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Thought about the trip on and off for a couple of days, letting the idea percolate. Quite a lot to take on board and think about, so best just take one thing at a time. And a pretty major thing is a tent, given that realistically I won’t be able to stay in hotels all along the way and certainly not for the first few weeks when going through countries such as Switzerland. I have never camped before, unless you count the summer holiday job I had at campsite in the Bassin d’Arcachon about a million years ago. Thinking I will just follow the EuroVelo cycle network for the most part, which looks pretty easy, so not going to think about that right now. Cycled over to Covent Garden to check out a couple of outdoor shops. First place I went to, I was assisted by a young, cool and remarkably uncommunicative sales guy but at least I found a tent I liked. Got some handy hints from another sales guy in another shop, although I immediately forget them, so maybe not that handy after all. He did suggest a cheaper place to buy a tent, but I would have to wait and I don’t want to miss this summer. In the end, I decided on a Big Agnes which only took a few minutes to put up. I liked how there was a lot of mesh on the inner lining so that if you wanted to sleep without the fly sheet, you could see the stars. I also liked that it looked like an actual tent, unlike a previous occasion a few years back when my friend Sarah and I took off for a week around the lakes of Northern Italy and stayed in a football field that had been converted into a campsite for the month of August. We did bring a tent, but we never really succeeded in erecting correctly and certainly no hope of us actually sleeping inside it, but at least it could hold our stuff whilst we slept outside. Home to order it from Amazon, of course. Like, who buys anything from a real shop anymore?

Random post appeared in my feed in the early hours of this morning, those restless small hours when your mind is on fire and roaring at warp speed. It's author had cycled solo to Istanbul over 3 months and suddenly – Bam! THAT feeling I get which precedes anything I have ever done which turns out to be a major event in my life. I can’t explain what it is like, but it comes rarely and it has never let me down. I mean, why the fuck not? This seemingly never-ending lockdown means no work this summer and when else will I be able to take off 3 months in one go. A few random immediate questions like how much money will I need (I don’t have much), how do you get your bike back and what about Covid, but I know I can sort all of those out. It feels good, I feel excited. It has been so long since I felt excited. Went on a cycle trip later on that day with a couple of the guys from CycleOut and was buzzing from the idea. Grim, crappy grey day with dirty looking rain clouds hanging oppressively low in the darkened sky. Did nothing to curb my enthusiasm though, and I suspect that the guys didn’t really think I would undertake such a trip. But I knew I could and more importantly, almost certainly would.