Step 1: Setting a date.

It is one thing to read about, dream about, and even talk about taking a “gap year” to explore the world, but it is another thing to actually do it. It may sound easy to commit to at first, but putting school/work/life on hold is really a hard task to do mentally. I can say that once the decision is made, it is very liberating!

Also, once we started to spread the word, and people started getting used to it, our co-workers, family members, and others started to get really excited about it!

Our Date: May 10, 2014.

We’ll start by flying in to Anchorage, AK, USA. We’ll have to have our bikes partially disassembled and boxed to get on the plane. Hopefully, we’ll spend that first night with a Warmshowers host. — It will be a nice start to chat with someone that has done some biking in the area we will be about to explore.

The next day we’ll head to the Anchorage REI to get some of our last supplies, most notably another bear canister or two to store food in. Then we’ll head north. After several days we’ll arrive in Denali National Park and bike the park road out to Wonder Lake and back, before it opens to motor vehicle traffic on May 20. The park road (gravel) extends about 90 miles into the wilderness with views of the largest peak in North America – Denali.

View of Mt. McKinley (aka Denali) from Wonder Lake (c/o Wikimedia Commons)

Doesn’t that sound great?! But I’m getting ahead of myself – there will be other posts to talk about our plans for where we will be headed on our two-wheeled gap year. We have a date, so let the planning continue…

Read on about our route ideas.

It was back in 2012 when we first considered the idea of taking a “gap year.” We read an article in the April edition of Adventure Cyclist magazine called A Two-Wheeled Gap Year for Grown Ups by Amaya Williams. Not-so incidentally, I just looked her up and found out she is still on her quest to cycle every country on the planet!

I remember Daisy and I were taking turns reading the article out loud while preparing dinner – she always cuts the veggies, and I cook them and add the spices – back when we lived at the Houseasaurus Co-op where we met.

Jason at the Houseasaurus Co-op with a head of lettuce.

Daisy has always had big ideas for adventures (one example: solo cycling from Alaska to Montana – which she did in 2010), and Jason has enjoyed accompanying others on their wild ideas (if presented as doable and relatively safe, almost every trip idea sounds good to him). Needless to say, we make a good team. Daisy generates adventure ideas, and Jason provides good company — and helps refine them, haha.

Daisy’s first time in Alaska.

Anyways, back to that article… So there are 7 steps to taking your dream tour- it is that “easy”! Check it out:
1. Set a start date
2. Start saving
3. Get gear
4. Outline a route
5. Get a handle on health/money/blogging
6. Put life on hold
7. Say bye, and go!

Amaya also suggests a variety of routes – the Pan-American Highway, SE Asia, a cross-continent Eurasia trek – and now I realize she was actually just highlighting some of the touring she did, not just potential ideas!

OK. So, our ideas have percolated for awhile, and now here we are, stating our intentions for leaving our jobs, selling our furniture, and hitting the road for a gap year(+)!

Read on about Setting a Date.