Started off the day feeling overwhelmed at the upcoming ride, the organisation, the motivation to sort it out, put one foot in front of the other, just get anything done. All seems too much, but all I have to do is put a list down of To Do items and stick to it.
Breakfast was all about bread and cheese, and then I sat down to map out the first part of my route through France to the point where I join Eurovelo 6 at Besançon. I like the idea of travelling via Rotterdam but it requires quarantine etc, so France it is. Again, I felt better as I actually did something. I know it to be true, but when you are stuck in the headlights, then it is better to just do something small to move on.
Next stop, High St Kensington to look at camping stoves. I am a bit worried about this part, as I haven’t a clue how to cook on them, what to cook or indeed how to camp. I mean I know it's not impossible as people camp all the time, but still on top of everything else it seems a bit of a ball-ache.
Oh no, here comes another wave of indecision and overwhelm as I navigate the minefield of cookers. Options include very expensive dual fuel cookers (£155) vs pocket rockets at £35. But some blogs say how hard it is to find gas canisters in Eastern Europe. Oh God, just so confusing. So I call up Cotswold Outdoors in Covent Garden to check there is an experienced sales person there and there is, so down I go. Sunny and warm.
Joy of Joy, when I go downstairs and I meet Maciej. What a guy! He cycles all over the world, although the longest he has done is about 3 months. He brings his 2-year-old with him and has been all over South America. He knows EVERYTHING and being in his presence is so calming. I just love this guy and with every word, my mood lifts. (Aware of how neurotic I am sounding here, I wonder if I will be the same at the end of my trip?). I decided to just buy the pocket rocket along with a 2 litre water bladder and be done with it. I came home, making a mental note to go spend and hour with him on his next day back with a list of questions.
Come home, still wondering about the dual fuel stove, which has an even more expensive but easier to use model in store than was recommended in the blog I was watching. I decided to go and speak with my seasoned camper / traveller neighbours of their experiences with cooking whilst camping, and turns out they have an amazing tent I can borrow. It is an MSR Elixir 2, perfect as the info I had read said that it was important to get a two man tent as the extra weight was so worth the additional space it gives. So happy, it was meant to be. That'll save a couple of hundred. I spend the next hour trying it out, erecting it out in the gardens and will do it a couple more times over the next week or so, just to make sure I have it down pat. Along with the inflatable mattress, I can get a deposit back and so have decided to spend the £££ on the upgraded stove.
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