1. Cash
2. Cards
3. Documents (tickets, passport, telephone list, recovery club details etc,)
4. Gin
5. Tonic

OK, it's actually only a list of three items, but with cash a passport and ability to call people who can tell you anything else you need to know, you can get anywhere and might was well enjoy it as you go (even if you are on the recovery truck, the wrong ferry, the wrong road, the wrong campsite etc.)

Andy

1) A piece of ally treadplate 9"x17". This is a wind break for my stove and then a tray to eat my dinner off. Somewhere flat to rest your coffee or . I kneel on it when I'm working on the bike or rolling up my tent on wet/muddy ground. It even does the job which I originally made it for, putting the bike on the centre stand on grass. I don't know how I'd manage without it. I made it this size so it fits inside my pannier but any size would do.

2) A piece of thin foam as a "doormat" (4'x2'). I slip one edge under the doorway of my tent and then you have somewhere dry to sit/kneel. It rolls up pretty small and I strap it on the back of the bike.

3) My Therma-Rest seat. It takes up very little space and means that you can sit up comfortably inside the tent when it's raining to read or plan the next days ride. It transforms "lounging around" in the shade of a tree to another level. Especially when you have a resting on (1).

4) A plastic pint glass. You just can't drink draught Guinness from the can. Fed up with drinking San Miguel? mix it with some cider. Snakebite, you know it makes sense!

5) A lexan 1 ltr bottle with a large opening. After an evening using (3) and (4) you'll be glad you have it inside the tent. You just get inside your sleepingbag and guess what? Mine is a nice "piss" yellow colour so I don't get it mixed up with my water bottle!

This list makes me look like a drunkard! They say the first step is admitting you have a problem.

1. Visa card for bailing you out of almost any situation. If the shit hits the fan you can always pay and explain it later to your bank!

2. A wad of backup cash hidden away in case the visa is lost or rejected.

3. Water filter for filtrating any watersource into drinkable water.

4. Petzl headlamp for working at the bike at night. Or just answering the call of nature in the middle of the night.

5. Glasses for when im all out of contacts! Without them i cant even ride my bike.

Spectacles, testicles, wallet & watch...well, that's only 4, and in fact I only pack "one" of these items.

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How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

1-4. 2/3rds of the content of a 6 pack.

5. plastic pal to replenish 1-4.

I travel light. (I wish)

Ride safe.

A.L. 1. Delete 1/6th of 1-4 and insert a portable chiller. (I'm getting old and picky)

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

Headtorch
Teabags
Babywipes
Heated jacket
Lonely Planet guide with each language so I can learn HELLO, PLEASE and THANK YOU , before I speak to the Border Guards. They become putty in your hands if you try their language.

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Does my bum look big on this bike?

After the obvious essentials including money(credit card), passport, tickets, carnet, visas, the wife, clothes, camping kit, spares and tools I always have:

• Teabags
• Shortwave radio
• Book
• Diary
• Swiss army knife

I also took a folding shovel all the way to Cape Town but never used it.

1. Teapot and Black Tea
a decent breakfast is essential - how can people get started without 6 cups of tea?????

2. Money in cash and plastic
3. ID/PP
I was told by my mother at 15: two essentials for bad girls who want to go everywhere

4. map
for the bad girl to know where the road goes to everywhere

5. 1 litre of motoroil for my old ones
essential for them to get me to everywhere

Karinmoto
currently being nice in SouthAmerica

OK, I'll bite. What's ID/PP?

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

My Ipod and charger. Can't live without my music

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Transport is the stem without which the bright bloom of victory could not flower. Winston Churchill.

Mine are:
• Power cables and international adapter
• Passport, foreign currency and credit card
• First aid kit
• Camera

depends somewhat on where I go, but generally:

1. Beer
2. Tools
3. Beer
4. Swag
5. Beer

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Squily

1) wallet with money (I've got phobia of forgeting money home)
2) cards
3) phone
4)cigarettes
5) chewing gum

1. credit card and spare money (hidden)
2. mobile phone
3. insurance (health, bike, transport home)
4. maps
5. good sense of HUMOUR

1. Camera
2. Head Torch
3. Tools
4. IPod
5. Ear Plugs

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