Touring luxuries

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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al_yrpal
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by al_yrpal »

Theres something luxurious about a proper leather covered hip flask… We are talking luxuries here!

Al
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MartinBrice
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by MartinBrice »

The greatest luxury on any tour is a good night's sleep, which I achieve by taking a good quality, expensive, self-inflating mattress and a warm sleeping bag. Everything else can be either bought out there or done without. A good night's sleep is the very greatest luxury.

My second luxurious item would be the ability to communicate with the locals so I usually buy a language course (eg £14 for Michel Thomas Basic Dutch, or £20 on eBay for Michel Thomas Spanish course) and spend a bit of time learning a few words. This makes a fantastic difference, even when dealing with someone who is fluent in English (as many Dutch are). Just trying to speak their own language seems to open doors.
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matt2matt2002
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by matt2matt2002 »

2 months in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with temperatures 30+
I manged showers OK but I bought a back loofa knda thing to reach around.
Crazy I know but felt so good to be 100% clean after a couple of days riding one of the world's toughest roads.
2017 Ethiopia.5 weeks.
2018 Marrakech 2 weeks.
2023 Thailand 8 weeks.
Always on a Thorn Raven/Rohloff hub.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by MrsHJ »

loo roll.

One of those things that never seems that important until you're on a campsite without any.....
PJ520
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by PJ520 »

pwa wrote:I always take a real book. I love to get away from electronic technology and screens. A proper paperback book and a head torch do the job very nicely for me. I usually choose a good old fashioned detective story. Clues in the library, and all that sort of stuff. I know it isn't high literature, but it's good to relax with.
+1 I've even picked up used books on tour and found myself reading some right rubbish - still, better than nothing to read at all.
You only live once, which is enough if you do it right. - Mae West
robing
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by robing »

MrsHJ wrote:loo roll.

One of those things that never seems that important until you're on a campsite without any.....


Yes! I really hate campsites that don't provide any loo roll or paper towels. Also quite handy if you get 'caught short' on tour. Has happened to me a couple of times..
Slowroad
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by Slowroad »

MP3 player with Radio 4 podcasts. Gets me off to sleep wonderfully! Neil MacGregor doing The History of the World in 100 Objects is the best, I don't think I've heard any of them the whole way through! Otherwise the thing I could do without but prefer to bring is a plastic bowl - I could eat straight out of the pan but it seems so much more civilised to have a dish to eat from.
“My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything. The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.”
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PH
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by PH »

Tough question.
When do you stop considering an item a luxury? The biggest luxury is being on tour, time and distance your own, how much more of a luxury could there be. Then the the most luxurious feelings that come from the essentials, laying awake in the tent listening to the rain, putting dry socks on after a day of soaking feet - If you could bottle those feelings...
My vote is probably for my silk pajamas except they're not a luxury, no really - lighter and smaller pack size than a sleeping bag liner, comfortable to sit around the tent in, usable as an extra layer if needed. OK the smoking jacket and cigarette holder for the full Noel Coward effect might be less essential...
psmiffy
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by psmiffy »

PH wrote:Tough question.
When do you stop considering an item a luxury? The biggest luxury is being on tour, time and distance your own, how much more of a luxury could there be. Then the the most luxurious feelings that come from the essentials, laying awake in the tent listening to the rain, putting dry socks on after a day of soaking feet - If you could bottle those feelings...


totally agree - except the question should be when is something a luxury?

For myself if it gets packed it is an essential.
lisap
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by lisap »

I try to travel light on tour and consider everything I take to be essential from my tent to my bed to my cooker. My only luxury is the journey to my destination and home at the end of the trip. If it's long haul I fly business class and stay in a hotel to get over jet lag. My days of hosteling are well and truly over.

Extravagant? Maybe but I convince myself that as I am spending 8 weeks + sleeping in a tent on the floor I need a bit of comfort. On the plus side there's never a problem getting the bike on the plane as it goes as part of my luggage allowance.
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horizon
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by horizon »

I keep reading and re-reading this thread and have come to the conclusion that it's nonsensical. In fact even worse, I've come to the conclusion that the CTC Publicity Team, bless their cotton socks, have never actually toured by bicycle - maybe they could come back and put me right on this.

We seem to have reached the point where what is a basic necessity for most people (such as a warm, comfy mattress on which to sleep) is for touring cyclists a luxury. And of course anything that is in fact a "luxury" isn't taken anyway. I suppose it's conceivable that we take one object that we would normally consider "off list" and take it anyway - heart ruling head so to speak. But most things seem pretty de rigueur if they are going to be carried around. Hot water bottle for instance? Box of paints? A violin? An IPad? By definition though, if it's a luxury it doesn't get taken, though I supose you could argue that one person's essential is another's luxury.

I have a deeper suspicion though and that is that this is something to do with a Christmas special, one of those specious articles that offers to help you find a gift for the touring cyclist that has everything. But I'm not one to be churlish so in the spirit of the thread I'm going to suggest ...

a mini Christmas pudding. Ooh, luxury!
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
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andrew_s
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by andrew_s »

Chat Noir wrote:What once was luxury is now easily carried - books, photos, music, radio, all on a smart phone.
It's not just the smartphone though, is it?
The phrase "all your eggs in one basket" applies, so if you use the phone GPS all day and the phone battery runs out, you've no music, radio or book in the evening, until you can recharge.
Therefore you'll also need the phone charger, an external battery pack and a charger for that (if you want faster than the USB charge rate).
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andrew_s
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by andrew_s »

horizon wrote:By definition though, if it's a luxury it doesn't get taken

Not at all.
Any "nice to have" item that you know isn't essential and that you could do without if necessary is a luxury.
I'd argue that Chat Noir's smartphone falls into that category, though I don't suppose he'd agree, especially if he's one of the 50% of the population that suffer from Nomophobia.
coastman
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by coastman »

My slippers, I know it sounds silly but as a credit card tourer it's a piece of home in the hotel or B and B.
Last thing in the pannier and the first out.
borisface
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Re: Touring luxuries

Post by borisface »

MONEY!!!!
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