Let’s face it, a lot of riders fantasize about packing their things and getting away on their bikes for weeks or more at a time. While some of us get to do this once in a while, I’m going to guess that most of us don’t get to do it as often as we’d like. When it comes time to ‘get out and do the thing’ as motovlogger Amanda Zito often cheers her fellow riders on to do, that’s probably part of why it can seem at least a little overwhelming.
That’s where packing videos, like this recent one posted by moto traveler and vlogger Runa, can come in handy. Like a lot of moto vloggers who travel, she does have a couple of sponsors for some of her gear—but as you’ll see, most of it is stuff that she purchased out of pocket, with her own money. (She’s helpfully included a full list of all the gear shown in this video in the description on YouTube, as well as marked which items are sponsored.)
Runa is a solo motorcycle traveler, currently tackling a load of two-week (give-or-take) journeys on her Yamaha Ténéré 700. She’s based in Norway, and so far, has mainly been taking trips to destinations in Europe. That includes her most recent adventures in Iceland (in fact, one of her side bags in this video is full of black licorice candies that she brought back for her family, who loves that flavor).
Pack Your Stuff And Go:
Runa does a lot of motocamping, so her main concerns are camping gear, as well as lightweight layers that she can put on or take off to keep herself at optimal temperature. She also has a set of rain gear packed as well, just in case she needs it. Most of her camping and cooking gear is lightweight, extremely compact stuff, with technical details that are meant to perform well while taking up as little space as possible.
This includes a two-person Big Agnes tent, a sleeping bag that’s packed inside a compression bag to make it as small as possible, a thermo liner, an air pillow that she augments with her jacket and stuffs inside a pillowcase for comfort/compactness, a sleeping mat, a footprint, and a lightweight camping towel.
The cooking equipment setup is similarly compact, with a small gas burner, a windscreen that helps shield her cooking from the wind, and a cool collapsible Sea to Summit cooking set that you’ve probably seen in other moto camping videos because it seems pretty ideal for the task. She also has a minimal number of utensils for eating and cooking, as well as a small bottle of dish detergent for cleanup afterward.
The camping, cooking, and clothing for Runa’s trips goes in her two Giant Loop waterproof, roll-top side bags, while all her electronics go in the hard top case on the back of the bike. Runa is a big believer in thin, lightweight wool layers to optimize body temperature in all kinds of conditions. Other technical fabrics are present in the mix, but everything is as lightweight and compact as possible because it has to be.
Other items include a first aid kit (a must), her Garmin InReach beacon for added safety when she’s out of cell phone range, insect spray, chain lube, tire puncture kit, a small collection of tools in a zip-top bag, and a little bottle of wool laundry soap since she wears so much wool.
What do you like to pack for your trips, and how do you like to pack it? Let us know in the comments.