Haven’t written in ages but there haven’t been any further developments so far – hunting at the moment for a rack. Thought to start with that and then build slowly up item by item.
In terms of condition – help … nearly fell off the climbing wall 2 weeks ago. Hence, spent the last 2 weeks with doing a variety of sporty things, except, weirdly enough – cycling (I mean proper cycling, excluding getting to & fro venues). But, if I keep going like this and add the cycling as well – I will be fine 
).
Workwise… aaah… rgh… best described by my favourite description:
The only paranoia now is that although there is officially light at the end of the tunnel, defined by moving, I suddenly discovered this other big gaping hole… Work… Do I really want to just go for any job and start all over again and or wouldn’t it be wiser to find something I like doing and move there. And the thing, which I find so really freaky, is – “Who in the hell would give me a job?” – I guess that’s normal ‘just before the big change’ panic… I hope
For the cycling, people have sent me a variety of suggestions for what trailer or way of trekking I should use… only flaw, most seem to have missed the small print, saying “I am moving…”, i.e. not trekking for holidays… ah concepts. But still, some of the ideas are really fun and stored for later events. In terms of moving, as long I stay within Europe – this plan would work (the moving one with the bike). It also forces me to cut down on luggage, which I think is great!
I have started to turn into a complete tech freak for outdoory things – and love looking up the details for particular items and to make the decisions, why that item and not another one. Hence, another item at the moment is – waterproof gloves: And the winner aaaaaaaare: Seal Skinz Ultra Grip. Can be used for mountaineering, kayaking, cycling, camping, any days with shitty weather, either as solo or combined with mittens or other over gloves. And the idea of having waterproof gloves has become more and more of an issue. I just love the idea of getting one item that is universally usable, instead of having to buy several similar items, specific for each sport. I already started a collection of boots and helmets… That’s one of these things I find rather amusing… yeap, I as a female have clearly more than 2 pairs of shoes/boots… only that approx 2/3 fall into the category “wouldn’t wear that on the street/to a party” – which comforts me immensely.
Cycling… I think, once I got the rack sorted, I might give it a try and cycle to Edinburgh – should take me a day – hoping that the drivers are in a good mood on that day and not about to play “Hit the cyclist”…
I was planning to organise somehow the back roller panniers from Ortlieb but I also got another idea: why not figuring out a way to attach two big rucksacks to the rack. There must be a way to do that. This would have the advantage for going hiking. One cycles into the valley, stores the bike somewhere “in the corner”, goes up the mountains, does a 2 days trip or so, comes back down, attaches the rucksack and cycles back out & home. Only flaws: a. the backpacks are likely to get more easily damaged – need some protection; b. they are ~65/70l in size and not 20l as the Ortlieb ones, making them “slightly” oversized… a thought to be chewed on…
