2020. THE year. The year of, well, shite. And coincidentally the year of my 15th Anniversary for my wife and I. And if life is a bowl of cherries at home then it's time for presents! Or, if it's a bowl of over ripe bananas you may still get a present, ill feelings be damned, because it's been 15 years and both of you think "whatever", give me my present, I deserve it after 15 years.

 It went like this - Her: order something for yourself. Me: Tell me what you want and I'll get it. Done deal. Now I'm the proud owner of 

Joe Rocket Reactor Dry-Tech Saddlebags. My heart quickened a little at that sweet smell of water proof rubber when I opened the bag after opening the box. Quick turn around too, from Fortnine. Although, what didn't come with the order were instructions. Now, I'm a handy kind of guy but there's some strange additions to the bags, sort of 3 sided hard pieces, 2 of them, with net pouches on one of the sides. I'll figure it out. I've had soft side cases before. Can't say it was a positive experience, what with the fire that ensued pulling into the outer limits of Vancouver - but that's another story. Straps wrap over the seat, tie the bags down to a passenger foot peg, and Bob's yer uncle. Can't be that difficult.

 However, the hard pieces included are not mentioned in any document (instructions pdf), or on the web anywhere (that I could find), including the Fortnine website. Still a mystery; they may very well create a conversation among my fellow riders to see if someone can solve the puzzle, when we do a trip this spring of 2021, and mark my words, there will be a trip no matter what. Maybe a camping trip to get around using motels during Covid...

 I have already started to accumulate camping gear. The summer of 2020 was lousy with people buying up camping things - tents especially - whether they went camping or not is questionable. But it proved impossible to find a decent and particularly inexpensive tent anywhere. Later, in the fall, I found a used tent and it looks brand new, claiming it was only used once, for almost half what a new one would cost.

 I did borrow a neighbors tent to get out for a night of camping this past summer of 2020 and all went well. Myself and two others rode up to Sylvan Lake Alberta for a night. Weather was great and I found half decent secondary roads that proved to be somewhat scenic.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JDUK-JnXP8

 

 Now that I'm on this camping bent, there are so many other things I need and have compiled a list. Let's all hope the summer of 2021 proves far more entertaining and free.

 

Killing time

   Up until not too long ago, like I'm talking the last approximately ten years, I used to watch more television, you know, the Simpsons, and Sienfeld. And of course the news on occasion, that is, until kids came along, both figuratively and literally, wanting to watch the frenetic and mind numbing pre-teen animations that tend to rattle my brain far too quickly, relegating me to a laptop, PC, or tablet looking for anything not dripping with transformer-esque graphics and childish innocence.

 

 In comes youtube. Finally something worth watching (lets not kid one another, real life beats the trappings of Facebook any day). The real stories with and without motorcycles. Travel, "how-to" videos -  an awesome resource - and endless reviews. Mostly though I stick to the motorcycle related channels, car or "gearhead" focused stuff and those related to travel.  

 So there's a lot of "look at me", and the onslaught of requests to subscribe to all the channels. And yes, it's narcissistic in nature but aren't we all?? I've even thought about doing my own channel but couldn't see myself constantly seeing myself in the camera, admittedly out of fear and a lack of confidence. Do you have to constantly be talking into the damn action camera? Actually, no. I was surprised to stumble on a lowkey vlogger located, at the time, in Bali, a place I can't get enough of. This vlogger had an ambient style music as a garnish to his amazing scenery, and footage of himself going about his day. I could actually see myself in his daily activity on Bali; capturing each moment whether traveling on a motorbike - a crazy experience any day on Bali - or simply eating, walking to the beach, etc. I was fascinated and not distracted by a constant describing or narrating. Each video was somewhat short, not more than 10 minutes typically. I'm actually ok with 20, 30 or even an hour video but the latter is rare. 

 I'm also surprised with how talented people are with editing and using different formats like overdubbing dialogue as a narration, as apposed to talking while filming. Maybe adding voice after, sitting alone in a room and choosing the words more carefully, is easier to accomplish instead of having to talk into the camera. Personally I feel I look awkward when filming myself but it may just be me. Strangely I think it would be cathartic to practice talking into a camera. Next bike trip I'll make a more concerted effort to sharing my thoughts and perspective on what I'm filming, and get out of my comfort zone. And maybe it'll suck. But maybe not.