Stuff we couldn't live/leave without

As we prepared for our trip there was some "stuff" we just couldn't live/leave without. Since room is always at a premium when packing for international travel, we need to make sure that everything we bring along are things that we love. Here are some of the items which will most assuredly find their way onto our packing list.

First off we knew we'd be spending hours and hours on an international flight so comfort comes to mind. We already know that economy travel on modern day airlines trumps any of the tortures developed during the Spanish Inquisition, so we have to be prepared and do what we can to minimize the extreme discomfort.

We have already gone over purchasing United's Economy-Plus seats in an earlier entry (a small price to pay for the ability to move ones legs), but there are a couple of items we acquired to help soften the blow even more (literally).

One of the first things we purchased was a pair of travel pillows. It's not like we're letting anyone in on a fast tip here, travel pillows have been around for a long long time and seem to be more popular than ever. It's impossible to visit any airport and not see dozens of people walking around with their pillows draped around their necks, as if they might need to fall asleep at a moments notice. But although the travel pillow is a known commodity, the ones we chose are the creme de la creme of pillows. I love researching things, and the "Aeris Memory Foam Travel Pillow" got rave reviews from just about everyone who has used them. Not only are they amazingly comfortable (knock on wood, I'm just quoting a review here...) but the foam allows you to actually stuff them in a cute little stuff sack so you don't have to walk around like an idiot with your pillow draped around your neck. The niftty package also includes ear plugs and a sleep mask that would be the envy of Mrs. Thurston Howell the third!

The next item we can't live without (anyway we're pretty sure we can't, I mean we haven't actually used them yet, but you know what I mean...) are the Therm-a-Rest Lite Seats. These 11x15" compact 3 ounce seats are self-inflating and roll up to the size of a small ball of socks and fit into a cool little tube for storage.
I know, I know...you're thinking, "but David, aren't airline seats comfortable enough already"?

To which I say, anything can be improved on; and the thought of adding some extra cushion to those already plush seats on a nine hour flight sounds like a no-brainer. These too tested out with very high marks from people reviewing them, and having backpacked with therm-a-rest products on numerous occasions we can also vouch for the quality of this companies products. Another added benefit of both the travel pillow and the lite seats is that they will come in extremely handy on the hours and hours of train travel we have scheduled.

OK, we'll admit it, we can sometimes become a little attached to our laptops and the internet. Hey, it's a pretty handy tool, right? Not only do we find it hard to travel without a laptop, we also are old, and old people don't like to work on teeny tiny devices, so our laptop is big, HUGE by modern day standards. It's an HP 17.3" Envy, and I must admit it's nice to look at things on a screen larger than a postal stamp sometimes. Well we're taking it gosh darn it! We actually DO use it though; we research travel destinations and tourist sites, write our blog on it, write emails, upload pictures to it, etc. etc. We have found that traveling with a computer just helps to enhance our ability to take good pictures. It not only allows you to cull photos that don't meet your expectations, but to view them at the end of the day to see just exactly what you captured through your viewfinder. It's amazing the things that you'll find in the image that you weren't aware were there while taking the photo.

Next on our list of "Can't leave home without it" is our iPhone 7. Do I really have to tell you why? Well, being that I am writing a blog I guess I should provide some content...We will use our iPhone to "call home" of course, take brilliant pictures and videos, text our friends, and aid us in navigation and in mobile connection to the internet.

Now since iPhone's are somewhat fragile and extremely spendy, it's a good idea, especially when traveling, to house your phone in a quality case. After doing some research we decided on the UAG "Urban Armor Gear" Monarch case. Handcrafted with five layers of protection: top-grain leather, a poly-carbonate shear plate, armor shell, alloy metal hardware, and impact-resistant rubber. Coupled with a ultra thin high impact glass screen protector, our phone is about as safe from damage as we can make it.

Books are heavy. Traveling with half a dozen novels would be kinda dumb, so we are bringing our Kindle Fire HD. This allows us to download as many novels and travel books as we could possibly read during our six week trip. It also will come in handy as a back-up way to access the internet. We realized that the iPhone's screen is so clear, that reading on it actually is quite nice so it will free us up to leave one of our readers at home and still allow us to both read if the mood strikes us.

One of the things we really enjoy about traveling is the opportunity to capture the experience through photography. Not only does it allow you to bring home priceless memories of a trip, but it also is a great hobby for a traveler. Another thing photography does during an extended trip is it helps tie everything together upon your return with a visual road map of people, places and things that you have encountered along the way.

The opportunities to explore the world visually opens up when you have a camera. You start to look at things a little bit differently when you start composing pictures. We find ourselves taking half a dozen photos and when we edit them we realize that only one or two are worth a damn. We like to hand the camera back and forth and take pictures of the same thing, because it's amazing just how much variation there we will be in how we go about composing the same shot. Everyone looks at the world a little differently, and that really comes through in photography.

Cannon G12
We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would work for us as far as finding a digital camera that was not only small enough not to discourage us from always having it on hand, but making sure it was also a serious enough camera capable of  capturing quality images. After having done a lot of homework we settled on the Cannon G12 and it hasn't been a disappointment. It's light enough to carry around your neck without being a burden, but structurally sound enough to make it feel like a serious camera. It takes beautiful pictures and the color is spot on, and on top of that it doubles as a HD video camera with crystal clear sound. The G12 is so loaded with technological perks that it's going to be great just playing around with it to see everything it has to offer. Last but not least it is VERY user friendly. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Functioning equally well as a no-nonsense auto point and shoot to a completely manual camera allowing for any number of setting changes. We love it!

 

So where are they going to pack all of those marvelous yet fragile electronics you may be asking yourself? Is there some sort of ingenious backpack where all of these items could be stored safely and still be accessible? Funny you should ask!

The Everki Titan Laptop backpack is checkpoint friendly, opening up 180 degrees. It has an ultra-soft padded laptop compartment which accommodates up to an 18.4" laptop, a dedicated soft fine-felt lined iPad/Kindle/Tablet pocket, along with numerous other zippered pockets and storage areas to meet all of our needs.

So now that we have all of our gear packed into our two suitcases along with this wonderful backpack, how do we secure them during those times when they're out in the open and exposed to crimes of opportunity.

These two TSA approved locks by Lewis and Clark will not stop a determined thief, but for protecting our bags from snatch and runs or when your bags are sitting next to you in an airport or in the luggage rack of a train or bus they provide a deterrent for would be criminals. Let them pick the bags that are left unsecured.