Day 0, The Eagle has landed

Houston, Vancouver here. The Eagle has landed.

I’ve never really written anything. Unless you count IT documents as writing, in which case I’ve proven myself as a prolific, albeit boring writer in the past 5 years. So I’m not really sure how I should be writing these blog posts, I hope that some of you are here for something entertaining so there’s some kind of pressure. This is good. If I’m going to be wandering in the Americas for the next few months I might as well have an objective, so that’ll be to entertain you guys.

The last three days were spent in New York, so I’ll start at D-3 where I managed to get my passport stamped. I lost the boarding pass for the connecting flight at some point, which meant I had to leave the “international zone” (whatever it’s called) when landing in Montreal, get a boarding pass at the check-in counter and then get onto my connecting flight. So I set foot on Canadian land 3 days ahead of schedule! That’ll probably be the only time I’m going to be ahead of schedule in this trip.

New York was great, thanks a lot to Thomas for welcoming me there over a few drinks. I spent those two days walking around the Manhattan from the very south with the statue of Liberty to Central Park further north. It’s an awesome city for sure! I have to admit though that I was like a kid before Christmas, my mind was elsewhere.

Looking cool: you either have it in you or ... not

My mind was in Vancouver! Doesn’t she look beautiful? I am now officially poor J

Many thanks to all the people over at Pacific Motorsports Vancouver, Dave, Hellen, Jessica, Dusty, Anay and all the parts team. They were great and very patient with the Frenchman who can’t believe that a license plate and an insurance can be issued in an hour directly at the dealership. I even got a farewell postcard, thanks guys.

I had a very long day and am entering my 24th hour of waking time so just one last thing before I go and meet Morpheus, now that my gear is complete here are a few pictures of it so you can get an idea of what I’ll be living with for the next months. I’m sure I’ll become very attached to every single item.

From top left to bottom right: Riding gear, straps and locks, tire repair and basic maintenance kit

From top left to bottom right: clothes, electronics, camping kit, more electronics, backpack!

It all packs reasonably small, I even have spare storage for food and water, if that's not luck then that's incredible planning here.

A big hello to my family, friends and colleagues, miss you guys!

And bonus, my workshop at the hotel in Vancouver.

Where did this screw go again?