nope, you really don't need so much prep to do this type of thing. I've done these types of things multiple times and whenever I prepped too much, the experience was actually worse- heavier bags, less spontaneity, etc
Yep, met a guy who was dragging a whole trailer behind his already loaded bike. Another biker, seeing the setup, whispered to me, "You pack your fears."
I did a bike tour way back when, I really liked using a BOB trailer. It kept the weight off the bike, so when you weren't going uphill, you almost didn't notice it was there. My bike was clean though, only water bottles on it basically.
I did the same. It took a couple days to get used to it though. It would throw you off balance on turns.
keeping that in mind is almost a life philosophy. but also, reducing your fears comes from experience. the more you travel, the longer you live, the more you discover things that you didn't need, if you pay attention to it.
> the more you travel, the longer you live, the more you discover things that you didn't need
Thing is, you don’t know what you need until you’ve done this. I have taken a two-week trip out of a carry-on suitcase. You will need laundry service at some point if you want to be presentable in public, but there are companies selling clothes that are designed to wash and dry quickly even with hand soap and a sink, but you have to know they exist and be able to afford a not-cheap new set of clothing.
But I have done this because I started minimalism with trips to places where I knew I could buy whatever I needed within an hour if I forgot something. Do several of those and notice what you don’t use, pulling it off the list unless it’s a rarely-used-and-important-but-not-replaceable-quickly item. Like my contact lenses, which are always a special order. I keep a few in every item of luggage I own. I carry a spare phone, because if my phone dies outside the US or Canada (as my Nexus 6P did) it’s not trivial to get a replacement with US frequencies, and with eSIMs not trivial to swap into something new while still being on my US number (needed for work). I would have to find WiFi first.
And yes, my backup phone has the apps for my service and my wife’s. As soon as I have WiFi, I can be going in ten minutes. It’s currently running a backup of my phone that I update before every trip, but I back hers up too, and while it might take an hour or two to restore and get working again, it can be done easily.
you don’t know what you need until you’ve done this
well yes of course. that's the other part. you learn what you need that you didn't prepare for too. sometimes through failure.
Bicycle tourists and Bikepackers generate massive amounts of online content, they can't seem to help themselves, so a great deal of knowledge and experience can be had long before any rubber has touched the open road.
I'm from a part of the world where people regularly die by going for a walk unprepared (google 'tourist dies in outback' for a repeated history of such).
Having said that i cycled a fair way across Europe in my youth with nothing but a light bag, water bottle and wallet in my pocket.
So basically it depends. Yes you can get away with it in certain parts of the world but i would never argue for unpreparedness since it's way too common for people to die from lacking the basics of preparation.