biker food

Now that I'm living back in the States, my husband and I were inspired to see if we could live our lives solely based on bicycle transportation our car died while we were traveling 

This has a lot of pros and cons to it financially and environmentally...
No worries about car insurance!
No way to buy a desk and get it home.
It saves money on gas!
It makes trips to visit the folks 5 hours away a little more complicated....
It's hard to say what's best!

Biking as my main form of transportation really has been a smooth transition in comparison to carrying my entire life on my back for the past year....it all comes down to weight...particularly when it comes to buying food!

As far as purchasing power and grocery shopping, not much has changed from our days of deciding whether or not to purchase food based on its weight and temperature and how far we had to carry it!
*A major reason why my husband still won't let peanut butter or jelly enter our home is because it was the only thing I knew how to eat as an American that was light weight, cheap, easy and could be eaten at any time.  PB&J, the classic American treat will stay American....mmmm...a PB&J sounds kind of good right now!

This conundrum of space/weight/dietary and physical needs, has lead me to all kinds of critically odd purchasing decisions slightly different for a home then for a hostel...it's ok to buy bulk when you know you'll be around for a week, but with no space to carry it, it's kind of weird!

• Buying things like toilet paper....how do I get home 36 rolls on my bike?  Hmph....4 pak it is...
• For a while we switched from milk to half and half, because it's smaller!
• Wine or beer?   I'll admit I'm now a major fan of the Napa Valley!
• 20 fancy napkins for $2 or 500 not fancy napkins for $2....I guess it's time for a tea party!
• We literally shop and look at the 7 different brands of something like rice and decide now based on size!

I think this fact has actually helped us watch our waists!  Sugary beverages and chips are immediately off the list due to the fact of their weight and size.  Chips are light, but in a backpak, they are ridiculously huge and by the time I'd get them home, they would be mush! Coke comes in sizes of large and larger, which just doesn't work when I have almost enough space for a tub of yogurt and a little bag of almonds......I'm just sayin....as a way to burn off some excess...it seems to be helping just in what I can physically carry home!

What's really funny about all of this is that our new refrigerator in our new permanent apartment is HUMONGOUS!  I hear it whining along with dollars flying out the window with it's inability to stay cool for very long, all for the benefit of a small portion hard salami, a tomato, 3 bottles of beer and a stick of butter....it just doesn't seem right.  This refrigerator was obviously meant for a resident who happened to own a hummer...not a Fuji 10 speed!

That all being said, having a refrigerator in and of itself is an incredible thing in comparison to always moving around and never getting to finish a bottle or a can of something, because you have to go on to the next town.  Traveling in Africa, we were able to cook in many of our hostels, so I began carrying with me an emergency cooking kit consisting of 1 bottle of vegetable oil, a small packet of salt, what I think was a whisky bottle of homemade chile sauce we bought on the street at an outdoor market and two plastic plates.  I'll admit the most used cooking tool we had was my husbands swiss army knife!

At least I don't have to bike with my kitchen on my back now, just grocery shop!  The supplies I have at my disposal nowadays would weigh down a larger sized elephant!

What's going to make this biking for food experience even more interesting?
These past few days have had a chill in the air!  I can't wait to find out how this works in a snow storm!