Things got pretty crazy with my TA position at the university, exams, and Christmas. Once all that wound down I couldn't find my groove to get back into blogging. I think I found it again.
I bought my Surly Long Haul Trucker back in October and had to wait for a replacement for a faulty Deore XT rear derailleur which I received christmas eve. As of yet I haven't ridden the bike. It's been sitting in my closet right next to my desk... staring at me.
"I'm sorry girl, but we live in Newfoundland and there is just too much salt on the road to take you out."
I've been playing catch up with money for what feels like forever. Last pay period I thought I was out when I had to buy a crap load of groceries. new sneakers, and owed my parents some "chipping in" money for January. Near broke again, haha. But that is the life of a grad student I suppose.
I also have a $5000 student credit line that is up pretty high that I have to start paying off soon.
I promise this is all leading somewhere!
So the plan right now is too 100% prepare my and my bike and my girlfriend for touring/camping this summer. If I do have to move when I finish my M.Sc. in December one of the few things I will be taking with me is my Surly most likely. So the more prepared we are the better.
Every paycheck coming up for the next 4 or 5 months is pretty much wrote off to touring/camping gear. For christmas Alanna was kind enough to buy my a rear Surly Nice Rack. Next up?
-Front Surly Nice Rack
-Arkel GT-54 Touring Panniers
-MSR Dragonfly Camp Stove
plus a bunch of other stuff that is not necessary to link such as a sleeping bag, compression sack, double leg kickstand, thermarest + light weight seat, small frame pump, not to mention some more light weight quick drying camp/cycling clothes.
ooo, actually should link this 2 Person camp cookware set, as it is pretty neat.
Anyways long story short I have a lot of stuff to buy. A lot of people (including Alanna) are finding it hard to understand how I want to spend almost $400 on rear panniers. Which I guess is understandable.
I'm really considering doing some serious travel eventually though, and if I have to buy some of this stuff anyway, I might as well buy the right stuff once, rather than the wrong stuff twice (or more).
Going the opposite direction I have been slowly chipping away at a lot of the junk that I own throwing it out, giving it away or selling it. This is somewhat counter intuitive to all this buying I am doing but I think it is a little different. After reading Jeromes latest blog on minimalism it's got me wanting to do even more of this.
-The jar of pens and sharpies on my desk that I never use, the boxes of books I have no intention of reading, and clothes I haven't worn in years. I have reduced quite a bit but I believe I can get it down to the bare essentials (plus my comic book collection maybe :)
If I have a computer and a bike and my girl at my side I don't think I need a whole lot else. I'm really looking forward to finishing my M.Sc. and taking some time for travel possibly.
No comments:
Post a Comment