I've been hoping to spend more time in 2012 traveling by bicycle. As an adult, I haven't spent much time on a bike, so the process of relearning it all has been interesting. My hope is to build a touring bike that allows me to carry photography gear large distances on small Pacific Northwest roads.

This month, I added some wooden fenders, which were made by Cody at Woody's Fenders in Bend. In anticipation of a good year of travel, I thought I'd share my bike before my year of alternative travel begins.

I'm headed to the tropics, and I have been spending some time trying different ways to pack a longboard skateboard.

On small islands, who needs a car, anyways? And wouldn't you rather be self-propelled than sit around in a golf cart? I found the solution at a sporting goods store. Longboard skateboards won't make it on as a carry-on, and at 44 inches or longer, longboards won't fit in even the most gigantic luggage. The solution? Find a kid's snowboard bag. I found a snowboard bag for $35, made by Burton and designed for smaller snowboards. I packed my clothes in Eagle Creek Pack-It cubes, and the longboard is nicely protected.

Traveling by peddle, paddle, push or sail gives you momentum and thrill, while also letting you see the world you're traveling through in a much more intimate way. As the conversation about alternative transportation heats up around the world, I thought it'd be good to make this the year of exploring different ways to travel without an engine.

I will cover stories of slow travel in the regular Notes from the Road travel photography blog regions. But here, I'll write about the gear, the customs, what I learn, and the mistakes I learn from. I'll also try to feature blogs and websites that have been covering this topic much longer than I.