My Bike

• 2019 Trek 920 purchased used, mostly stock, with SRAM double tap shifting (earlier years had bar end shifters),  except for these changes:
  • Bontrager flat mountain biking pedals - I loved biking with these, which were purchased only a couple of days before departure.  I feared puncture wounds from the grippy pins, but only drew blood on days 1 and 2 :-)  Using flat pedals allowed me to bike wearing Keen sandals, so I could leave my cycling shoes at home. 
  • Spank flared drop bars - I added these for stability on bumpy roads and trails at home in British Columbia.  
  • Bontrager 700 x 40 mm GR1 tires, set up as tubeless, with new sealant added just before the trip.

Panniers and other bags

• Arkel Orca 35 panniers - contained my clothes, toiletries, picnic lunch things, and anything else I might want in the hotel/apartment. Since we had a month without rain, the panniers didn't get tested much on this trip.  But I've took them bikepacking earlier this year and survived a nasty thunderstorm, so I know they're watertight.  Also, the the hardware is terrific, and the bags hold firm to the rack even on bumpy trails. 
• Arkel 'Signature BB' handlebar bag - for my wallet, passport, Android phone and easy access food (bars, fruit).  Supposedly 4 L, but it feels smaller.  I really like this bag because it's also my purse, with a cross body strap.  Very easy to get on and off the bike. 
• Bontrager 3 L 'Adventure' half frame bag - for tools and spare parts, a clickstand, a Lezyne pump, seat cover, leatherman, and small items of warm clothing that were never used (full fingered gloves, a buff, and a headband).  It was left on the bike the entire trip.
• Rockgeist 5 L 'Gondola' seat pack - for my rain gear and warm cycling pants that were never used.  It was left on the bike the entire trip.  I bought this for bikepacking or longer day trips on my mountain bike because it's designed to work with a dropper post. But it's great on my 920 too. 
• Apidura top tube bag - has seen many years of use, and I've proved that it does well in rain.  I keep my phone in it for easy access to take photos and look at Komoot, and other small things like lip balm and a waterproof case for my phone.

It worked out well to leave things on my bike that I didn't need to access each night.  We always had secure storage.  Gail brought a lock, and we each carried it on alternate days.

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Gadgets and Useful Apps 

• Garmin Edge 530 with Garmin map - the detail in the maps is amazing, but the screen is on the small side, so in cities I generally opened up my phone to see the route downloaded in Komoot.  Komoot often wanted to take us on weird routes through towns, I think to avoid the non-busy main streets. Bit of a love/hate relationship here.  I found the Garmin VERY slow to re-find routes if we chose to take an alternate path.  And learned the hard way that its goal is to get you back on route, rather than to get you to your destination.  
• Route planning was done with Komoot, usually set to 'road biking', because we discovered that choosing 'bike touring' led it to choose some singletrack.  We had to thoughtfully use the 'bike touring' routes, where we knew there was a via verde.  The Komoot app synced nicely with the Garmin, and also allowed for downloading of routes to my iPhone.  But it did have a habit of sending us the wrong way on one-way streets. This was an almost daily occurrence, which must result from the source material on Open Street Maps.  
• Google Translate, downloaded
• Maps.me, downloaded, but rarely used
• Pocket Earth, downloaded, but rarely used because we had cellular data, so just used Google/Google Maps
• Booking.com was used for all accommodation reservations except 2 nights in Cordoba where there was not much available, so we splurged on a hotwire hotel deal. 
• WhatsApp - very useful for communicating with hosts when we couldn't find our way, needed something, or weren't arriving when we expected to
• My photos were taken using an iPhone 11

I didn't use the the downloaded apps much, because I purchased a 28 day SIM card from Movistar for only 10 euros, and it came with 40 GB of data.  I plunked it into an ancient Android phone that normally just gathers dust at home, and then tethered my iPhone 11 to it.  That allowed me to shut off cellular data on my iPhone so that I didn't stress about accidental roaming charges.  Movistar coverage was terrific.  I had an iPad for evening entertainment, and also a Kobo e-reader.    

Gail and I both had Apple AirTags.  I kept one in my passport pouch, and the one from my bike bag was in a pannier pocket.  I absolutely loved having these in the luggage to know that our bikes were on the same planes as us.