Lives of Wander

Jeff December 11th, 2007

Joyce’s advice got me going about all the cool travel gadgets I’ve been seeing while looking around, though I have to say, the foundation/sunscreen combo does not make my list. Those who know me know that I’m quite the gadget geek, and while traveling is when a truly useful product shines. So I thought I would post about some of those things that I think are particularly interesting and/or neat products. These are some of the things I plan to have with me next year:

Gorillapod
With our camera, we didn’t know what to do about low light conditions or flash-free zones. Enter gorillapod. Nope, it won’t be a full size tripod, but it’s just small and light enough to fit with the rest of our small belongings. Plus it gets bonus points for being an impromptu drying rack just by turning it upside down (or coat hanger!).

Spork
It’s a fork, spoon and knife all in one! So you never have to hunt for or use dirty utensils. And it comes in multiple colors! I want red, Theresa wants green, but luckily, they come in a 4 pack, with one of each color.

Steripen
Insta-water purification from a tiny pen. It uses UV light to kill off all the bacterial and parasitic trouble that you can find in unsafe water. Supposedly works a treat, though it is expensive. But it’s worth it to avoid the nasty taste those iodine tablets leave behind.

Renewable Flashlight
It always seems that flashlight batteries die whenever you need them most. Using some cool simple electromagnetic physics, you shake the flashlight for three minutes, and presto, it works for half an hour (or something like that). Just a cool idea, and in the right (or wrong?) situation it’s a life saver.

Packing Cubes
With everything living in one bag, it’s going to be important to keep it organized so I can find whatever I’m looking for at a given moment. As I am not the most organized person out there, keeping things in individual packing cubes will help immensely to keep things sorted out.

Flip & Tumble Bag

I’m not gonna lie, I like this because it folds up into a ball. I love having something to play with. In all honesty, though, it would be a miracle if one of these actually made the whole trip without disappearing. It surely will accidentally find a river or become a stray dog’s chew toy at some point.

Credits: Most of the pictures came from REI, and I read about the bag and steripen at Practical Gear Traveler.

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Theresa December 7th, 2007

Today I went for a haircut. As my stylist, cut and blowdried, straightened and applied various hair products, I thought about how I would have none of this while on the road. No hair dryer, no straightener or curling iron or any other plug-in hair-fixing device, no products, and definitely no stylist.

Now I’m not a vain person. Vain people do not tear up their faces, then go out to eat in public as it swells and turns all different types of colors. Vain people do not post pictures of their face in such a state on the Internet for all the world to see. No, seriously, I’m not vain.

I’m also not particularly fashionable. I mean, I like to think that I’m not unfashionable, but I certainly don’t care much for trends and almost always go for comfort. I don’t like to shop, except on rare occasions. I have no interest in brand names and can’t even begin to fathom why some people pay hundreds of dollars for jeans, purses, or anything else. I can’t be bothered to spend much time on my hair, especially since I’m not very good at fixing hair, so even if I were to spend a lot of time on it, it probably wouldn’t look much different. And as for makeup, I rarely go beyond concealer, mascara, and good ol’ chapstick. Fashion and beauty is just not my forte. Luckily I wasn’t born butt ugly.

Last summer, when we rafted the Grand Canyon, I didn’t have any problems with my lack of access to beauty products…or clean bathing water for that matter. But still sometimes I wince at the thought of living for an entire year out of one backpack.

Except for underwear (which I do plan to take enough of), there will not be another piece of clothing that I don’t, at some point and most often at all points, wear more than once in a week. My hair will have to dry naturally, which means that it will not be sleek and shiny(as my current shampoo claims it should be although that is debatable on most days), but will instead by a bit crazy. I expect that it will be a rare day when my hair is not back in a ponytail, the saving grace of bad hair. I’ll take along a tiny bit of makeup–probably my usuals–but really, in the sweltering heat of Southeast Asia, if I put it on will it do anything but run right off?

In the year that we spend traveling, more pictures of me will probably be taken than have been in any other year of my life, save maybe the first year or two, when a photograph was needed to record every milestone. (Isn’t it weird how much we accomplish when we’re young and ignorant, and how little we can manage to accomplish when we’re old and educated?) And in these many, many photos, I’ll probably look about as bad as I’ve ever looked (except for maybe my freshman yearbook photo when my eyes were rolled back in my head and the photos from the years when I had those terrible, terrible grandma glasses…Mom, seriously, how could you let me wear those?). And though I’ve hidden those photos away and tried to forget them, the photos we’ll take on our trip will be posted right here for all of you to look at. No, indeed, I’m not vain. Crazy, maybe. Masochistic, perhaps.

But really, there is not much to be done. It’s just one of the those trade-offs you have to make. You sit at home and look pretty. I’ll explore Machu Picchu and look a bit dumpy. I think I can handle it.

(I will admit, however, that I do have my limits. While searching for a travel skirt, I kept reading rave reviews about the Macabi skirt, so I looked it up, and was, um, a bit less than impressed with the looks. I tried to convince myself that it didn’t matter and that it would be functional, but I just couldn’t do it. Traveling around the world with just one tiny backpack might be an excuse for not looking fabulous, but it does not justify looking ridiculous. And after a bit more searching, I found two skirts that I actually very much like made by a company called Lole. They’re actually a bit fashionable (in my non-fashion-forward opinion), but darn it if the shoes I’m planning to bring along won’t just spoil the whole look.)

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