We rode our bikes today from Galway to Carraroe. Tony didn’t even find a silly sign to photograph. We did see a rock formation that looked like a stegosaurus, but not in the photo so never mind.
This is a good opportunity to talk about something else: electronic stuff we carry with us. We carry a lot!
Are we lunatics? Perhaps so. But first of all, everything has been chosen to be as light as it possibly can, given that it’s included at all. Second, recall that we’re not only bicycle touring, and not just for a few days. We’re traveling in Europe for 4.5 months, and Joy has to do some work while we’re here.
- Laptop, 2 pounds + padded case. Needed for Joy’s work. Extremely useful for long tours, wouldn’t bring it for a bike tour of only a few weeks.
- GoPro, 2.6 oz + mount. Very important to Tony. It’s a boy thing.
- Terrano radio headsets, 1.75 oz. These enable us to talk to each other while cycling, also listen to music. Although the tech is imperfect, we really love these. Non-negotiable.
- Red speaker, 1.2 pounds. Totally fluff, but we really enjoy listening to music in the evening. Difficult to justify during a bike tour.
- Headphones, 1.55 oz (x 2). Tony uses to watch videos at night. Joy seldom uses, preferring the speaker. But how can you take an international flight without noise cancelling headphones?
- iPhones 6+ and 6S+ (6.77 oz and 6.07 oz). No justification necessary.
- Extra battery charger (3 oz). Not 100% necessary but quite handy. For some reason Tony’s phone goes through its charge like mad.
- Garmin gps (2.1 oz). Fluff, because the phones can do all the gps stuff we require. But we like having an alternative technology as backup.
- Various lights on bikes & helmets. No justification necessary.
- Not pictured: A brand new “indestructible” camera which was destructed. Carrying it around because we bought a warranty for it so will get it fixed or replaced next time we’re in the US.
- Not pictured: Electric toothbrush. Are we crazy? No, remember we live out of our suitcases/panniers. Dental hygiene is very important. Non-negotiable.
- A crap-ton of cables etc.
Ounces add up, but the big items are the laptop and the speaker. We have our nightly “ritual of charging” down to a science.
Itinerant Philosopher 
Could be Tony’s phone is discharging rapidly because you have wifi turned on and it is looking constantly for a wifi connection. Put it on airplane mode when you can.
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That was one of our theories, but he’s religious about turning off wifi. At this point I’m inclined to think the phone is a lemon! Cheers, hope all is great with you and Julie.
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