We like to travel light. With 16 other people on this adventure of yours, space in the van is limited.
You’ll have a wee cubby hole big enough for a backpack or a pannier or two – but not much more. So think carefully before packing and maybe leave that kitchen sink behind.
Essential
- Sleeping bag
- Torch
Highly recommended
- Sleeping mat
- Some kind of pillow but not an actual pillow (a soft bag of jumpers works well for us)
- Battery pack. We have some charging points in the van, but priority must go to charging our GPS computers so bringing your own power source will make you self-sufficient.
- Lightweight travel towel
Personal preference
- Tent. Only if you want to guarantee having a tent to yourself. We have enough tents for everyone, but some of the bigger ones are for sharing.
YOU WILL NOT NEED
- Plates, bowls, cutlery, coffee press, etc. – we have it all!
- Shampoo, soap, shower gel
- First Aid kit
- To carry all your camping gear on your bike when we’re cycling
PLEASE DON’T BRING
- A massive pillow (or duvet for that matter!)
- Anything else that doesn’t fit into a ~50L rucksack or a couple of ~30L pannier bags
- The one exception to this rule is if it’s stuff that you don’t need on the ride and you can cram it into your bike box and store it on top of Calypso
YES WE HAVE
- Space to store your bike bag / box on top of Calypso
- A washing line so that you can wash and dry clothes (if there’s time and if it’s sunny enough to dry properly)
- 12V charging points in Calypso – but priority goes to Core Team and our GPS bike computers, so we recommend thinking about bringing a battery pack if you’re worried about that sort of thing
Wait – how much?!
We know that camping and bike kit can get expensive if you don’t already own it.
Please try to borrow kit from friends before dumping a load of cash on a sleeping bag that you’ll never use again.
If you don’t have those kinda friends – remember that we’re your friends too now! Get in touch and maybe we can help.
Lots of outdoor companies also offer kit rental schemes now: