With a folding kayak I was depending upon airlines a few times for transportation. This is a good place to return the favor I received from the friendly folks there. Scandinavian, Air Canada and KLM were very helpful when dealing with my 42kg 2meter x 46cm x35cm boat bag. Also the Hertz rental car people were very friendly. No problems taking the boat with Amtrak Empire Builder rail transport, the various Seattle and Vancouver ferries, the Vancouver Clipper ferry service, and a few very helpful taxi drivers. The Clipper people carried our gear on board of the speed catamaran like a gang of Himalaya sherpas, looked funny!  For the Toronto trip I had to pay an extra luggage fee because I had not declared the bag in advance. It was not possible to declare in advance. The trip got planned on a Friday and I took the plane that Sunday (business trip). Just imagine the face of the Motel room attendants; I went into the bedroom with three bags and next day there was a full size boat in there!  The bicycle I had stripped down and taken apart and put into a box the size of the wheel rims. Put blue tape around the tubes to prevent scratches. No excess luggage fee. The bike went in a KLM flight from Germany to New York and by car from there to Los Angeles and back. Just remember the face of the room attendant when they went to clean the motel room and found half a million bicycle parts spread over the carpet... picture taken on tip of Cape Cod.

Tonys Taxi on Quadra Island, between Vancouver Island and Canada: his car trunk looked like a bag with french fries .Scandinavian was very kind to carry my gear in this rather small plane from Stuttgart to Oslo. The Golf case: ideal for stuff that needs to be carried in a bomb proof container (idea: Tom Yost). Thanks to Amtrak: included a view from within their EMPIRE BUILDER train from Chicago to Seattle in 48 hours; near Canadian border, Glacier Park.

These pages also contain travel pics from the perspective of someone carrying around 120 to 140 pounds of gear per person...which is a good way to get into contact with local people, because without them the journey would not happen.