I present to you, for the first time anywhere, Arnim's Law of Bicycle Touring Gear: The amount of time a person spends researching, testing, and buying bicycle touring gear is inversely proportional to the amount of time they spend traveling by bicycle. After a few months on the road, people riding around the world will throw onto their rims any tire that fits. They'll pound the cranks until the teeth of their chain ring become shark-toothed. They sleep with ease inside a tent with half-busted zippers and mesh patched with duct tape. Meanwhile, the guy across town who takes one week-long ride every year is, at this very moment, trying to decide whether to replace his near-new Schwalbe Marathon XR tires with some Continental Ultra Gatorskins because the rolling resistance is just a little bit less, and hey, that adds up to some real savings of time and effort during a long tour.

There's nothing wrong with this, of course. In many ways it's a great thing. Most people can't just close up shop, say so long to friends and family, and then set out for three-month amble across their favorite country or continent. It won't happen this month, or this year, or maybe even in five years. Being an adult gets in the way. When that happens, preparing for future trips is one of the ways to stoke the fires and keep the touring dreams alive until you're at a place in your life when you can turn them into reality. It also gets at one of the recurring themes of bike touring: everyone has their own way of doing it, and it's hard to be confident on the road if you're not comfortable with your setup. So there's real value in figuring out what works best for you.

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But that's not me. Every couple of weeks I find myself clicking on a link to a thread on some bicycle forum that talks about different types of disc brakes, this year's new one-man tents, or the relative merits of drop-style handlebars compared to a flat setup. I scan it for about 30 seconds, realize I've been suckered again, and then more or less feel like stabbing myself in the leg with one of the ballpoint pens that sits on my desk. My point is that I spend far more time thinking about where to ride and what to do while I'm out there than geeking out over specs and shipping costs. A lot of that comes from the fact that I've got a collection of gear that I love and have no need to change. I also hate spending money to buy a different version of something I already own.

However, after 15,000 miles of wear on my bike and about 180 days spent using my camping gear in the last three years, I finally had to accept that lots of things needed to be rehabbed or replaced before heading out on another cross-country ride. It was rough, but I managed to make it happen.

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In an out-of-character move, at the end of my ride two years ago I put together a long breakdown of the equipment I used during the trip. I talked about what worked well, what could have worked better, and what I thought I might handle in a different way on future rides. Many pieces of gear haven't changed since then, but I want to mention what's new or updated because someone who's patiently hatching plans for their own amazing adventure might find it helpful:

• Tent: MSR repaired the busted poles and replaced the ripped stuff sack at no charge and with just a one-day turnaround.
• Sleeping bag: Washed by hand using Nikwax Tech Wash. The process turned the bathtub water a murky, grayish color, but the bag no longer smells like a family of animals died in it.
• Sleeping pad: Washed by hand with dish soap and water. Also smells of death less.
• Flashlight: Left at home. The light from the iPhone is enough.
• Food protection: The bear-resistant canister was a heavy mistake. Anything that smells is now sealed in one of Loksak's Opsak odor-proof bags.
• Camera gear: I've added a second lens. Per the box, it's a Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S Nikkor FX. It's supposed to be an awesome prime lens; we'll see. It also has its own polarizing filter.
• External phone battery: I'm now using the New Trent iTorch IMP52d. It's supposed to extend the charge of an iPhone by 20-something hours. We'll see about that too.
• Rear panniers: Patched crash-related holes in both the left and right panniers using the Ortlieb patch kit.

I've replaced a lot on the bike as well. I'll start in California with a new chain, cassette, bike computer, blinding headlight, front brake pads, front derailleur cable, front and rear brake cables, pedals, tires, re-taped handlebars, a re-trued rear wheel, and an empty wallet. The bike was so dirty that the shop charged me extra to clean off all the filth, but now it shines as bright as ever.