Travel

So the idea was pretty simple at least.

With some unexpected time off from work, take advantage of the break and take a little trip.  Being last minute in nature, this trip will be a solo adventure.

A quick scan of airfares of interesting destinations lead to Buenos Aires.  Other options included Bangkok for another tour of S.E. Asia but the idea of going someplace new was enticing.  Santiago, Chile was a possibility with access to Patagonia but Buenos Aires was more than $200 cheaper and also promised to be a sight to visit in its own right (and Patagonia also accessible).

So the ticket was purchased and now the planning comes into play.

It’s always tough planning a trip for an unknown destination.  The usual comes into play: the internet, Get Lost bookstore and advice from friends.  An provided info on Buenos Aires and Lisa helped with Patagonia info.  Patagonia was the most daunting as it’s a huge area so getting around would be a concern, as would seeing some classic sights.

All this started 5 days ago for a trip that begins next week.  Here’s where I am currently:

• As indicated, flying into and out of Buenos Aires
• Spending 2 nights in Buenos Aires
• flying into Patagonia (Argentinian side)
• bus (hopefully – nothing secured as yet) into Torres del Paines National Park
• trek around Torres del Paine, sleeping in refugios (hut-to-hut hiking)  This has tentatively been arranged as of now.  will hopefully secure in the next day..

I then have a few more days in Patagonia before a flight back to Buenos Aires where I’ll have several days before the flight back home.  This is all yet to be planned out (and may remain that way until I get there… we’ll see).

The goals of this trip are to see some awesome scenery in Torres del Paine and Patagonia and see what Buenos Aires is all about.  I haven’t yet read anything else about other sights in Patagonia or Buenos Aires or possible daytrips around Buenos Aires.  I’ll leave plenty of flexibility around this part of the trip to see what piques my interest.

I’ve started my pile o’crap which I’ll have to weed through in order to keep from breaking my back..  Right now the plan is to bring 2 decent sized bags, essentially 1 for Buenos Aires and 1 for Patagonia – well, that’s exactly what it will be.. I’ll leave 1 bag behind in B.A. to be collected when I return from Patagonia.  That way I’ll bring only the necessary outdoor adventure gear with me to Patagonia, which will then stay packed away when I’m in Buenos Aires.

I’m looking forward to this!

The other night I met up with @soulcutter and @BWP22 for a few drinks and to talk about their upcoming travels to Europe.  Digging through some old photos, I found this one, from my 2007 trip to Thailand:

Looking at this I realized that this is pretty much the stuff I bring on any trip.. give or take only a few items.

Some of this (like all of that sunblock!) is due to a trip to the sun – but even on a trip around Europe I’d end up bringing sunscreen to wear just about every sunny day (the joys of Irish skin).

And some of this stuff (like the rolls of film) are things of the past.

But for the most part, the items on here have proven time and again to be valuable, no matter where the destination.

I thought’s I’d just jot down a few notes about a couple of the items:

Chief among them are the North Face Galileo Small travel backpack.  This I bought several years ago and it has accompanied me on every trip since.  It’s the perfect size (2700 cubic inches) plus the additional daypack (1000 cubic inches) makes a great accompaniment.  I’ve found that over the years, the bigger the bag, the more I’ll bring so I like the way this bag limits me from breaking my back taking every last item.  Besides, I’m always amazed at just how much more I’ve been able to stuff in this bag when it comes time to head home.

I tend to bring plaid shirts because they hide the wrinkles and stains a little better.

Sadly I lost that eye mask on my trip to Africa – I’ll have to replace it for sure.  Those plus ear plugs (or noise canceling headphones if I’m awake) are just awesome for long flights.

I’ve got 3 cameras in this photo.. In this case it was a digital point and shoot, digital SLR and a film SLR.  I always bring at least 2 cameras – the point and shoot I will always take with me if I don’t want to lug the SLR (to dinner, clubs, etc.,).  2 SLRs come in handy for more photographic trips.. In this case I was still uncertain of digital and wanted the film camera along (especially for black and white).  More recently I’ve fully adopted digital but I may still bring 2 SLRs if I want the convenience of multiple lenses (like in Africa where I could have my older SLR housing the wide angle lens and my newer SLR with the telephoto.  Along with all of the accessories (chargers, batteries, lenses, filters, memory cards, etc.,) this is often the biggest/bulkiest part of my travel kit.

Some assorted pouches often come in handy – to organize all of those camera accessories, or photocopies, or dirty laundry..

Magazines are great for the flights – it’s mindless reading that’s easy to leave behind once you’re done.  I usually only do this for the flight out.  For the duration of the trip a good novel, travel guides, and my journal take up the rest of the down time.

I like traveling with a pocket knife – and almost always do .. man I wish we could take these on board.  This is the 1 item that often requires me to check my bag.  Not that I usually mind though.  It’s nice being able to walk freely around the airport (especially true when there are connections involved) without all of this.  That said, I’ve been getting less lucky at the baggage collection areas and in the last 18 months  have twice had items taken from my checked bags and twice not received my bags when I arrived.  So I may reconsider the pocket knife and just purchase one when I get to my destination.

The empty gatorade bottle was to save 3 bucks at the airport buying their overpriced water.. bring an empty and fill up at the fountain.

The clothes I bring (especially t-shirts, socks, underwear) is usually older and I usually don’t come home with it.  This is one way to offset the weight of anything you buy along the way.. as the trip progresses, I’ll just throw away old clothes instead of packing them back home.  That said, I only bring enough clothes for so many days of travel.  Laundry definitely happens along the way.  The tossing of clothes usually only happens during that last week of the trip.

While this photo is handy, I’ve also taken to the following exercise: After each trip, I write down each and everything I brought with me as I unpack – and then later make a quick notation of whether it was used or not.. this serves as a great reference for each future trip, where I can quickly scan the list of what I brought last time – and try to not pack anything I haven’t used for a few trips.

I’ve finally gotten around to uploading some photos from this summer.

There are a few new albums that I’ve posted, including photos from Michigan, Tahoe and our Idaho road trip.

You can see the photos here:

June trip to Michigan

A collection of photos from the Nichols Arboretum

Some Dylan photos from a hike around Tahoe Donner

And finally, an album of pics from our road trip to Idaho

enjoy!

Last year at this time I was having an awesome, fuzzy jet-lagged walk around Frankfurt on my way to Africa.

I had several hours between flights and decided to take advantage of the excellent weather and speedy train into town to stretch my legs a bit.

The day was one of those totally bizarre half-drunk with jet-lag and half-drunk with excitement of traveling off to new destination days.  The combination of hyped-up excitement and over-tired dull brain made for an interesting, dizzying state of mind.

Africa was definitely one of the best trips I’ve done, and while I imagine it may be a while before I get back, it is definitely on the list.

In the coming weeks I’m going to take advantage of the weekly-photo posts to re-visit the experience.

For now, I’ll just continue sitting at my desk, working.

Inevitably, one of the questions that comes up while planning for or thinking about a trip is whether to go someplace new or to revisit an old favorite.

I love the idea of exploring someplace new, after all that’s a big part of what I enjoy about traveling.

But I also love returning to someplace familiar – reminiscing through old trips and seeing what’s the same or what has changed.

So in thinking about where my next possible destination will be, it got me to thinking about places I’ve been and specifically, where I’ve traveled the most.

Right off the bat, New York would probably be the city I’ve visited the most (and never lived in) but that doesn’t count, or, it doesn’t feel like it should.  Part of the reason it’s at the top is I grew up 15 miles from the city.  It’s basically home.  Yosemite  doesn’t count either – too close to home, though less than New York, it still feels like home.

Thailand was a great destination both times I’ve gone, as was Japan.  Both places I would return to in a heartbeat.

I’ve been to Germany 4 times, though to different cities.  I was in Berlin 3 of those 4 trips.  I’ve been to Paris 3 times, London 3 times.  Somehow though they seem a lot more familiar than that.

I’ve gone to Hilton Head Island several times, mostly on family trips but also on a memorable college trip – so that’s probably 6 times I’ve been there.  I think that’s probably the most.

I’m surprised that Germany is the place I’ve been to most outside of the US.  I did figure someplace in Europe – I’ve taken a couple of longer trips there (in ’93 and ’01) as well as a couple of trips in college and a couple of shorter trips – but I hadn’t really thought through that Germany would be at the top of the list.

And I’m surprised about Hilton Head.  I guess you could argue that might not be the most visited place – I’ve been to the Jersey Shore more than that, Yosemite more than that.. perhaps even Joshua Tree more than 6 times.

Maybe Joshua Tree counts?  That’s far enough away from ‘home’ (it certainly is different from San Francisco).

For the next trip?  I think it will be someplace new.  There’s more than a few of those out there still.

I’m always thinking about traveling and where I’ll be heading off to next.  I’ll often talk about my ‘list’ but the reality is, I’m always ready to head off anywhere, and I rarely follow any kind of order.  For the past few years, South America has been on the ‘top’ of my list and I’ve yet to get there.

So Meghan and I are thinking about where we will head to next, and inevitably, we’re having trouble deciding.  South America is still on the top of the list, but we’re trying to decide when we will be able to go somewhere, and where would be a good place to go, based on the time of the year.

If we go earlier, like in the summer, then perhaps Ireland or Alaska, if we go in the fall or spring, then perhaps South America will happen.

Then again, if we head out in winter, maybe we should go back to S.E. Asia?

But, this year I think it’s possible we won’t go anywhere internationally and we might not take any big trips.

We’ve got a busy summer ahead of us and both of us want to make a couple of trips back East, so perhaps we’ll start planning for next year.

Hmm.. maybe India?