i prefer long sleeve cotton shirts in summer to greasy sunscreen. An iPod mini that would last a few hours then need recharging - not easy in a tent by the side of a road. I generally don't listen when riding - I'm quite content just riding in silence and absorbing the surroundings. I do have a 512M USB key that I use to listen to a small selection of music, often at nights as I nod off.
Q: No punctures, mechanicals yet ! Where is the scorecard.
A: The main mechanical problems have been the pannier mount breaking on the front fork when on the Greek train trip to get out of the EU in the allotted 48hrs. As previously indicated this was rewelded at a Turkish Mazda dealer and is doing well. Punctures are largely a thing of the past if you have good quality touring tyres. I had one when I hit a sharp edge too hard and cut the tube with the rim - pressure down at the time. Since then I've had to change one of my good tyres for a cheap one = and this resulted in the three punctures I had the other day = all at the same time = due to thorns through the cheap tyre. I have a good touring quality folding spare which I could have on the bike but I prefer to fix punctures and know I have a good spare than wear out the good quality spare and rely on a cheap and nasty one to get me out of trouble - also the cheap one wont fold. - Since writing this response the other front pannier mount broke off and it too has been brazed back on at a local car dealer.
Q: Do not know the rough timetable or when this journey ends, if ever.
A: I always anticipated being back in SE Asia in just over 12 months - then its a matter of getting back onto the Aus continent and getting to Melbourne. I do travel more quickly than I planned so weather is really the sole determining factor in the the timetable at the moment. Lets just say mid 2008.
Q: The 'knees' are keeping up the pace so far.
A: Yes. My historically bad knees are enjoying the trip. They've been upset a couple of times in big cities with big hills but sort themselves out on normal roads - as the highways are never as steep as the little roads on the sides of hills in hilly cities.
Q: Isn't it a pain trying to email on holiday !! And download pics, never tried that one.
A: I quite enjoy doing the emails and computer stuff, but it does take up a lot of time. The map stuff was very time consuming and unfortunately now mostly wasted. The photo stuff is remarkably easy using the gallery software that exists on the server I upload to. It enables me to take full resolution photos and only upload a small version of it. It is also very user friendly for rotating where necessary and captioning. So if you are looking for a gallery package to run on a unix like system Gallery is worth a look. I don't keep a track of my Internet expenses - I'd scare myself if I did.
If you have other questions send them in an email with a subject line:
"whereonearthisjeff - Trip 2007 Q & A" or reply to this email and next time I do a Q & A I'll be able to find the questions easily
Jeff
--
http://www.whereonearthisjeff.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment