Since signing up for the End of the Earth Tour , dozens of things are chasing through my head. I”ll try to capture some of the saner stuff here.

First come lists of lists of things I need to think about:

• Stuff to do soon (like book flights to Chile)
• Stuff to take (just how should I cater for temperature extremes?)
• Getting fit (gym, off-road practice)
• Photography - if I take my SLR stuff will I use it?
• Medical - do I need to worry about malaria, tick fever and whatnot? Injections etc?

As these things start to gel, I”ll record them here so I can laugh at my stupidity when I am back..
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Well of the above, the flights are booked, a new riding suit (BMW Rallye2 Pro) bought. Gym going well (about two days in three), have lost a stone and gained some muscle. I have stopped fooling myself on the photography front and will now take only a point and shoot digital - stopping the bike, getting the gear out to take a snap etc - barmy idea! - I”d actually rather like a helmet camera I can operate with apush button on the bars..

Medical - so far nothing done but I shall get tetanus booster - I am bound to fall off a few times. It also seems as though I shall need to get a Yellow Fever vaccination. I had my last one eleven years ago but they last for only ten years!

OK, tetanus booster done.

Off-road course - two booked, the BMW two day affair came through with a booking (I had been on standby) and I have the Honda one - now scheduled for a few days after the BMW one. If I survive these, I should be OK in Patagonia..

OK, Off-Road courses completed and safely with only a few tumbles. Great fun and very useful in a number of ways. Not least in helping me make up my mind about gear - I have decided to take motocross boots and helmet for example rather than more touring oriented gear.
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Right, been there and done that. My preparations weren”t a million miles off the mark I am glad to say. In fact everything worked out well - I just took too much gear. The weather was colder for most of the trip than I had expected so my warm weather clothing didn”t see much use and because of the dry climate in the south , we didn”t sweat much which meant clothes could be worn for longer - see here for more detailed comments on the gear I took .