Travel Reflections

Choosing the Right Backpack

October 2, 2013 By Danny

When people think about choosing the backpack they need for their travel they often have a preconceived notion based on what they’ve seen other people use. Obviously, it’s always best to choose the right pack for you, but even more important is to choose the right pack for what you’re going to be doing. Most large backpacks are really made for camping and hiking, true backpacking, when it comes to travel you needs will likely be different. Let’s first take a look at what the traditional backpacker needs to look at for taking a hike, and how that changes for the traveler.

Knowing how you'll use your pack is important — Knowing how you’ll use your pack is important

For the backcountry backpacker Size and Fit are the most important factors. These are important for the traveler as well, but differ in a few specific ways:

· Size. When a hiker is going into the backcountry, he or she needs to ‘pack in’ all their own food as well as a cook-stove, tent and sleeping bag, and then all the other gear like clothing. A traveler doesn’t need quite so much large equipment. A backpacker might be looking at a 60L-80L outdoor rucksack, depending on the type of trip, while the traveler should be looking at 40L-60L. (For our 21 months we had under 50L by the end)

· Fit. Have you ever met a traveler, who sleep in a hostel and takes a bus from city to city, who wears his pack for 8 hours a day while hiking over mountains? No…me neither. After making sure your pack fits all the gear you need to survive, making sure your back doesn’t fall apart at the end of the day is the next most important job of the backcountry backpackers pack.

Size and fit are important considerations

For the traveler, the backpack game is different. The traveler carries his or her pack far less time and over far fewer mountains. The traveler should be concerned with comfort, yes, but that applies more to security and convenience than it does to size and fit.

· Pockets. Lots of different compartments helps to keep your life organized. Remember, at home your milk is stored in your kitchen and your shoes are in your closet, keeping some semblance of organization is a plus. Also, are you carrying a laptop or a tablet, you’ll probably want a sleeve against your back to keep this safe.

· Security. For me, this comes in having a smaller, nondescript pack. For others this means having locks all over the thing. After 21 months on the road, and never having anything taken from my pack, I’ll keep it small and unappealing.

· Comfort. Those big packs come with lots of big cushions. Sometimes it is better to save on bulk, make sure you bag can fit in the overhead bin space on an airplane, and go lighter and forgo the extra cushioning.

· Waterproofing. This doesn’t hurt and can only help. Even if the pack is only water resistant it can mean a big difference in comfort if you’re caught in the rain.

This post was made possible by Berghaus who sell waterproof jackets and outdoor clothing.

Gear For Travel – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

August 16, 2013 By Danny

It is really remarkable how quickly technology has completely changed the face of travel. Our RTW trip lasted nearly two years, 2009-2010. As we embarked, we invested in some of the best technology to get the job done that was possible. We thought of ourselves as flashpackers extraordinaire. That included a brand new netbook, an unlocked cell phone, and a fancy DSLR camera. Now, just a few short years later, when I look back on all of that still functioning gear, it just looks so old and antiquated. That’s the nature of technology.

This old piece of hardware was our PC for two full years.

The Phone – Our mobile phone was nothing but an unlocked GSM flip phone. We were excited when a SIM card we purchased allowed us to make calls home from the Sahara Desert in Sudan for Mother’s day. Now with VOIP calling, a smart phone can make calls around the world for free…and from anywhere. The best part is that there are finally some cutting edge phones (e.g. Galaxy S4 Active) that are water and drop resistant making it even easier to stay connected and travel adventurously.

The Tablet – These did not exist while we were our trip and are a tremendous game changer, at least if you are blogging or sharing pictures while you travel. We shared one netbook as we traveled, weighing and taking up far more room than two tablets would have taken in our packs. Any of these today – iPad, Android or even a Windows tablet – are both lighter and more powerful than our “state of the art” netbook was. Plus there is wifi virtually everywhere now making a tablet a really useful tool for travelers to check in.

The Camera – This area has changed a lot less, mostly these cameras now come with more features and more megapixels than before. However, by and large, they still do the same job. The big add-ons here are the ease by which photos can be geotagged and quickly uploaded. Camera processing has also improved allowing for better low-light photography and much better videos. That would have saved us quite a bit of time geotagging our photos.

This article is NOT about what gear to go out and buy, there are plenty of review sites on the Internet, It is merely a comparison of what has changed in less than 3 years time. In the next three years will Google Glass remove the need for a tour guide? Streaming video and video conferencing might ultimately replace the written word when it comes to blog posts. We might even be able to sterilize our meals on our plates with a UV light and completely make food poisoning a thing of the past! Sounds good to me.

4 Bachelor Party ideas for Las Vegas and Beyond

August 7, 2013 By Danny

Typically, most bachelor parties here in the USA involve a lot of booze and often a trip to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. In a few weeks, I’ll be heading out on a bachelor party myself and although some of the other guys wanted to take a traditional Vegas trip and stay at a place like the www.arialasvegas.com, the bride to be was dead set against that option. Several still took the time to research Vegas flights and things to do in Sin City but it was to no avail. Las Vegas can be a great place, but it is only one of the options we have here today.

A Backwoods Adventure.

Nothing quite says manliness and male bonding like a camping trip. Somehow the challenge us urban and suburbanites face when lighting a campfire always makes stories for the ages. Add to that a few rounds of brew and no real stressors and you can have yourself a nice relaxing trip…but that’s not what bachelor parties are all about. Instead, try to take a mountain biking or a white water rafting trip. The nice thing about rafting is that by choosing a rafting company, such as the one we used on my bachelor party, no one needs to have any real skills or gear.

Be A Kid.

With this upcoming bachelor party we chose instead to do something that would be simple and fun. We’re visiting Cedar Point in Ohio where we will ride roller coasters until we’re blue in the face. To add a little bit of manliness to the weekend we’ll also be hitting a baseball game and grilling out for dinner. The really exciting thing is that none of the crew has been to this park before; most have never been to Ohio for that matter.

Travel Abroad

In sticking with the theme of doing something new, why not take that same airplane and turn it in another direction. Recently I went to a Bachelor Party that took place in Puerto Rico, no passport needed and relatively inexpensive airfare still left us in a new country with plenty of options for things to do. Although if you have more money at your disposal, you could follow the British Stag Party tradition and visit Prague instead!

Where I Want To Take a Cruise

July 18, 2013 By Danny

Living in South Florida I’m greeted almost every day with the sights of cruise ships docked and taking on passengers. Some of these boats have space for over 5,000 passengers with thousands more spots reserved for crew. While these huge cruise ships have their place among those that like a little relaxation and pampering on the high seas, I’m more intrigued by the smaller vessels that can take you smaller ports of call. Here are a few (one from each continent!) that are high on my list:

North America – The Alaskan Marine Highway

We have been trying to arrange a trip up to Alaska for a few years now, but it remains elusive for one reason or another. This year we almost made it but as luck would have it, we found something better to do instead (we had twins!). Our plan was to cruise along the marine highway, using public transportation, to Whittier, Alaska. From there we would visit the rest of the Kenai Peninsula before heading north to Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali itself. The best part of the cruise trip, from Juneau to Whittier was that with State of Alaska’s hop on hop off ferry system, allowing us to create our trip itinerary as we went along.

South America – The Amazon River…from Peru!

Most Amazon cruises move along the ‘busy’ part of the river between Manaus and the Atlantic Ocean. The Amazon river itself though, has its headwaters in the Andes mountains. That being the case I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to head to Iquitos, Peru, to start the trip. You’ll have to fly into Iquitos as it holds the ubiquitous distinction of being the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road. From there it is 3600 km to the Atlantic Ocean. Just don’t forget the mosquito repellant and a hammock.

Africa – A Nile River Cruise

Although I’m not so sure many people are planning on taking a Nile Cruise in 2013 with all the mixed news coming out of Egypt, I’m sure that those who do go find exceptional value everywhere they go along the river. One of Egypt’s chief exports is tourism and much of the industry is hurting. The city of Luxor alone could keep the budding Egyptologist busy for weeks and given how inexpensive Egypt was when it was crowded, it is a downright bargain right now.

Europe – The History of the Danube

I’m not entirely sure what it is that makes me want to take a cruise along the Danube but I think it has something to do with the amount of history those waters have seen. Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava are all cities I’ve seen and really enjoyed but it’s downriver—Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria—that attracts my attention. Of all the ideas listed here this is certainly the most expensive but it also represents the crossroads of Western Civilization.

Asia – A Thai SCUBA Live-aboard

The problem with Asian rivers is that many are simply too dirty to enjoy. Instead, I’d suggest doing a bit of Island hopping off the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia. This is some of the best SCUBA diving in the world and the mainland has plenty of low priced creature comforts anytime you want to come ashore.

Thanks to BTerryCompton for use of the Alaska image via a Creative Commons License

Switching Between Lives – Traveler vs. Normal?

January 22, 2013 By Jillian

When you travel or live abroad you do things that you wouldn’t normally do at home. You enjoy a beer on the Nile. You talk to people you’ve never met, maybe people from a place you’ve never heard of. You soak up every experience, because that is what you are there to do, you are there to soak up the world.

“You ate what?” your friends at home remark.

“You slept where? You did THAT?”

Confidently you respond in the affirmative, “Yes, I did THAT. We were traveling, that was just the thing to do.”

While traveling you don’t envy those left at home. You look at their routine with a bit of disdain. It might be ok for your friends and family, but routine, well it will never be ok for an explorer like you. You will never settle/fall into a routine/become shackled by normalcy.

And one day it happens. You open your laptop and you realize, you have a routine. You have settled into a daily routine of blogging, checking your email, checking your Facebook and then hitting the town to explore a bit. Map and guidebook in hand you plot out your day or your week or if you are really organized, your next two weeks. You set up a routine.

Now that I have a routine I have to wonder whether routine is actually bad. Is knowing where you are going or what you are doing a bad thing? I’m an adventurer at heart, but I recognize that I also crave normalcy. I love knowing within reason what is coming up next. Sure I love surprises and I roll with the punches when things come up, but I do love feeling like my life has a direction. It gives me some sort of sense of purpose in my life. Now that I’m living a less nomadic life, I’m surprised at how happy routine makes me. Call it a revelation if you will, something about myself that I would have never known had I not traveled, but not something that I recognized on the road.

I thought switching between my traveler life and a less nomadic life would be harder than it was. Don’t get me wrong, it was very difficult, but it was a lot easier than I expected. Perhaps it is because I was craving that which I was pushing away so much, perhaps it is because I was craving a routine, or just this adorable puppy.

People ask us all the time if we’d do another RTW. Our responses have changed depending on the day, the moment and what is going on. Each time we speak with other travelers, especially those living a nomadic lifestyle I think that the conversation is going to be hard, that it is going to make me want to be nomadic again – but it almost never does. I find that I don’t envy those that are living out of a backpack or from flight to flight. I don’t think about exploring a region for a year or going out to travel without a plan. Instead I think about taking a few weeks off to intimately explore one region in particular or to achieve one goal in particular (usually an epic hike or a mountain!).

Maybe it’s not a switch between lives that takes a person from the life of a travel to something more normal. Maybe it is a switching between phases of life.