Planning and Preparation

(Written after the trip)

In some ways, planning for this trip began years and years ago, before Noah was born, before we lived in Chicago, and before we probably could afford it! I did lots of biking when I lived in Germany, taking advantage of the better bike facilities in much of Europe and further establishing a love for biking that goes back to my childhood. Aspects of this trip definitely trace back to when I was younger than Noah is now, riding my bike further than I was allowed, always looking to explore and push the boundaries by bike.

More directly, planning for a bike trip to the Netherlands and Belgium began in earnest around six months ago, when four things began to converge: the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, and the travel restrictions it caused, was burning brighter; Noah as a 10 year old made a long family bike trip more possible than ever; airfares were ridiculously low, with my Premier status on United (and the free checked bikes it allows!) set to expire at the end of 2022; and finally, as a family we were craving a trip to Europe, after two pre-Covid trips that were our two most adventurous trips for sure.

Tammy and Noah have been listening to me talk about biking in Europe for years, so it was clear that I would be planning the trip from start to finish – which made me happy! Tammy took care of the pets and house, while I planned our route and hotels, worked through all trip logistics, learned how to pack bikes in boxes, solved our luggage needs by trying out and choosing bike panniers, and ultimately worked through all the covid-related and vaccine documentation we needed (though much of it became irrelevant by the time we traveled).

Initially I planned a trip to the Netherlands and Germany, with more train segments, but that proved to be too hard to pull off – and ultimately it was the right decision to stay in flat areas and cover less ground by focusing on The Netherlands and Belgium. I targeted the end of April, due to a “sweet spot” in dryness (the Low Countries are driest in mid-spring), temperature (daily highs around 60), tourist crowds (height of flower season but far from summer crowds), and airfare costs (prices start to spike in May in normal years). Airfares and a desire for Noah to only miss 5 days of school, led us to Friday, April 22 (evening departure), to Sunday, May 1. We bought the tickets in early February for less than $500/ticket direct from Chicago.

Even though we knew this was peak season for tulips in Holland, our dates ended up being especially great for two other reasons: the annual flower festival in Haarlem (see our trip journal for April 24), which hadn’t been held in three years but looked incredible; and Kings Day, a nationwide celebration every April 27 (see our trip journal), that just happened to land in the middle of our trip! Apart from arriving in Amsterdam and leaving from Brussels, those two events anchored the day-to-day trip plan.

I’d started planning routes and equipment before then, but the 2.5 months between buying our air tickets and departing were when everything really got going. In retrospect, planning and preparation fell into four categories:

• Bike preparation and boxing, including the tools needed to unbox and re-box during the trip
• Bike panniers, and budgeting clothes and equipment to fit in the 3 panniers
• Trip logistics, such as transporting bike boxes, ensuring hotels can store our bikes, and planning our daily rides (see the Europe map on the wall in a pic below)

The fourth category, Training and Trip Simulation, including a weekend bike trip with panniers to a hotel close to our house, fell victim to an especially cold and rainy spring in Chicago, cutting out nearly all opportunities to get in biking shape (apart from one ride months ago!).

Our guest room (aka my Covid work-from-home office) became the staging area for our trip for a couple months. I found our three bike panniers on Amazon through some trial and error, and I was so happy with what we used. Amazon was also the source for new bike locks, new pedals and seatpost for Noah’s bike, and packing materials. I also ended up using FedEx bike boxes and just one of the three bike boxes we got from Wilmette Bicycle & Sport Shop, due to struggles with packing Tammy and my bikes into smaller boxes. All worked out!

Finally, for what we packed in our three panniers, that also fell into four categories:

• Clothes and rain jackets
• Toiletries
• Bike tools, locks, lights, and bells (we never used the lights or bells!)
• Cables and adapters

That’s it! We fit those nicely into our three panniers, and throughout the trip it felt like we had the right amount of stuff (although a warmer coat and a hat for Tammy would have been better for her – that might have been the one miss on the trip). The remaining trip logistics are covered in our daily posts. Overall, I can’t think of anything that went wrong from a planning perspective, pretty much everything worked out – plus, I enjoyed all of it, and can’t wait to do it again!