jamawani 

Most of us take along a little something for good luck on our tours.
Quite often, it is a tiny companion who sits on our handlebar bag.
Or just inside.

On my trip across the Deep South,
I brought along Francine the Fish -
Because of all of the rivers and swamps.

Howsa 'bout you?

alan s 

Personally, I’m more concerned about a good look for touring.

skidder

I take a third spare tube. On one occasion I had two flats on successive days (4 flats total) and on a subsequent trip I had another day with two flats. Since I've brought that extra third tube I only get an infrequent flat, and never two in one day.

robow

Hey just curious, is this thread a play on the recent thread "Good Lock for Touring" ?

gauvins

Geez... and I wanted to ask about a good loch for touring...

jamawani 

Absolutely, positively, categorically, most certainly not.

Tourist in MSN

I always carry a couple extra credit cards for good luck. One of my cards stopped working in Prague, the credit card company shut it down for suspected fraudulent use, thus would not reinstate the card with the same number. But my spare worked, just like a good luck charm is supposed to.

And on another foreign trip one of my cards stopped working, the card company said that I should have told them I was going to another country, then they checked and found that I had done so, their computer did not figure that out. Used the card one more time on that trip and it stopped working again. So, they did not fix their computer and once again my good luck spare credit card worked fine. Unfortunately, the spare had a 3 percent currency conversion charge, so that trip was a bit more expensive.

And, one more time, my credit card stopped working on a foreign trip, the bank decided to change card servicing companies and had issued new replacement cards to all of their customers. I had a new card in my mail box at home and a dysfunctional one in my wallet. So, once again the spare card brought me good luck.

Touring, I carry three credit cards and one debit card, the debit card is only used in ATM machines. I used to carry a second debit card, but the company I had that card from stopped issuing debit cards for their accounts. Thus I no longer have a spare debit card but if I want to pay horrendous fees I can use a credit card in an ATM as my spare.

A friend of mine was stranded for several days in eastern Europe waiting for a new credit card to be sent to him before he could continue his bike tour. He lacked a lucky charm.

mev

A good luck credit/debit card can make sense depending on where you are touring. A few examples:

1. I was on a trip through Ukraine and Russia. I had informed my credit union that I would be traveling. However, part way in Russia, the card seemed to fail at ATMs. A good friend we knew worked for Sverbank and it also failed at their bank. On the way back, it worked again in the Frankfurt airport. Apparently what had happened was the credit had some numbers stolen in the Russian sphere. Rather than honoring my travel notice - they had simply blocked all access to all their accounts in Russia and multiple eastern European countries. I figured this out after I came back, but didn't understand at the time.

2. I was on a trip in Argentina. There was a country-wide limit on how much one could withdraw at a time from an ATM (as well as a reasonable fee as a percentage of that small amount). ATMs in northern Patagonia were not always stocked and in some areas it was hit/miss on whether the ATM would work. In a few cases where it did, I liked being able to pull money from two accounts.

3. I have occasionally tripped a fraud alert on an extended trip. A typical example that seems to trip them is a combination of internet/local/remote purchases. For example, a sequence of small transactions in Kenya didn't trip it - but once I also bought a plane ticket home a month and half out at expected end of the trip and tripped a fraud alert. Similar thing happened in Bolivia with some small use of credit card combined with buying a ticket home (not from Bolivia but for Argentina a few months later). Fraud alerts are a helpful service but can be annoying since you need to figure out 1-800 type numbers and might need to deal with time differences. Having an independent card can be useful.

4. Cycling through Baja Mexico, I misplaced one of my ATM cards. As it turned out, it was still among my possessions just hidden in a spot I hadn't remembered. Took me a few days to figure it out, but in meantime used the alternate card.

So an extra card as well as a small USB drive with a scan of critical documents are among the good luck items I carry.

robow

Sadly then, I must deduct style and creativity points on your part : )

indyfabz

I always take a good chuck in case my pump malfunctions and I have to use a gas station air compressor. So far, the chuck has brought me good luck. Pump has worked every time.

indyfabz

I also like a good book, but I am not a big fan of bock.

jamawani 

You're out of luck, buddy.
My style and creativity account is already overdrawn.

phughes

Interesting...

Tourist in MSN

My credit card company phone numbers are all listed in my google contacts list, so I can dial them on Google Voice if I have a data plan or wifi connection to internet.

I elaborated more on Google Voice recently on a different thread, twice I have used it to call one of my credit card companies from a foreign country, more here:
https://m.bikeforums.net/showpost.ph...5&postcount=29

That said, I better not lose my phone. That also has photos of my passport, other important documents. But putting copies of those documents on a thumb drive is a good I idea that I should add to my list of things to do before trips.

I recall hearing someone in a movie or maybe I read it in a novel where someone said that - people that are lucky are the ones that are better prepared.

unionmanbirch

This guy hitched a ride a few years ago when I was touring in the Adirondacks. He's been with me ever since. I'm still here so I suppose he's brought me luck.

ClydeClydeson

I pack minimally at the beginning of the tour so I can pick up 'road finds', and these are good luck to me.. I forgo starting out with good luck charms so I have this flexibility

djb

hey there gauv, give me a minute and I'll make a quick call to my family in Scotland to get you an informed answer, if they are awake mind you, it's 10pm right now.

IPassGas

For luck with the Sun Gods


For luck with the Wind Gods, a Wind Velocity Indicator...also for deflecting cars

thumpism 

Hearkening back to the mojo craze of '90s mountain biking.
https://fat-bike.com/2012/11/fat-bike-mojo/



On my first tour in Europe in '74 I was given a keychain with a figure of some soccer guy as a good luck charm. Still have it around somewhere.