I was most reluctant to believe anyone I hadn't met; regardless of the fact they had done travel logs regarding long trips. After my first 250 mile day around Wales I was convinced at least of the seamless undies idea.
NESS: Our trial trip was planned for Wales, as I was keen to go, having never been before. As 'absolute beginners' we were unsure which advise was sound and which was not, the trial helped dispel myths and to find our personal truths about travelling as we wanted.

Having just arrived from Australia I found Lorenz had got heaps of varied pieces of info off the net including about seamless undies being most comfortable and using synthetic clothes as they dry easily. I was most reluctant to believe anyone I hadn't met; regardless of the fact they had done travel logs regarding long trips. After my first 250 mile day around Wales I was convinced at least of the seamless undies idea.

Navigating was very straightforwards, and we stopped if unsure and checked the maps. Our kit was fine, although we did forget the compressor that Lorenz had fashioned from the 'guts' of a car emergency compressor, luckily we didn't get a flat.

It was an excellent experience, apart from the beauty of Wales and practice navigating for me, it cemented confidence that we could survive with what we had. We were also able to decide what else would be handy and what we could veto.

Emergency food, what Aussies call scroggin' was added for me (who would have thought a skinny 5' nothing lass would eat significantly more than a skinny 6'6"chap- but I sure do!). Tea in our packs became much less sought after as not only was it a pain keeping decent milk but grabbing a coffee at a cafe was a cheap and enjoyable social event.

All of our 'wrong turns' turned into right ones, leading us into interesting people and situations that we wouldn't have met otherwise. This included two gorgeous Welsh women who topped up our coffee after they were closed and a recently converted Jehovah's Witness who was able to tell us what was right and wrong with the world 'these days' (most amusing).

Am hoping that one main difference between trips will be less road miles and perhaps spending a day or two in a good spot. For example we went to Snowdonia in our first day and I found it by far the most beautiful spot. In retrospect I wouldn't have bothered with flat Anglesey, yet until we'd been there we wouldn't have known what it was like either.

I am beginning to trust people's experience a bit more- it's just using it for us- we like mountains and lakes and small curvy roads and others might not. A quick learning curve expected. Thanks Bax for your advise on Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia versus N. Poland. Take off expected for Friday: I'll leave Lorenz to fill you in on the more technical side of things.

Bye for now,

Ness.