Theme: Gear

(there's a new blog entry about my current plan below this)

I think I'm going to start writing some topical posts, covering a specific aspect of my trip. These won't go into day to day detail; instead, they'll be about something more specific that's been a common theme throughout my travels.

Today's topic: GEAR

As you wander about with all your earthly possessions strapped to your back, you begin to settle into a routine in which you rotate through socks, wear certain items for certain tasks, and stash useful odds and ends in handy to reach pockets. As this routine settles in, some of your gear really begins to stand out as totally essential to your enjoyment of the trip. Under the category of 'Essential Gear', I'd list the following top three:

#1 - Pocket Compass
This has been absolutely brilliant. Obviously I'm extremely comfortable using maps and interpreting things in terms of spatial relationships (oooh, geography speak!). I am, however, utterly useless when it comes to maintaining my orientation as I follow twisty old-city passageways and unfamiliar roads. (Greg and Claire, do you remember how useless I was trying to figure out the trail system at the dump?) With my trusty compass, however, I am never lost. These old-world cities are almost always laid out around a river or on a bay. If I know that I am on the west side of the river, then my compass will always get me back there. That allows me to find a landmark (usually a bridge) to figure out where I am. I am really, really glad I brought the compass, it's clearly Brilliant Gear Item #1.

#2 - Travel Safe
Most of you know about this. It's a nylon and canvas stuff-sack with an interior stainless-steel cable mesh and a cable drawstring that allows you to close it off and lock it to an immovable object. It's basically slash-proof. You'd need bolt cutters to take it, and heavy wire cutters and some time to get anything out of it. I use it in hostels that lack lockers, in hotels that I don't really trust, on trains when I might fall asleep and yesterday, at the beach when I was in the water. I love it.

#3 - Rubber sink stopper
I read a suggestion on some web site about this, and thought it sounded good. Man, what a great idea! All the sinks I've found are either missing a plug or suffer from brutal leakage. When you're trying to shave or wash clothes, that's a pain in the ass. Enter the magic rubber stopper. It's the kind that's just flat and lies over the drain, making it useful for all different shapes and sizes. It's not perfect, but it does a passable job in almost all situations.

I was going to do a top three things I wish I'd brought, but I'm going to save that for another post, as this has gotten rather long.

cheers,
bms