DownTheRoad.org
The continuous bicycle touring story since 2002
no plans to stop

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The story of how we saved money, quit our jobs, sold our possessions, and set off to bicycle tour and travel around the world

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Continue our Travels

Alaska / Canada / USA
5-3-08 to present
Index to all pages

New Zealand
9-16-07 to 5-2-08
Index to all pages

Australia
9-15-06 to 9 -16 - 07
Index to all pages

SE Asia / China
11-22-04 to 9-15-06
Index to all pages

South America
6-3-03 to 6-17-04
Index to all pages

North & Central America
3-30-02 to 4-17-03
Index to all Pages


*Help Support this Web Site and Continue Our Travels.


Sign up for our RoadNews Newslette.r Written on the road as we travel around the world on our bicycles including free downloadable video links  MORE INFO HERE


Equipment Pages Index

Introduction
How Much to Bring and Weight
Some Advice About Advice
A Note to Perspective Sponsors and Gear Suppliers

START HERE for Touring Bikes and Commuting Bicycles
Bicycle Touring Frames 
The Steel Repair Myth.
Steel and Aluminum Derailleur Hanger Repair.
Bicycle Touring Wheels
Phil Wood: The Best Bicycle Hubs

Panniers / Bike Bags
Cargo Trailers Vs Panniers
Tires for Bike Tours..
Bicycle Touring Saddles.
Cindie's Women's Specific Bike Touring Saddles
Brooks Leather Touring Bicycle Saddle Care and Conditioning
Bike Computer
Touring Handlebars, Bar Ends, Adjustable Stems, and Padded Grips.
Sealed Cartridge Headsets

Camping
Buying Camping Equipment
Tent and Ground Cloth
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad
Camp Stove
Pots and Pans
Water Filter

Clothing
Bike Touring Shorts

Health and First Aide

Electrical
Short-wave Radio
Computer
Internet
mp3

Books
Packing list
Pictures of Equipment Failures
Shopping

We have bicycle toured in Central/South America, Asia, Australia, and Canada

1:39 Min. VIDEO


Bicycle Touring Laos in South East Asia

5:15 min. VIDEO


Where do you work and write as you bicycle tour abroad or travel overseas?

1:17 Min. VIDEO


Australian Radio (ABC) Interview with Cindie Travis
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5:01 min. VIDEO


See All Videos Here

Antigua, Guatemala to the Sea
Saturday, January 11, 2003 (Sent From Omoa, Honduras)


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Cindie and I have now been on the road for about ten months.  In all of this time we have not seen the ocean or beach.  We plan on changing this fact on the Caribbean side of Honduras.  Along the way, in Guatemala, we made a side trip to the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal, the birders paradise of Rio Dulce, and the funky town of Livingston.  In many way this was a frustrating endeavor because Guatemala City stood in our way.  Neither of us had any interest in riding in the crowded polluted capital.  You will have to read on to find out how we got through but I will say that we have learned to appreciate the simple life on the bike.

In eastern Guatemala internet access has been very limited.  This is a sparsely populated area.  I have not been able to connect our laptop since I sent out our last newsletter several weeks ago.  When I do have the opportunity to connect we will be sending 50 emails and receiving 200.  As I sit in our tent writing this I still do not know when or where I will be able to connect.  There is starting to be a several week turnaround in our email replies.  Please be patient.  I am always afraid that people will quit writing us because they do not receive replies in a reasonable amount of time.   The web site is getting updated less often as well.   As we head into the Honduran wilderness I expect internet access to be even less frequent.  You can bet that every time you receive one of these newsletters that the site has been updated and we have a good connection.  This is the best time to write us because I try to receive our email 24 hours after sending the newsletters.

Big news for us is that monthly traffic on our web site has reached over 13,000 unique visitors per month.  A unique visitor means that each visitor can only be counted once every 24 hours.  This is much more meaningful to me than "hits" which would be 5 to 10 times greater.  This is exciting because Nov. and Dec. are notoriously slow months for the sites that I have maintained.  This is much more than we had ever expected for a web site that is only a few months old.  I still have not formatted our site to be attractive to search engines.  Who knows when I can get to that but when I do there will certainly be a surge in traffic.  Even without being indexed in the majority of search engines we are amazed that so many people are looking at our stuff.  Most people report that they like the pictures and Cindie's journal the best. 

With all of this growing traffic there has naturally been more people signing up for this newsletter.  I just counted over 500 subscribers on our mailing list.   I still maintain this list manually and read and enter each sign up form.   There are several automated ways of maintaining an email list like this but I do not want to lose the personal contact with the people who take the time to write us.    We really do know most of you out there from the forms that you sent in.   The pace of new subscribers is proportional to the sites traffic volume so I expect this to increase as well.  I am starting to feel like I am publishing a small newspaper.   I have to admit that this comes as quite a surprise to me because I am the guy who flunked high school English.  I am much more careful about grammar theses days.


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Tim's Past Newsletters Index
Adventure Story, Novel, Book, Writings

These letters are sent to our email list and are used as a means to keep in contact with our friends and family.  If you would like to be put on our email list just fill out the Email Update Sign Up form.

Newest to Oldest

 

Back on the road and you are invited to our public appearances.
March, 5, 2009 (Sent From Ajo, AZ, USA)

A quickie before I go
Feb 25, 2009 (Sent From Yuma, AZ, USA)

Mp3 interview download, itchy feet, and continued 50% off book sale
 February 3, 2009 (Sent From Yuma, Arizona, USA)

Winter Break in the Arizona Desert
January 6th, 2009 (sent from Yuma, Arizona, USA)

Return to America and 50% Off Autographed Books
December 1st, 2008

Computer Crash and Selling Books at El Tour De Tucson
November 16th, 2008
(sent from Tucson, Arizona, USA)

Hear our latest radio interview (mp3) on KGNU Metro with Roger Wendell
Oct. 21, 2008
(sent from San Jose, California, USA)

Wind, Rain, Cold, Cindie’s Illness, and Forum Trolls
Sept. 2nd, 2008
(Sent From Victoria, British Colombia, Canada)

The Book is Done and We are Back on the Road in Alaska
July 11th, 2008
(Sent from Eastern Alaska/Wester Yukon)

Six Years Down The Road: breaking even and meeting friends.
April 16, 2008

(Sent From Twizel, South Island, New Zealand)

New Zealand: One of the Most Beautiful Places on Earth
February 19, 2007
(Sent From Wanaka, New Zealand)

Let's get started in New Zealand and 50% off our first book
November , 2007

(Sent From New Plymouth, New Zealand)

Hello to friends and family of DownTheRoad.org:  Crises in Cindie's Family

Going to New Zealand!!
August 10, 2007
(Sent From Katherine, The Northern Territory, Australia)

Back in the Outback
July 14, 2006

(Sent From Normanton (home of the big crocodile), Australia)

Five Years DownTheRoad:  a Different kind of endurance
April 11, 2007
(Sent From Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia)

5 min Video Postcard from Tasmania
February, 27, 2007

(Sent From Canberra, Australia)

How do we stay married while traveling together 24/7? and Australia Video #1:  Bike Touring Down Under
January 30, 2007

(Sent From Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia: On the way to the Snowy River National Park)

Downloadable Malaysian Video Postcard From the Road
November 20, 2006
(Sent From Strahn, Tasmania, Australia)

Culture Shock in Australia and Keep Your Ears on the Road
October 18, 2006

(Sent From Mt. Gambier, Australia)

Two 1-Way Tickets to Australia Please and 5 minute Thailand Video Download (37 mb) 2 Thailand Bike Tour Video
 July 25, 2006

(Sent From Parit Buntar, Malaysia)

Laos: Eyes of the World
May 16, 2006
(Sent from the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia)

Four Years DownTheRoad
March, 11, 2006
(Sent From Bangkok, Thailand)

Out of China: Slipping Past the Watchful Eye of Censorship.
January 5, 2006

(Sent from Luang Phrabang, Laos)

Into Occupied Territory: Tibet
November 22, 2005
(Sent from Dali, China)

The Many Faces of China: Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, Provinces.
September 24, 2005
(Sent From Kangding, China)

Made in China: Free Birds in a Caged World
 July 10, 2005
(Sent From Beijing, China)

Three Years and Still Going
May 17, 2004
(Sent From Long Sheng, China)

Cambodia: Poverty Does Not Equal Crime.
February 1, 2005
(Sent From Dalat, Vietnam)

Thailand: Landing in a Whole New World.
December 24, 2004
(Sent From Siem Reap, Cambodia)

Crossing Over to the Other Side: Relocating to Asia
11-28, 2004
(Sent From Bangkok, Thailand)

The New Global Bicycle Touring Plan.
 August, 2004
(Sent From Mooresville, Indiana, USA)

Northwest Argentina: The Wrong Way In the Right Country
April 7, 2004
(Sent From Bariloche, Argentina)

Bolivia: The Calm After the Storm
January, 16, 2004
(Sent From Mendoza, Argentina)

Peru #2:  Been Doing Some Hard Traveling
November 4, 2003
(Sent From Copacabana, Bolivia)

Peru #1 Riding Between The Extremes
Sept. 24, 2003
(Sent From Huanuco, Peru)

Ecuador #2: The Magic of the Andes
Aug 14, 2003
(Sent From Chiclayo, Peru)

Ecuador #1: Riding on top of the Southern Hemisphere
July 8, 2003
(Sent From Riobamba, Ecuador)

USA: CULTURE SHOCK
June, 7, 2003
(Sent From Quito, Ecuador)

Costa Rica #1:  Green Grass and High Tides

Nicaragua: Travels Through a Troubled Land
Thursday, March 27, 2003
(Sent From Santa Elena - Monteverde, Costa Rica)

Honduras: From the Guatemalan Border to the Nicaraguan Border
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003
(Sent From Esteli, Nicaragua)

Antigua, Guatemala to the Sea
Saturday, January 11, 2003
(Sent From Omoa, Honduras)

Guatemala: From Paradise to Despair
Thursday Dec. 26, 2002
(Sent From Antigua Guatemala)

Guatemala:   Riding Through the Highlands
Thursday, Nov. 28, 2002
Thanksgiving day in the USA
(Sent From Quetzaltenango, Guatemala)

Our Final Weeks in Mexico
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
(Sent From Comitan, Mexico)

Six Months Down the Road
Monday, October 7, 2002
(Sent From Amecameca, Mexico)

So Close to Mexico City Yet So Far From Anything
Monday, September 9, 2002
(Sent From Amecameca, Mexico)

Toluca
Saturday, August 17, 2002
(Sent From Toluca, State of Mexico, Mexico)

The Great Secret of Michoacan
Thursday, August 1, 2002
(Sent From Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico)

Adios Guanajuato
Monday, July 15, 2002
(Sent From Guanajuato, Mexico)

Hello Guanajuato
Friday, June 21, 2002

(Sent From Guanajuato, Mexico)

Greetings from Mexico
Monday, May 27, 2002
(Sent From Cuauhtemoc, Mexico)

Heading into Mexico
Sunday, May 12, 2002
(Sent from Douglas Arizona)

Enjoying Arizona
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
(Sent from Sierra Vista Arizona.)

Our first week Down the Road
Sunday, April 07, 2002
(Sent from Tucson Arizona)

Good bye Letter
Sent out mid Feb. 2002
Written while living in our RV and sent from Cindie's office

WB00771_.gif (436 bytes)  See the complete story on how we made the decision, saved up, and finally left on our life long bicycle tour

 

 

 

Our 3rd Book
Down The Road in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

A Bicycle Tour Through War, Genocide and Forgiveness

Our 2nd book
Down The Road in South America

A bicycle tour through poverty, paradise, and the places in between.

Our 1st book
The Road That Has No End

How we traded our ordinary lives for a global bicycle touring adventure.

Printed Soft Cover
(Ships Internationally)

mp3 Audio Book
 Download
Hear First Chapter NOW

PDF eBook
 Download


Cycle Touring Racks: Why chromoly steel is best.



Heavy Duty Travel Tested
Sealed Cartridge Hubs.

Take a look at the strongest hubs built specifically for touring


What years on the road have taught us about bikes.

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