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platypus
ough
Lots happened lately. I've been wary of updating this thread because everything was up in the air, and almost everything that could have changed did so. We're not getting a Thorn anymore, we'll be riding a Co-Motion Java. Feels a bit like we went from old-school Somerset to bling West Coast.
On top of that, we're changing the route, mostly because of the seasons. There are a few places that we really, really want to explore: Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan, rural China, SE Asia, and Japan. In our previous plan, we'd probably reach the Stans around Oct/Nov, which is not a great time to be there. Ideally we'd want to be there on Summer, but that'd mean either rush the whole first part of the trip (which would never work anyway) or skip the Stans to return on Summer 2019. But then we might be rather far from there, and u-turning wouldn't be so nice in any case.
The current solution is to reverse the order of the trip. We pick up the bike in America early July, then ride the West Coast for a couple of weeks. From there we fly to Japan, arriving early August for some hot and humid cycling. If we keep moving South towards Vietnam, we can have good weather pretty much the whole time. November is very mild in Southern China, and winter in SE Asia is not bad at all. We can linger around that part of the world until Spring 2019, when we head towards the Stans for Summer before crossing to Azerbaijan/Georgia/Turkey in Autumn. Winter in Greece, perhaps?
It's a very different concept, and something we struggled to come to terms with. We were fascinated by the romanticism of jumping on a bike and cycling out of the front door, using Europe as a gentle and familiar warm-up before Asia begins. But we're now a bit more confident that this new plan will be better. I was afraid of reaching Asia with little money, no curiosity, and a bit jaded by months of traveling. Like most people, I struggle to be in the moment, so perhaps a riverside beer in a Laotian evening would feel very different to me if a flight back to London life would be looming.
Update over, epic no pics fail.