This guy makes me wrathful

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It’s a small thing, in a world with huge problems. But we all have our little “things,” our pet peeves that go straight to the foundations of our being and shake us so that we have to breathe deliberately to relax.

The placer of this bag, he does this to me. Witnessing the situation does this to me. It grabs me so quick and so profoundly, I am always surprised, and embarrassed. I wanna throw the guy off the plane and set fire to his bag.

All in my mind, of course. I’m a pretty calm guy, there in Row 3.

Boarding a plane and loading your shit it almost always stressful. Not only for you yourself, but as you take in the pandemonium around you. It’s a mini-snapshot of some of the struggles of life, struggles that go better if we all just show one another a shred of consideration and respect.

The guy that puts his luggage in the bin sideways as above hates you, hates your children, and hates our Freedom in general, and should be banished to Group 5.

Okay. I’m venting a little.

But really. C’mon.

Never, ever be this guy. It’s such a small thing to turn your bag the right way and make a little room for others. Weirdly but true, it’s a much bigger thing for someone else to lay hands on your bag to make room in a bin that could easily accommodate, because of your choices.

I see this every single time I board a flight. Which is kind of often. Every single time, I ponder, as a way to let go of the wrath that builds inside. I think: I know this doesn’t matter at all, I know it’s just a trigger for ambient stuff I have floating around ( we all have that, right? ) And I know the universe just sorts this kinda thing out… on this very small scale, or bigger.

But fuck does it bug me   lol

 

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Mr. Pitt, embodying all our wrath in “Seven.”

Have a little courtesy when you travel.

Even if it’s just traveling through your life. Be mindful of where you’re standing, if you’re blocking or interfering with other people’s touch day out of your mindlessness.  You don’t need to walk on eggshells, taking care of everyone’s needs before your own. That’d be awful.

But don’t stand in a doorway talking with your friend Ida about her garden and blocking everyone trying to get in or out. And if you’re in a line, actually be in line, not ten feet away all agitated when someone steps into the actual line. And Sweet Jesus when wedging your steamer trunk in the overhead bin, jam it in long-ways like civilized people do. For the betterment of the planet.

 

Woooooooooosssssaaaaaaaaa    (^_^

 

What’s one of your pet peeves?

Anthony Bourdain, on backpacks

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I’m not really a foodie. Like, not in any sense of the word.

But of course I know about Anthony Bourdain and his shows. I’ve watched a few eps, and I definitely enjoy his sense of wit and self. An expert in his field just taking it all in as he wanders the planet. He’s got some great advice about traveling the world, of course. One of his thoughts is about the backpack, as your chosen piece of luggage:

I travel with a wheelie.

Unfortunately, a backpack sends a bad message in a lot of the world.
Others who’ve come before you have sent a bad message.

If you’re reading this blog, it may seem like I know a lot about backpacking culture…   but that’s not true. Not even close. It’s okay, but an incorrect conclusion or three are jumped to.

I do carry my stuff in backpack, and I occasionally stay in hostels. Yes, true.

But that’s really the start and finish of my contact with backpacker culture. I’m a little too old, a little too well off, and a little too used to nice things, maybe  (^_^   That sounds snarky, but there are definitely a few things that put me squarely outside the culture, and Bourdain’s thought brings that stuff into relief.

First, there’s the idea that backpackers carry a -ton- of stuff. Anything they might need, for any situation. In fucking enormous backpacks, and that the world must make room for both traveler and pack, accept both human and this steamer truck lashed to their body.

This sets the stage for an us-not-you kind of perception among Locals Everywhere that’s reinforced with a ( much ) more casual manner of dress, and general acceptance of what’s acceptable from a hygiene point of view. As far as manners, language, respectfulness of place…  I haven’t seen a lot of evidence one way or the other, but it’s easy based on how I know some people can think about “different” that backpackers get lumped into a sort of “mobile homeless” category.

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Which brings me back to Bourdain’s quote.

While I will not ( ever ) use a wheelie, I think I’ve figured out another way to make a favorable impression when I travel, or at least to put some distance between me and the negative ripples of the backpacker image.

I wear khakis, as well as jeans. I don’t look like I’ve walked the entire distance I’ve traveled. Most days.  (^_^   When I have my bag at all, it definitely does not peg me as a backpacker. My bag looks like something your kid would use to bring books to school.

If I’m crafting any image at all, I guess it’s of an American vagabond, a sort of thoughtful wanderer at ease with minimal stuff and minimal impact on my immediate environment. Not a stumbling partier. Nothing against stumbling partiers, but that’s not who I am. There’s a part of me that wants the world to take us all for who we are, not assign us to groups based on momentary evaluation of appearances.

But there’s another part of me that knows that it almost never happens that way. When you travel, how do you think people see you? I’m not trying to blend in so much, but Bourdain’s quote made me realize I’m also trying unconsciously to also not be lumped in with a very specific group of travelers.

How do you dress? How do you spend your money? How are you different than the people who live in the places you are?

And how do you think this affects how you see things?

‘Her’ packing List

It was a miracle, but I managed to do it. I pushed all of my necessities into this bag. My ‘one bag’. It’s about the size of a small carry on piece of luggage.  This is it!

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All of my things are in this bag!

Shoes

Shoes were the hardest thing to determine. After living in Hawaii for 2 years I basically had two types of shoes. Slippahs and dress slippahs. Aka flipflops and sandals/slides. While I love wearing these, they alone were not going to cut it in Europe.

I finally pared it down 3 pairs which would cover most occasions. They had to be comfortable for walking, look good with slacks, shorts or a skirt and pack down lightly. What I decided on is still a work in progress, but so far these are working well:

  • Locals flipflops for communal showers and the beach
  • Vionic Samoa slides-a great walking shoe for nice weather
  • Life Stride Mary Janes-the jury is still out on this brand, although I like the versatility of Mary Janes. I may upgrade them soon.

Here is the rest of the list:

Electronics

  • Laptop
  • Laptop sleeve
  • Laptop charger
  • Kindle
  • Kindle charger
  • 2 pair earbuds
  • Phone
  • Phone charger
  • 3 prong adapter
  • International adapter
  • Travel battery
  • Jump drive

Other Stuff

  • Wallet
  • Tea set
  • Flashlight
  • Lock
  • Whistle
  • Sunglasses
  • Sunglass case
  • Passport
  • Credit card
  • Debit card
  • HI driver’s license
  • Day backpack
  • Playing cards

Toiletries

  • Comb
  • Travel towel
  • Clear liquid bag
  • Small bottle of kukui nut oil-hair and skin
  • Small bottle of jojoba oil-facial oil
  • Essential oils-peppermint, lavender, lemon, vetiver, Breathe
  • Travel size shampoo
  • Travel size conditioner
  • Travel size toothpaste
  • Travel size hair gel
  • Makeup bag
  • Powder
  • Powder brush
  • Eye liner
  • Mascara
  • Small tube eye shadow
  • 3 lip sticks
  • Lip gloss
  • Eye liner sharpener
  • Travel size deodorant
  • Dollar shave razor plus extra blades
  • Electric toothbrush
  • Small bag of feminine products
  • Nail clippers
  • Tweezers
  • 2 empty Goo tubes for miscellaneous stuff I buy along the way
  • Bottle of blue nail polish
  • Nail file

Clothing

  • Silk turquoise scarf-a gift from my mom!
  • 2 merino wool tanks
  • Cotton tank for sleeping
  • Merino wool t-shirt
  • MH Zerogrand rain jacket shell
  • Long sleeve t-cotton
  • Merino wool short skirt
  • Cotton long skirt
  • MH nylon hiking/yoga slacks
  • Cotton sleeping slacks
  • Jeans
  • One piece swimsuit
  • Bikini swim suit
  • Icebreaker Bliss Wrap sweater
  • Little black dress
  • Reversible dress
  • Shorts-hiking
  • 2 pairs merino wool socks
  • Bandana
  • 2 nylon slips
  • 2 cotton underwear
  • 3 merino wool underwear
  • Bras-1 black, 1 tan, 1 yoga/sports
  • Sarong

The bag is full. I have to pack it just right so that it will all fit! Ideally I will pare down a bit so I have a little more wiggle room. I’m just not sure yet what I can live without…until then!

 

 

random notes from the road

Thoughts at this moment:

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I walk more. This is a “no duh” thing, as we don’t usually have a car/truck now. But I can already feel the difference in my waistline, and this is a good thing.

Along with this, water is my main drink during the day now. It used to be iced tea, with a bit of pop, but now it’s just water. Most of my friends in Hawaii were already doing this, and I’m just catching up.

We eat way more food from the store, and much more simple stuff than we did back home. Ploughman’s Lunch style; pretty simple fare like in this pic. And it’s awesome.

Even though I could sleep as late as I want, I still wake up crazy-early, about 5am local. This is ridiculous, as I get pretty tired at about 3pm  (^_^

The clothing this is fine; I get by with just a couple shirts and a couple options for pants. But a weird thing – fresh laundry ( like, when I do my own ) makes me almost giddy. Weird. Like my entire wardrobe has been renewed.

I feel like I’m still in Vacation Mode – let’s go see this place! And I really want to work to get out of this kind of thinking.

I’m reluctant to store high value items like the laptop, iPad, or passoport in the safe at the front desk, when we’re in a place that has that option. Not because I think things aren’t secure there, but because I don’t want to acknowledge they could get taken from the place where I sleep. Again, weird.

Sleeping in bunk beds takes a little getting used to. I like not being crowded  :  )   but I miss the contact.

Ireland-specific

The weather is consistently beautiful, but I guess this is crazy timing on our part, and definitely not how it normally is. I guess it’s way more like Seattle here, and way less like Montreal in June. Heh.

Seems like more people smoke, here. But that probably just means “more people smoke than in Hawaii,” which is saying something very different than, say, more people do it here than in Chicago.

People are very friendly, here. I am wondering if this is true in most places, part of that “we craft our own reality around us” kind of thing. I’ll keep you in the loop, here.

Anywhere there’s music in public spaces and it’s not cultural ( like Irish pipes or whatnot ) It is a strange mix of new and vintage stuff; Metallica and

–

I think about this, and it mostly seems to be about simplicity. This is a good thing, as a big part of what I’d like to do during this year is see if I can turn the “noise” down as much as I can. It might not seem like much, but imagine the total of things you think about in life during your day – big stuff and little stuff. I guess I’m actively working to tune out as much of the little stuff as possible. Decisions about clothes and food, schedule stuff, obligations to others. Maybe by pushing as much of the minutiae away as I can, I’ll see some effect overall on the quality of life.

I’ll let you know how this goes. Really, it’s just been about a week so far  (^_^

Essential essential oils for the one bag traveler

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( written earlier )

I am sitting in between flights in Phoenix feeling like something the cat dragged in. Congested and exhausted, I reach for some peppermint oil.

I put a few drops into my palms, rub together and bring them up to my nose and mouth to inhale deeply.  Ahhh.  I am saved, rejuvenated.

I rub a little bit into my shoulders and put a drop into my water bottle. A woman next to me smells it and asks for a whiff. Yes. Yes, please share this moment with me. We savor a moment of peppermint bliss together and it is awesome.

Essential oils are natural oils typically obtained from plant material by steam distillation or expeller press. They contain the ‘essence’ of the plant material, including fragrance and medicinal properties.

I got really interested in essential oils when I started making my own soap. At first I just wanted natural scents which would be gentle on my skin and smell amazing. I then learned about aroma therapy and the medicinal benefits. Some even talk about the spiritual benefits of essential oils. All these upsides plus they smell great-I was hooked.

Why are they essential in the one bag? Practically speaking, they are multi-purpose, which goes a long way when only carrying one bag. Medicine, perfume, and relaxation tools all in a little glass bottle.

On a somewhat New Age-y level, I also feel connected to some of these oils. Kind of  like old friends; we know each other well. Delightful and comforting, a long trip without them would seem like a trip not worth taking. So, even with a limit on the amount of liquids one can carry, there are a few of these friends that can not be left behind:

Peppermint oil
I use peppermint oil as a decongestant. I put a few drops in my hands, rub together and inhale deeply.  As a digestive, a drop or two in a bottle of water helps soothe stomach aches and indigestion.  Peppermint also has a cooling effect on the skin and feels wonderful on sore muscles.  These are the three main ways I use peppermint oil but there are many more.

Lavender oil
Pete got stung by a bee as we were moving the last few things out of our place.  I was glad to have lavender oil on hand to soothe his sting.  Lavender also smells great and I use it as a skin tonic and to relieve stress.  There are so many other uses however, it is worth a Google search.

If I had to, I could get by with these two. Together they are most everything one could want in medicinal and aromatherapy oils. They smell great, help with many common ailments, and are relatively inexpensive and easily found.

There are however, a few more that I made room for, which may or may not be replaced as time goes by:

Lemon oil
Like peppermint oil and lavender oil, lemon oil has multiple uses.  Also helps with digestion, it is a great cleanser, lymphatic system support, and metabolic. It smells great and is energizing. Like peppermint, I’ll put a drop or two in a glass of water and rub into skin with a carrier oil.  Only at night though, as lemon can make skin sun sensitive.

Vetiver
I bought my first bottle of vetiver during the height of my essential oil frenzy a few years ago. I forgot I had it and only recently started appreciating it.  It smells earthy and pungent and is a muscle relaxer. It is also thought to be emotionally balancing. It works great on my skin with jojoba oil.

Breathe
A blend from Doterra. I really like this blend as a decongestant. I probably wont replace it, as peppermint and lemon are in it and can work as well, but I love the eucalyptus in the blend. I rub it into my palms and breathe in deeply as well as put some on my chest at night.

So, there you have it.  Many good reasons for making room for a little bottle of oil (or five) in your one bag. They work hard for that space.

“final” bag and gear list

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my bag, but not me and not my image. #justsayin

Bag

Tom Bihn Synapse 26 ( shown, left )

Yes, it really is that small. If you pack well and choose the right gear, it all just kind of fits. I spent more than a little time figuring out what I needed, and parting with what I didn’t. The effort paid off. I think this is the final, traveling list.

The rest of my list follows, below.

Clothes

  • Buffalo Jeans. Couldn’t leave ‘em behind. Could not.
  • White t-shirt, 50% cotton ( evil, I know ) and 50% tenson
  • Black t-shirt, 100% merino wool
  • Wool & Prince button down, 100% merino
  • base layer –  black long sleeve and long legged, 100% merino
  • Lounge pants ( because yes ), 100% cotton
  • Coffee-colored wool jeans – 100% merino
  • Khaki shorts, 100% merino
  • Khaki shorts, 95% nylon, 5% spandex ( double as swim trunks )
  • Hoodie, 100% merino ( always worn, never in the bag )
  • MH Zerogrand shell, some NASA material that packs down to the size of a Ritz cracker
  • Buff, 100% merino
  • Shemagh, not sure what it’s made of
  • Smartwool phd mini socks X2 pair
  • Smart wool tall thin socks 1pair
  • Ra II Vivobarefoot shoes, coffee colored ( they look like normal shoes )
  • Baseball hat – NASA


Computer & associated gear

  • Macbook, BookBook case, cords
  • iPad pro, BookBook case, cord
  • unlocked iPhone, cord
  • Satechi hub ( to plug stuff into the Mac )
  • USBc to USB-a extender ( tiny )
  • Encrypted jump drive – 250Gb
  • Normal jump drive – 64Gb
  • TripMate Elite battery/wifi source ( battery and hotspot for sharing )
  • Jawbone Minijambox ( speaker for tunes )
  • US plug small block splitter
  • Bose sound cancelling headphones
  • Apple earbuds and case
  • Audio plug splitter, small cord
  • Micro USB


Toiletries

  • Tom Bihn clear toiletry bag
  • 3oz Doc Bronners, peppermint ( laundry, whatevs )
  • 3oz 30spf sunscreen
  • travel size Old Spice stick
  • AA battery powered trip toothbrush, with cover
  • hair goop
  • tiny nail clippers
  • tiny tweezers
  • Dollar shave razor n extra blades


Miscellaneous gear

  • 20L dry bag – for doing laundry
  • Tom Bihn gear bag ( small )
  • Master combo lock
  • “large” travel towel
  • Two pens
  • Mini flashlight
  • Akribos analog watch
  • Carabiner / jump drive
  • small whistle
  • fresnel lens
  • Sunglasses and case
  • Bandana
  • Water bottle, just one saved


ID n documents

  • Eagle Creek belt-loop passport holder
  • Passport
  • Passport card ( in case I lose the passport, this cad make it way easier to get another )
  • Swiss Gear clip wallet ( small, worn inside the waistline with the clip outside )
  • Bank cards
  • Insurance cards
  • birth certificate
  • SS card
  • Immunization card
  • Eyewear prescription card
  • Pac Safe money belt ( empty )


Detailed later/elsewhere…

  • medical kit ( small, bike-sized )
  • software ( VPN, cloud storage, movies )
  • insurance

adventure

 

This is a bit…   something. I know.

And I know that some jobs are awesome and provide heaps of spiritual solace. But I really like the idea of acknowledging that lots of times we split our lives up into piles – here’s the stuff I have to do, and over here is the stuff I love to do. For me, lots of times this can lead to stress and despair.

Try an sprinkle as much of the “love to do” with the “need to do.” Blend them. Aerate the one with the other. Cultivate sources of joy, and now and then invite adventure. Even if it’s just taking a different way home from work.

Traveler Insurance

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You get into some shit, while traveling.

You have to imagine that the normal amount of ouchie-stuff is going to happen to you at any point, and when you’re traveling abroad you don’t have the benefit of your mom to kiss it better, or the junk drawer to raid in the kitchen for some Purell to start the cleaning process.

Also, there’s the bigger stuff that would warrant a trip to the ER, or maybe the Walgreens Care clinic. Does your Kaiser health plan cover a broken arm while base jumping the Cliffs of Moher?

It might. Mine does.

Too start out, there’s a semantic lesson to learn when it comes to insurance you get while traveling abroad. What’s commonly referred to as “travel insurance,” what AmEx gives you as a loyal card holder or what your airline will try to sell you when you purchase tickets –   that’s insurance covering possible bad stuff that can happen related to travel – flights canceled, hotel burning down, camera getting stolen right out of your fucking hands when you were taking that picture of where the Beatles crossed Abbey Road. This is great; the kind of thing that I probably wouldn’t buy by itself but rather I’d make choices ( of credit card providers, or group memberships for example ) that included such benefits.

“Traveler insurance” is mostly referring to health stuff – seeing a doc, getting meds, getting extracted if things go wrong, or having the pieces that are left of you transported home if something –really– goes wrong. This is pretty necessary, and if you haven’t traveled abroad much you might not have done the research.

My research process involved finding contending policy providers, reading the negative stuff about each, then reading the positive stuff. I used Reddit, Google, Lonely Planet forums, and a bunch of other resources. I made lists. I talked with people I knew who’d traveled RTW. After all this, World Nomad won out with me.

After much reading and some talking to peeps, I went with World Nomads traveler insurance. I went to their site, put in all the destination countries I thought I’d be visiting and the length of time I thought I’d be gone, and it spit out two options – “Standard” ( for normal people ) and “Explorer” ( for people who might go base jumping ).

The list of covered items is pretty extensive:

  • Emergency Accident and Sickness Medical Expense
  • Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation
  • Trip Cancelation
  • Trip Interruption
  • Trip Delay
  • Baggage & Personal Effects
  • Baggage Delay
  • Collision Damage Waiver
  • Accidental Death and Dismemberment
  • One Call 24-Hour Assistance Servicees
  • One Call Non-Emergency Evacuation Services

Some of the travel-related stuff is included with World Nomads, so I have redundant coverage on some points. There are numbers/dollar values attached to all of these points, and sub-headers that break down coverage. It’s can be tedious, but at times very interesting reading. You should check it out, just to see how they present it all.

If you belong to a special group ( retirees, teachers, former Microsoft employees, etc ) you might want to look in orgs that sell benefit packages directly to your group. There is no such group catering to the needs of UX architects, or fiction writers, or RPG nerds, so I went with WN. But Kim is a teacher, and had the option of choosing slightly better coverage for about a quarter of what I paid. Pretty sweet.

Our traveler insurance basically says that in many, many places we have immediate access to medical care. Beyond this, both our plans provide for the travel insurance that makes the bumps a little easier. Also, both our plans give us access to concierge services, legal advice, and many other assistance tidbits not really covered by the above list.

I’ll disclose that my insurance giving what after research seems to be good coverage ( USD $500,000 medevac coverage, for example, along with all the other stuff above ) cost about $480 for the duration of my trip.

I have the contact info for them and a copy of the policy in my phone, on my laptop, and in the cloud via email. WN doesn’t provide a card, but I could definitely make one.

Hmmmmmmm. This might have been an awesome idea of a prep to do before I left  (^_^

Top o the morning to you, from .ie

The longest air transit time of either of our lives, and we’re here. Where did Wednesday go?

We jumped from Kauai to Honolulu for a day with friends who were visiting there and for a final send off, then at sunset we parted at HNL, made our way through the lines ( a breeze with PreCheck ), a little relaxing and reshuffling of gear in the lounge that AA shares with JAL, and then up up and away.

We left HNL the evening of May 31 and arriving in Dublin the morning of June 2nd. We had quick layovers in PHX and CLT,. This was a lot of time in Economy Plus.

To simulate most of our trip so far from the comfort of your town – find two smallish padded chairs for you and your sweetie. Grab your iPads. Sit there for 24 hours. Every 6-8 hours, walk from one end of your local mall to the other, maybe sampling some food. Go back and sit down. Now and then for fun, go pee in your front coat closet.

The #onebag thing – I’ve managed to get my gear down to an even smaller bag, the Tom Bihn Synapse 26. This is a round-ish bag is about as large as a sophomore’s book bag, but not jammed as much with crap. Kim traded up from the Dueter when we figured out at the last minute all the things she couldn’t live without just wouldn’t fit. Instead she used the Osprey Farpoint 40, my original bag before the pare-down. It’s packed full, weighs more than a steamer trucnk and we think it’s heavy enough so that the RyanAir ticket people will just start laughing as we queue up.

Our Euros hard at work:

  • first non-food purchase: an electrical plug converter because our “universal” plugs are not-so-universal.
  • second non-food-purchase: a chocolate egg with a toy ring inside ( some assembly required, forbidden to sell in the US )

We crashed for a few hours after arrival, then got up and walked Dublin for a bit. At the moment we’re in the common room of our first place. Kim’s just missed Womens and Mixed sauna time, so I guess we’ll just catch up on mail and post some blog stuff. We could do this outside somewhere, on some vivid grass while drinking beer and singing loudly.

Maybe later  (^_^

ringey