Greetings,

I'm due to fly out to Dubai, then to Buenos Aires, where I'll stay a week or two and brush up my Spanish, then onto Santiago where I'll undertake a voluntary position for the Chilean government for six months. I'll buy the bike in Chile.

So I'm trying to pack my stuff. I did buy a large TNF Duffle bag hold-all and threw everything in there, with an intention on just strapping it to the bike. Yet I figured wet riding gear, a soaking tent, fuel canisters, etc, do not mix well with fresh clothes and sleeping bags, etc.

Now I was thinking about buying a Ortlieb 31lt bikers duffle bag, and a TNF 30lt backpack. This gives me a bit more flexibility and diving up my equipment, and perhaps I'll buy some small lightweight panniers to keep spare petrol, food, water, etc, in whilst on the road. So I'm wondering a few things:-

Do you load the tent on the bike or store it away? If you wrap the tent up using the outer layer, does it really matter if it gets wet?

Is a topbox a good idea, for when stopping to throw in your stinky riding jacket, helmet, gloves, boots etc? I know that people don't like loading them up for the road, given their high position...

How about security? Do you worry about gear pixies lifting the stuff when you go check out x tourist attraction?

Any tips or advice would be fantastic

Cheers,

rtw