Food

Ahh, food. Probably the most integral component of the entire trip.

It was at the end of my first trip that I came to that realization. I was cycling some 250k each day for over a week, in a mad rush to finish the trip before I ran out of money. It was somewhere in there I added up the number of calories I was eating every day - over 7000.

On my last trip in Ireland, I spent an evening camping with a German cyclist I'd met that day. I was snacking on my food choice for the day (a tube of cookies). He saw what I was eating, and stopped me. "You shouldn't be eating those; they're only 1200 calories. You should be eating THESE! THESE [which looked exactly like what I was eating from a different manufacturer] are 1800 calories!".

It's a good idea to be carrying a some food when you land. First, because it reminds you that you have to leave room for it when you pack! Second, because it usually takes me a few days to get my act together, and this buys me time where food at least is one thing to not have to worry about.

Starting food list: