My friends Jim and Ann are avid birders. They sent me a link to a fellow Oregonian, Noah Stryker, who is traveling the world for the year trying to see if he can spot 5000 birds. He is currently in Colombia traveling backroads that bring back fond memories of last year when I was down there.

I was checking out his minimalist gear on his blog and it is surprisingly similar to mine:

http://www.audubon.org/news/gear-year

Here is a picture from his blog in case you don't want to click on that link and get distracted for a few hours:

substitute the spotting scope and binoculars for some inner tubes, a hand pump and some spare motorcycle parts and this is about all you need to take for a motorcycle trip around the world. Well okay, I take a small tent, thermarest and down bag for camping. And of course good motorcycle pants, jacket helmet and boots, but you're wearing those.

It is harder than you think to cut your travel gear to the bone though. Most people take way more stuff than they need. In fact I see that Noah takes too many shirts as well. You only need two. One to wear, one to wash. But that marmot lightweight down jacket is the bomb. It crushes down to nothing in your luggage. But when you get up in the Andes and the temperature drops, just whip it out and put it under your riding jacket and it poofs up and keeps your body core warm as toast even in the howling mountain winds.