Quote:
Originally Posted by zmalwo
Ok just adding more details so you guys can help me with more details advice!
1. I have family in Japan so I always have a place to go back to. my brother's place is located in the middle of japan so the most I would spend on each direction is probably 5 - 10 days. then reset once i circle back to where he is.
2. won't be cooking outside carrying food etc, Japan is pretty populated and there is no rural area there. I can find restaurants even in their most "rural" areas.
3. thinking about carrying a bottle of deet and put a fk tons of them on at night and just sleep on a park bench or some, so won't be carrying a tent either. (someone please confirm if this is a good idea)
4. maybe 1 set of spear clothing or not at all, planning to dip myself in a creek or some whenever I need to and wash myself + my clothing all at once while looking like an idiot.
5. the same apply to Taiwan where i'm heading to the first few months.
6. Japan is so crowded so stuff like tire change, spare tubes sourcing won't be a problem at all.
7. considering the conditions above, as of right now things i'm planning to carry in a waist bag are: basic hygiene stuff, a few spare tubes, a co2 inflater, a tire lever, a few hex wrenches, some cash and card, my phone, a bottle of deet, a cable lock that's it!
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I'm guessing from this that you're a fair bit younger than I am. Still . . .
I don't know what's acceptable (or legal) in Japan, much less what's comfortable (or tolerable) to you, but there's no way I'd sleep on park benches for 5 nights in a row, much less 10, if I could help it. I gladly did a 12-day mountain backpacking trip with the scouts in the summer of '17, and I'd do it again, but on hard ground or soft I wanted a pad between me and the ground, and benches don't seem more appealing to me. And you probably know that getting wet and cold is not actually safe. If you don't know for a fact that it's going to be mild AND dry, every day and night, I'd recommend a bivy sack, at least, and it's hard for me to picture this sort of trip without at least a lightweight sleeping bag or quilt. I'd also have a change of clothes -- at least a change of base layers.
If you are planning on riding through developed areas for much of the journey, do you plan to visit any sites of interest? You mention eating out -- can your family in Japan tell you what's required to be sort of basically/minimally presentable at places you mean to visit? How casual is casual in Japan? And what's the tolerance for downright filthy? I'm not trying to be contentious here -- just remembering how we came out of the mountains in NM -- we weren't really suitable for a diner in the American southwest without a shower and a change of clothes. Different trip, different place, and different conditions, but that's what I have in mind.