Travel 101

Standing on the lava at Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park in my pair of Timberlands; essential travel footwear.

I've always thought I was a pretty smart traveler. Generally speaking, I'm good with logistics and schedules and money which are three essentials to manage when you are going pretty much anywhere. But since I turned 45 and started this blog (which has meant a definite increase in the quantity and diversity of destinations), I've found I wasn't as good at this stuff as I thought.

I figured it might be useful to some other folks out there if I wrote down some of my travel philosophies. Call it a lessons learned list, if you like. I'm starting on this page with what I'll call Travel 101 or what I find to be the absolutely essential must-deal-withs when heading somewhere from home. Who knows, maybe later on, I'll add a second page to deal with the more subtle aspects of exploring the world.

Some of these things I've been working on for years and have just been tweaked since 2013. Others are brand new. I've capped the list of items at six for brevity's sake and if for no other reason than because there are six beers in a six pack. Hey, you gotta just make this stuff up sometimes. I hope this helps someone understand more about how to get away or more about how my mind works. Although honestly, the first is probably way more useful.

1. Luggage

Somewhere in a closet or my storage unit that I owned when I started this blog, I used to have a really big red hardside suitcase. I remember I got it for Christmas one year and loved it because it was super easy to spot at baggage claim. I hadn't used it in years when I finally tossed it in 2018. Sure it fit about everything I could ever need for a couple of weeks away in it but it was heavy (when full), not very maneuverable, couldn't be carried very far and wouldn't fit anywhere there are small storage compartments (like European trains).

When I visited Germany for a week and a half right after I started this blog I took a backpack and a rollaboard suitcase that could fit into the overhead storage bin of an airplane. That was it. I can carry both of these pieces easily, they are small and they fit about anywhere. Sure, it forced me to pack light and really think about (and edit) everything I was taking with me but it's worth it, especially if you are moving from place to place like I sometimes do. If you can take less, do it. I spent two weeks in Africa with a backpack only. It's possible.

Can't imagine that you can do this much editing? Here are some ideas. Going somewhere you will need boots? Wear them on the plane; don't pack them. Check if the hotels you are staying in offer laundry service. Some do and depending on the location, it's really cheap or free (like our safari lodge in Botswana). Might need a jacket? Wear it on the plane, just like you are wearing your boots. You can always take it off on the plane. Finally, you don't need a clean pair of jeans for each day you are away. Trust me, you just don't.

The Economy cabin on the way to Ecuador, 2016.

2. First Class or Economy?

It is really important to me to strategically spend money on vacations to maximize the value of my travel experience. I think like most folks out there, I do not have an unlimited budget when it comes to going away. I'd rather overspend on unique experiences that will give me a lifetime of great memories than spend more than I have to on transportation or lodging (there are exceptions to the hotels thing - see below). To that end, I have never paid for and traveled in any other class on an airplane other than economy.

Here's the thing for me: first class is expensive and short lived and all things considered not that much more comfortable for me than sitting in a smaller seat at the back of the plane. Business class isn't much different for me. Nor is premium economy or whatever the airlines are calling that these days. And yes, I know it's difficult on long flights. The longest flight I've taken in my life was scheduled for 15 hours and 10 minutes (JFK to Johannesburg) and I made it just fine in economy. Get up and walk around.

Let's look at some math. In late 2016, I booked a nonstop round trip flight to Japan. An economy class ticket for that itinerary was about $1,100. Know how much a business class ticket was? Just a bit north of $3,800!!! For about a 14 hour flight. If someone offered me $2,700 to sit in a small seat for 14 hours and let me get up and walk every so often, I'd take it. I can do a lot with $2,700. Heck, I can pay for entire vacations with $2,700. A first class ticket for the same trip by the way was more than $10,000. No thanks. Give me economy any day with those conditions. My money is better spent elsewhere.

And by the way...economy lands at the same time as first class.

Ilala Lodge in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Definitely worth springing for.

3. Hotels

I have a few basic requirements for most hotels. They need to be safe, clean, quiet and well located. That's pretty much about it for most places. I don't spend a whole lot of time in hotel rooms when I'm away. I like to spend as much time as possible exploring the place where I am. I need to sleep, not get stuff stolen and have the place be clean and well located near whatever I want to see and do. That's about it. I don't care about how big the room is (after all, I'm traveling really light, right?) but I do care very much about location.

There's a but with hotels though. Some hotels are worth springing for.

I feel really comfortable traveling in the United States and western Europe, even in countries where I don't speak the language fluently, semi-fluently or at all. In these countries, I generally opt for larger chain-type hotels where people will leave me alone and let me come and go as I please. There are some places I am less comfortable, mostly brand new locations where I have never traveled anywhere like where I am headed. In these cases, I often opt to pay more for a hotel because I'm relying on the hotel staff to advise me on what to do, where to go and more importantly perhaps what not to do and where not to go.

On our 2014 trip to Morocco, we decided to spend money on a riad in the medina or old city in Marrakech. We picked our hotel based on location but also for the staff working and living in the riad and other sorts of comforts offered by the hotel such as laundry service, breakfast, day trip planning with dedicated staff and cell phones provided to each guest to carry around the city in case of emergency (which we almost unfortunately needed). The hotel on that trip became a major focus of our holiday; it was absolutely essential we got some place that took care of us. Since then, I've used the same philosophy in places like sub-Saharan Africa and Mexico.

4. Money 

I hate carrying cash. It's bulky, fiddly, makes you stand out in foreign places like a tourist and can be stolen without any chance of recovery. Whenever possible, I like to use my credit card. And I always take more than one in case something happens to the first card. If you can buy stuff with credit when you travel, I think that's the best way to go. One word of advice I'd offer is check to see if your cards are foreign currency transaction fee free (wow, that was a mouthful). If they are not, you could end up paying a pretty penny to your own bank for the privilege of using their cards abroad.

Unfortunately, there are some places where cash is king. If that's the case on a trip you are taking, please understand what currency is in effect in the place where you are headed and make sure you know the exchange rate. I read a story about some American tourist in Ecuador trying in vain to swap his U.S. Dollars for the local currency (they use U.S. greenbacks in Ecuador, as they do in Zimbabwe and some other countries). I've also withdrawn money abroad without understanding what a dollar got me; that one experience had me taking out $800 in Icelandic Krona. Still have some to this day. It's difficult to spend that much coin in Iceland in four days.

As much as I love credit, I make it a general rule the first thing I do when I get to a new country after I pass through immigration is look for an ATM. Having cash is sometimes useful and there's no better place to get it than at the airport with my ATM card. I would advise you not to take money from your home country and exchange it at the money exchange counter in the airport; the return you get on your home currency will almost always come with exorbitant exchange fees and it's just not worth it. The ATM is the way to go here and airports are usually safe and generally calm.

5. Language

In the year 2000, I took my first and only (to date) trip to Finland. It was the first time I was visiting a place where I didn't speak a word of the local language. This was early on in my traveling career; at that point I'd only been to two places where English was not the first language: Paris (I can speak broken French) and Tijuana (which is barely a foreign country).

So before my Finland trip, I did what came naturally to me and decided I would learn some Finnish in my car on my less than two mile commute to work. It was an epic fail. Not only is it very difficult to learn anything on a less than two mile commute, Finnish is a complicated language. Eventually, I convinced myself that there was no way everyone who visited Finland learned Finnish. I think I was right. I know two words in Finnish: hei (hello) and kittos (thank you). I got by.

It's amazing to me how little we need to interact with people in the countries we travel to. I'm not saying you can just blow off any attempt at learning the local language. I'm writing this in the spring of 2017 and we've been learning Japanese for the past few weeks now so we can at least say something when we visit there later this year. But odds are you can get by in major cities with whatever broken version of the host language you can speak. Don't sweat it.

Recently, I've discovered the Google Translate app and this thing is fantastic. Not only can you type words to be translated but you can take pictures or just speak.

Yes, I like orange.

6. Travel Essentials

There are some things I don't travel without. Depending on the destination, you can bet I'm taking a selection of the items shown in the photograph above. Here's what I always consider packing or taking with me before I travel.

1. Boots. Yes, I always take shoes with me on a trip but boots have a special place in my life. If there's any hint I'll be heading anywhere that requires any sort of rugged footwear, I'm strapping on my Timberlands before I head to the airport.

2. iPad and Headphones. I get that you may not want to carry another device in addition to your phone (which I always use to take pictures) but I do. I have too much music to fit on any phone and I always want to be well equipped with movies just in case the flight doesn't have any or I just don't like anything available on the flight. The download feature on HBO, Netflix and Disney+ is a huge benefit to my travel since those sites added that feature. On the headphones side, it's difficult to hear movies with low quality headphones like the ones that come with the Apple devices. I've had my Klipsch noise-isolating earbuds for years. They are a great balance between cost and performance. Carry spare ear tips. You never know when you will lose one.

3. Bottle Opener. Never know when you'll run across a non-twist top beer. Yes, mine is kiwi-shaped. I picked it up with my last remaining New Zealand dollars before leaving that country.

4. Batteries. I sometimes take one or two portable chargers with me on every trip, even if I'm heading somewhere with plenty of power. You never know. I have a small (with three iPhone charges) and a large (with six). I chose Jackery because I like the design. There are others available. I would not get the single charge devices. What's the point?

5. Water Bottles. I realize that when you buy water it comes in a bottle in most places on this planet but it's just irresponsible to buy bottles of water while on the road. I don't do it at home so why would I do it on the road. I've cycled through a number of different water bottle types and brands before settling (like most of the world, it seems) on the Yeti Rambler. And yes, I did look all over the place for the discontinued King Crab Orange color when I decided I wanted that color.

6. Electrical Outlet Adapter. I guess it's kind of sad that I can't go anywhere without power. First spare batteries and now an adapter that works in countries that don't use American plugs. It is what it is. I have to recharge my camera / phone. I picked up the Apple box o' adapters to cover the globe. There are cheaper and more compact options out there I've discovered.

7. Mosquito Wipes. Depending on where you are heading, mosquitos can be non-existent or an annoyance or life-threatening. If they fall in the latter two categories, I have to have these wipes with me when I travel. The last thing I want on vacation is to get sick or just itch because some insect bit me. I like the Off! wipes because you can take them in carry on bags. We often have trouble finding them in stores but Amazon always has them.

8. Hat. Sunburn hurts and I don't have as much hair as I used to so I had to pick up a hat for some shade in spots where I can't find any (like on boats or on gypsum dunes). I chose substance over style here and got something that folds so I can pack it in my bag. Exofficio made my hat which also means it's mosquito repellant. Never a bad thing in case you miss a spot with item number 7.

9. Drawstring Backpack. I used to hate drawstring backpacks. They look sort of flimsy and cheap and never seem to sit right on people's backs. But for taking day trips, they are the perfect size for throwing few things in and going. They'll fit everything from water bottles to snacks to cameras to a light jacket in them. Plus they pack flat and you can fill them and use one as your personal item on the flight home in case you leave with more than what you brought.

So that's the end of my six pack. Hopefully I've communicated something useful. I find all these things incredibly handy whenever I take off someplace new or someplace that I've loved over and over again. Let me know if you have rules you live by. Maybe I can adopt some new philosophies. There's always room for improvement.

Ecuador 2016. The hat isn't stylish but it protects from the sun. Also, Ecuador's bananas are amazing.