Thank you, Patrick! How poignant! And, I, personally will finally be visiting Margraten in the Spring of 2025 to visit my Uncle’s gravesite my Mother never got to visit.

Yay! It’s a barge..:)

Hi Scott and Hi to Rachael...
Everyone has their own way of doing things, right? We had to look at what is the best use of our time and energy and abilities. We had a great time exploring other than by bike. Total admiration to those like Stephen and Catherine who cycle here.

I’ve been following Stephen and Catherine’s ride north through Namibia with a mix of admiration and horror. I think you did the right thing here.

Hi David, great hearing from you. So we went through our photos and found yours we think, (confirmed on FB) If you are ever in Boise look us up. Best through Warmshowers, we are Racpat.

Hi! I am the American guy from Seattle you met in summer 2016, who recommended the Saspol caves. Amazing were they not? Glad you ran into my partner Tom in Leh. I found him safe n sound at our guest house. Let's just say dehydrated, tummy, lying by the side of the road you get the picture, but fortunately a driver I knew well was just minutes behind and we loaded him up for a ride to Leh. He did great on the rest of our trip to Nubra, Pangong, and Leh-Manali. I love your Spiti entries: did the loop clockwise Sep 2014. You are world travellers: I am an India Himalaya obsessive with 4 bike trips and a few treks. Cheers! David K, Seattle

Yes, this is "typical" midwest America. But then so are stripmalls and Walmart parking lots........

To a European, that's so reminiscent of rural America

Thanks We had a great experience and lucky to do so....sailing across the Drake Passage was an adventure and yes lots and lots and lots of Penguins!

Even withOUT cycling there.... way cool! And PENGUINS!

Hi Mark,
I guess it helps that I'm a nurse (Rachel), in determining which to use I had them categorized whether is was above the abdomen (Antibiotics for infections (Respiratory, Skin, UTI) or below like diarrhea. Fortunately we came home almost with a full kit. Never used the dental filling repair...we would have just followed the instructions I guess. Thanks for asking. All this falls into Murphy's law, if you have it you won't need it.

Hi Mark, no we left our bikes in Ushuaia hostel, sat in the tour office waiting to find out if we got a spot on the ship. We were finally told you have a spot...run... we were on board, the ship sailed as we were still in the lobby waiting to be assigned a cabin.
Agree that would have been cool but at least we got on board.

Speaking as someone who's sutured his own ankle while on an overnighter, I can tell you that this is a really comprehensive list... a penicillin, a cephalosporin, a sulfonamide, and a fluoroquinolone... you have pretty much every bug covered. Plus all the other items.

My only questions are: (1) how does the "Dental Filling Repair" work? and (2) how did you determine which class of antibiotic to use?

I hope you needed very little from your list. I'm looking forward to reading more in order to find out. :-)

Were you actually able to cycle in Antarctica, even for a mile or so just to say you did? Cuz, you know, that would be amazing!

That is a good plan, you will enjoy Zambia and Malawi. Southern Tanzania is mountainous and beautiful with tea plantations. Definitely carry a waterfilter, there are many wells to pump water from, but it is better to filter it or tap water (in towns) before drinking. We did get quite a few flats, but I think it was because our tires were getting old by then. There are a lot of thorny plants in Africa. I have no experience with tubeless, but what I understand is that you need a compressor to reset the tire if you ever loose all air. That might be a problem.
Enjoy your trip, please let us know if you have a journal so we can follow you.
Patrick