my must have travel apps

If you want to backpack the world and keep your backpack small and under 30 pounds there are several things you have to leave at home. For me, an easy choice was my beloved MacBook. While my laptop is fabulous, it's heavy, bulky, not exactly water proof, and I know I would be upset if it was stolen, lost, or broken.


Even though I don't have a laptop, I, of course, want to stay in touch with the Internet, send emails, keep up with the news, etc. But, I really don't want to do all of this while paying for an Internet cafe or using a computer in the lobby of a hotel.


Insert the iPod touch. My iPod is most definitely one of my favorite travel items and after doing some app adding I have definitely customized this sucker for travel.

Extra! Extra!
With regular internet connection it's easy to stay in touch with what's happening in the world.
-CNN (Free!)
-NPR (Free!)
-New York Times (mostly free. There is a pay wall for any articles that are not top stories)
-The Economist (not free at all but subscribing to the online only version is relatively cheap)


I see that my news sources maybe are slanted in one specific political direction. But honestly, I just can't bring myself to even search for an app that's for a news source that aligns itself with Sarah Palin (**shudder**). But maybe I should add The Wall Street Journal to balance things out? Not to mention support my friend Mary who is a WSJ reporter in Berlin. (Check out her articles here!)

A book or two

Chris and I also use our iPods as digital libraries.  We have copies of guidebooks, novels, and non-fiction always with us in our pockets.  While I still have traded, borrowed, and bought books I love having the electronic guidebook with me.  Nothing marks you as a vunerable tourist more than staring into a Lonely Planet on the side of the street.

The other stuff

- daily yoga app so I can get my stretch on (free. See the pattern now?)
- global convert-- this app is awesome. It not only can work between pounds to kilos (damn you metric system!), it converts currency and updates the exchange rate every time you connect to the Internet! (Fahhh-ree-heee)

- social media apps so I can keep a tab on my people and maybe do a little stalking of those Halloween costumes you'll all be sporting this weekend (ok, who's going to be the sexy cop this year?)
- free magazines like Elle and More (yes, I do realize that I'm not in their target "older woman" demographic but it was free, damnit!)

Anda suka belajar banyak bahasa? (translation from Indonesian: "do you like studying many languages?")

Whenever I arrive in a new country I like to come prepared with a few key phrases and a basic understanding of numbers. World Nomads, one of the world's largest travel insurance providers, has a series of apps for almost every major language from Arabic to Swahili to Vietnamese.


These FREE (whoop whoop!) apps provide basic translation of helpful sentences, numbers, and some even provide audio to help with pronunciation.


On the not so free side, one of the most helpful learning apps I've ever used is Anki. Anki is a online flash card program that already has thousands of card decks loaded. It's a free download for your computer but a hefty $25.00 app. While that's a huge amount of money the Anki app has help Chris and I more than any other language guide out there.

What a trip!

Hello loves! It's been a long time since I've been home in Chicago! Chris and I flew out on the 12th of March and just got home this morning. We were suppose to arrive last night but electrical storms canceled our flight. We had a very early 7:45 am flight and as soon as we landed I had to rush to a doctors appointment downtown. I would have postponed it but the office has one of those very annoying $25 fees if you don't cancel within 24 hours-- I wish I could charge the airlines a fee like that for my flight last night!

You might be wondering what we've been doing away for the last 3 weeks. Luckily because Chris is a consultant and happens to be traveling to North Carolina the majority of weeks or can work out of the Dallas branch of his company he was able to work while we cobbled together a grand moving/road trip/friend seeing/Easter extravaganza. We flew into North Carolina, flew to Texas, drove from Texas through Arkansas and Tennessee back to North Carolina, and then arrived where we started in Chicago this morning!

While in Dallas I packed all of the furniture and belongings in my condo and turned the keys over to the new owners. It felt a little surreal moving out; I moved into the condo at the end of my freshman year of college and spent almost 6 years there. Packing and moving was a hideous nightmare. There was just so much stuff to go through. For instance, what was i suppose to do with my old college class notes? In the end I kept some and recycle others. But I'm sure in 5 years (barring that i go to grad school for history and bust out those old notes) I will come to my senses and get rid of them all.

The biggest lesson of moving was not to procrastinate-- go ahead and tackle the back of the closet or the bathroom drawer filled with cosmetic samples. Ten minutes on one project now is so much more tolerable than hours on every project when it's time to move. NEVER AGAIN. Seriously y'all. Lesson learned. If I'm not using that two-year-old sparkly exfoliating body scrub now I won't be using it in two years. So why keep it? And cosmetics have a pretty short shelf life or so i saw on an episode of Tyra once; but it was an episode of Tyra....

Chris and I drove an explore full of my stuff home to North Carolina. The drive was incredible and we had so much fun taking our first official road trip together! This weekend I celebrated (totally not the right word) Easter with my mom and our family friends, played a lot of tennis, and made some delicious meals. It was fabulously relaxing after a stressful week and a half of moving boxes.

But, I'm glad to be back here in Chicago. Strangely it now feels like home.

18 months: 1 backpack

I'm leaving May 29th for a world wide adventure. After leaving Chicago I'll be heading to South Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and maybe even Mexico for a wedding.

That's 3 continents over 18 months my loves! Over 20 countries! And now the all important question becomes:

WHAT CLOTHES DO I PACK?

Well, actually that question is kind of easy: not a whole lot. I learned tremendous amounts while backpacking in Europe.

**CAUTION CAUTION** If you are the type who gets grossed out when thinking about wearing the same shirt for two days in a row or going a few days without taking a shower then you should leave this post THIS VERY INSTANT! Even if you need to blow-dry every day this not the place for you my friend.

Let me take you on a guided tour of my backpack in a whirlwind of a budget travel packing list!

I am in the school of thought that when packing for a worldwide backpacking trip less is more. You have to carry that load on your back every time you go to a new city. You will have to trek up stairs, wind through large crowds, and face some monster hills each travel day. When you have been struggling up a hill for 20 minutes you really start to hate that extra pair of shoes in your pack.

This is my backpack. It's a woman's pack from Mountain Hardware. I schlepted it across Europe so I have undoubtedly broken it in. In backpack talk it's 50 liters. This isn't a huge pack for such a long trip; I met some people in Europe who were traveling for 3 months with 90 liter backpacks that weighed 75 pounds! That's just ridiculous to me. I would much rather do without a hair dryer and straightening iron!

I really like my pack: it's comfortable, it expands easily, and it is very durable. The only downside to my pack is that it only opens from the top or a zipper on the side. If I had my choice I would have gotten a pack that zips open all around the front. But those packs didn't fit my body and so here I am with this pack! Finding a woman's pack with all of your wants that also fits can be tough. I can't urge someone strongly enough to choose the pack that feels the best!

That's my pack from behind (and my behind!). I hope that it doesn't look too ridiculous on my body. I think of it as my snail shell-- my little home while traveling!

Now on to my clothes. This is the part where all of your mouths drop and you say "but that's NOTHING." I am bringing shockingly few pieces of clothing:

2 pairs of pants

1 long sleeve shirt

1 short sleeve shirt

1 pair of leggings/long johns

5 pairs of socks

4 pairs of underwear

1 pair of shorts

1 t-shirt for sleeping

1 pair of hiking boots

1 pair of flip flops

1 jacket

and that's it my loves. I've found that I can live with the bare essentials and if need be I can always buy a simple dress or skirt along the way. When Chris and I get to conservative countries in the Middle East I will be making some adjustments and adding head scarves and floor length skirts to my wardrobe.

The key to packing so little is to focus on comfort, durability, and washability. You want to be able to wear the same clothes several times without them stretching, becoming wrinkled or getting nubbly after a million wears. Without a doubt on a low cost backpacking trip you will be washing your clothes in sinks and showers around the world. The pants that I will bring can be adjusted to multiple lengths and are super comfortable. They also both have draw-string waists. I found out a draw string was really important while I was in Europe because over 3 months I lost almost 20 pounds and 2 sizes!

This post has already gotten kind of long so next week I will let you know about the toiletries, medical supplies, and random other items I will be packing!

I'm sure I haven't told you everything so If you have any questions let me know!

xoxo,

Mer

Oh and just an out-take that made me laugh:

What's a girl to pack?

Sigh. I love clothes. Love love love them. Always have. Always will. Since November when I decided to start really saving for this trip I have bought exactly 2 items of clothing for myself, and they were both from target. Granted, I have bought two bridesmaids dresses but that's a different story since "I can totally wear the dresses again" (I love you Stewart and Mel!).

As a girl who has had a lifelong issue with wearing the same outfit more than once in a two week span I have a huge challenge facing me for four months in Europe. I present to you the only thing I will be bringing with me to Europe:

This backpack (http://www.rei.com/product/779900) (Mountain Hardwear Napali 50 liter Women's) will hold everything I will own on my trip from towel (travel sized and super absorbent) to underwear (that's worth a post on it's own! I'm only bringing 3 pairs!!). So, you ask, how are you bringing enough stuff for FOUR MONTHS in that tiny back pack!?!!?

I don't know! I'm going to do a dry run packing this weekend. Here's the plan so far:

Leave from Dallas to London Septemeber 1 with these things:

-2 Skirts (1 green, 1 tbd)

-2 tank tops (1 black, 1 white

-1 cotton shirt

-2 long sleve shirts

-3 pairs of easy wash and wear underwear and bras

-1 flece pullover with hood

-1 pair of athletic shorts for pjs

-1 comfy worn in tshirt for pjs

-2 books-- I'm still debating what books to take that will not be insanely heavy, too fast of a read, or too deep and boring. Suggestions?

-travel journal

-my own personal guide book that has been spliced together from tons of guide books and websites that I have read

-travel towel

-a few random toiletries

I'm seeing friends and my boyfriend Chris in October in Munich for Oktoberfest and I am asking Chris to bring a pair of jeans and long pants to me so I can switch them out for my skirts. The jeans are self explanitory but the pants are long hiking pants that can zip into shorts.

That's certainly not a lot of stuff! I think I can make it, but definitely need to bring a tide to go pen or 2! Or well, knowing me, 15.

I'll keep you updated on how the test run this weekend!!

xoxo,

M