This week has been a great one for trip planning! As is stands Pearce and I have secured almost all of our travel items for our big trip. It has been really fun to scour the internet for tips from other travelers who have backpacking down to an art, or is it science? We were able to find great resources/ideas on Amazon's Listmania, Tripadvisor, Travelfish, and traveler's blogs. Based on their advice, here are some of the gadgets/accessories we have on our packing list:
- Telescoping stainless steel chopsticks with case - Good for those communal eating experiences
- Rick Steve's Braided Clothes Line - You don't need clothes pins bc you can tuck your clothes right in the braiding
- Ex-Offcio travel boxer briefs - No sweating = no chafing!
- Buffs- I know it is a glorified gator, but I really like this thing. Not only do they have UV protection in order to protect Pearce's neck, but it will be critical to control my crazy hair!
- Keens - I debated back and forth about what shoes to bring and we landed on Keens and so far on our test walks (up to 4 1/2 miles) and one 3 mile hike, we have not been disappointed. They are actually more comfortable than my running shoes! The one drawback that they are prone to getting little pebbles in them when you are going down hill on a trail. I think this might be fixed if we were our socks while hiking.
- Cool Wrap Neckties - All you have to do is let it soak in water for 30 minutes and it activates cooling crystals for 2 hours. I was able to test it out when our air went out this past week and it worked great!
- Memory Cards - A small, and lightweight way to save our travel pictures and video and since we got them pre-used, they were cheap cheap!
- Monster 4 Outlet Travel Strip - Small, light and a great way to charge all of our electronics at once!
- Paracord bracelt - This one is more for fun- but who knows maybe I will need to rescue Pearce from a ravine!
- Netbook*- We are leaning heavily towards bringing a netbook now. In our research, travelers overwhelming say that they would not travel without one in SE Asia because of all the benefits. First, it actually helps you maximize your time in each country because you can pre-write your emails/blog entries when you have forced downtime on trains, planes, etc. Second, as many cafes, restaurants, hostels, and even internet cafes now provide free internet access, you save money! Third, it will allow us extra perks like using Skype to talk with friends and family, watching movies when trapped in bus stations, quick researching of local restaurants, activities, etc., and safe on-line banking. In order to minimize the risk of any sensitive data or our pictures being lost, we will make sure to backup it up onto a portable hard drive we will bring.
Let us know what your favorite travel items are!
A & P
Don't forget your Kindles! Also, you can add a temporary international plan to your cell phone, depending on the type of phone and company your contract is with. As nice as it is to disconnect for a while, it is nice to have wi fi on the go and may eliminate the need for a netbook. Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteIn other news, I'm so jealous. If either of you needs a sidekick, I'm in!
Oh baby, they are on the list! I love mine so much! We are actually converting our travel notes to pdfs so we can access them via our Kindles. Also downloaded the Kindle Scrabble for the long bus/train rides we will have. Thanks for the phone tip! That was the big debate- techy phone or netbook? Based on our research the benefits of a netbook waaaay outweighs the phone (not literally of course ;) ) Come on over, you have got three months to meet up with us!
ReplyDeleteMost hostels also provide a kitchen where you can store and cook your own food.
ReplyDeletePousadas Em Fortaleza