Is that a backpacker I smell?

UPDATED: What worked and what didn't.

Alright the two of you reading! It's time for a round up of the 21.3 pounds (9.9 Kilos) I'm hauling across Europe. My standard packing list for staying in one place has, not surprisingly, been altered a tad.

I still think I somehow ended up with too much stuff even though I packed and chucked half of it back in the closet. Most of the pack was eaten by cold weather clothes I have to haul to Iceland, and even though I plan on looking like an oompa loompa on the plane it still takes up some room. That and I have to bring a sleeping bag instead of just a liner.

I picked up this Eagle Creek packable day pack a while back. It's ridiculously tiny, ripstop nylon, and it still fits more then I probably should inside. I have room for my netbook, phone, camera, ipod touch, passport, and makeup. Not to mention, I can stuff my stupidly restricted, evil, dangerous, national security harming face wash and shampoo inside. Win/win? I think so.

Seeing as I barely wear any makeup on a daily basis, and I still want to feel like a girl, I brought the bare essentials for this expedition.

My "oh, crap" kit, as I'm so fond of calling it, is tiny but completely worth the bit of space it takes up. Included in my mini triage kit are band-aids, mini anti-bacterial ointment packets I picked up for free somewhere, bottle of random medications (pain reliever, Pepto, Imodium. I'm sure there's something else in there). Also included are alcohol swabs I've been completely, unintentionally collecting at school and work, and some Sudafed off brand decongestant because my sinuses and I are not ever on friendly terms.

This final bad boy of a packing list is all stuffed in two Eagle Creek compression bags.


The final tally (including the above):
2 sports bras
1 regular bra (wear on plane)
2 cami's (one on plane)
5 pair underwear (one on plane)
3 pair merino wool socks (one on plane)
1 quick dry t-shirt
3 t-shirts (cheap hanes tee. One on the plane and I may be ditching the older one.)
2 quick dry long sleeve shirts
2 quick dry long underwear/leggings Ended up using one and washing every two days .
2 pair zip off pants (only one made it home)
1 pair jeans (wear on plane)
1 pair sandals
1 pair flats
1 pair hiking/walking boots (wear on plane)
1 pair dress pants (Never wore them)
1 sweater (on plane)
1 light bolero/sweater (on plane)

1 one piece bathing suit

1 pair running/jogging shorts (Best Idea ever. Wore it under a leggings/long top in way too hot spain)

1 quick dry towel

Fantabulous Laundry kit

Locks and things

Of course, all of that is in my previously mentioned TETON pack.

I'm all packed, finally. Now, I just have to get through the next two days at work and I escape Sunday afternoon!

Greenbacks and the Girl who loves to spend them

In order to take any trip, day trip or year long world tour, you always need money. Understanding where you get it and how you spend it is important if you don't want to end up sleeping in the back of a chicken truck in Ecuador. If you do want to sleep in the back of a chicken truck then feel free to ignore this post.

For this particular trip, I'm attempting to maintain a budget (gasp!). Western Europe is expensive enough in the off season so I'm interested to see how well the off season budgets I've looked at compare. All prices are quoted in local currency. Some have been converted to dollar pricing based on average June/July 2011 rates.

The nity grity:

• I'm not including gear in this budget because I'd already cobbled together most of it for other trips.
• This is a tentative budget which will be updated as I move along this month and I most assuredly determine that my version of cheap and Europe's are continents (ha! continents) apart. This budget has been updated to reflect the actual costs I encountered in Europe.

 Plane flight to and from Europe: $1191 (leaving from PBI to KEF and returning via TXL to PBI)

• I used kayak.com for the initial search and ended up booking with Delta/AirFrance via Expedia because they had the cheapest price.

Registration and Placement fee for Volunteers for Peace in Iceland: $330

and

Project Fee €150 (about $220)

• These two include housing and food for two weeks plus access to the hot springs and discounts on other things in Iceland.  Average $40/day

Hostels by City and Country

• Reykjavik, Iceland Kr 2500 x2 nights
• Akureyri, Iceland Kr 3500 x3 nights
• Barcelona, Spain: €21 x1  
• Berlin, Germany: average €16 per night

Tours and such:

• South Coast Iceland kr 18000
• Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon kr 10000
• Lake Myvatn from Akureyri 11500 kr
• Alternative Berlin  €20 (tip based)

Transport:

• Round trip to Akureyri on Air Iceland $138
• Surprisingly cheaper then the bus
• One way Reykjavik to Barcelona Spain $337
• One way Barcelona to Berlin $221
• Metro in Spain and Germany: $175
• Buses
• Barcelona-Madrid one way $42
• Madrid-Granada round trip $43
• Madrid- Barcelona one way $42

I wish I'd known about the Berlin Linien Bus. I would have probably halved my cost. . . but then I would have lost a day or two in transit. Next time I'll make sure I have more time allotted in for transit.

Food:

•  Food was hit or miss in terms of reasonable prices. An espresso in madrid and barcelona ran €1 to €1,5. Cheap diners and quick grocery meals (sandwiches, salads etc) ran from €2 to €5 a meal. I didn't cook in a lot in Akureyri or Berlin, unfortunately.
• Resturant meals ran from €5 to €12. 
• Total spent: €193 (about $275 at the June/July exchange rate)
• Add in Alcohol: €111 ($77) for a month

And there you have it! I'm sure I missed some things that I spent money on, but this is a pretty comprehensive list.

Elephants In Joplin

It's been a wild weather ride in the Midwest US this past month or two. Unfortunately, there is more  on the way. I saw references to elephants aiding the cleanup in Joplin, MS and didn't believe it. I was wrong. These elephants are from a circus that was scheduled to perform in the arena in Joplin.

Looking for ways to help?

Donate at:

http://bit.ly/redcrossUSA
or
http://bit.ly/allhandsrelief

How much can I fit in 20KG of luggage?

So, this year's adventure will be a month abroad. I will be spending half of my time in the cold of Iceland and the other half in the unrelenting heat of southern and central Europe. Packing has become quite the challenge especially considering my native Florida heat loving roots. I know how to deal with humid and oppressive heat, it's the cold that's killing my attempts at packing light!

So far, I've picked up very little new clothes and more new "things" from amazon.com. I pieced together a warm weather wardrobe, now I just have to get it all in my pack under 20kg.

So tell me fellow travelers: What is your one absolutely necessary pack item?

Delta Charlie, Y'all

I spent the last week in Washington, DC. I'm pretty sure I caught the corruption cooties just being there.

I've been meaning to get back there since I visited in fifth grade as a member of the safety patrols. It was totally worth the return.

Sausage Factory! Too bad it's made of reclaimed pig hooves.

I stayed in the Sheraton Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. The location couldn't have been more perfect. Staying outside the District was the absolute best choice. I was steps from the metro and a twenty minute ride from the Smithsonian stop.

I didn't test out the nightlife this time around, but I made the political science geek dance for glee. I got my nerd on at all of the monuments I could find and stopped by my congressman's office to grab a Gallery pass for the House of Representatives. I highly recommend getting both a House and Senate gallery pass. It's pretty amazing to see where all the sausage is made.

I checked out every single one of the Smithsonian museums and starred longingly at Dorthy's ruby red slippers at the American History Museum. A few other tourists I ran into told me it would take more days then I had to go through all of them. Definitely not the case. I made it through the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum in about eight hours. If you have young kids, though, I could easily see them spending a whole day just in the Natural History Museum.

Out of all of the traditional tourist places, though, I enjoyed the memorials the most. The somber nature of some them and the absolute size of others was breathtaking.

WWII Memorial, Washington, DC

All of the memorials around DC are breathtaking in size and meaning, but there is one that is ascetically superior. The Korean War memorial. For a "police action", and therefore not internationally defined as a proper war, the memorial is, I believe, the most artistically gifted memorial in all of Washington, DC.

Unlike the Vietnam Wall, or the WWII memorial, this monument is not all clean lines and names. Instead, the focal point of the memorial is the statues marching across the green-space. There are no names on the wall of the memorial, just images of those who served and lost their lives.

Very few people in this country appreciate the significance of Washington, DC. The city may be filled with lobbyists and politicians so skewed that they walk crooked, but the true beauty of The District is in the eternal and unmoving monuments to the sacrifices and triumphs of this country.

What is the most personally significant monument in your country?

Change of plans. Don't worry, I won't end up in Thailand.

So the whole Haiti thing with All Hands is officially a no go. While I'm disappointed I can't regret the outcome. It was something that, while I truly desire to help, I was having second thoughts from the moment I sent off my application.

In consolation, I'm headed to Iceland (and other places in Europe)! I'm going over via Volunteers for Peace. So far, the plan is Iceland from the 12 June until 28 or 29 June. Then, provided I don't find someone to explore Iceland with, I'll head over the the mainland. I will officially be leaving via Berlin on 12 July.


I'm going to update my packing list as well as and some pictures when I finally get all of my newly ordered goodies from Amazon.com.

Kiva.org and Imperialist guilt

A while back, friend of mine reminded me about Kiva.org. She had been re-loaning her initial $25USD for the last year to the micro-finance site's beneficiaries. I talked about it in the past with her but nothing ever came of it.

When I started my new job this year, I suddenly found myself with a steady and liveable income coming in. I remembered our conversation and decided that twenty five dollars was half of what I spend to drink coffee a week. I logged on, picked a micro-finance beneficiary, and donated.

Kiva states very plainly on their site that there is always the risk of default on these loans. I donated and never expected it to be repaid. If it was, great! I'd re-loan without another thought. If not, there was no issue.

So far, my initial loan is almost 75% repaid. Not bad for something I expected to default within the first repayment period. I'll definitely reinvest

What is your favorite charity to which you donate either time or money?

Russia and other funny places

Red Square. The week leading up to VE, Victory Day.

Unknown to me, the summer of 2007 set up one of my long term recurring goals. After spending eight weeks in the Mother Russia, I made a deal with myself that I would try and take an international trip at least once a year. So far, the only year I haven't breached the borders of the US was 2009.

My first "real" international excursion, Russia, opened my eyes to how very little I knew about myself. I learned that, yes, I do love pepper and I will spend any amount of money to use something other than salt to season my food.

I can't believe we didn't break anything!

We spent most of our time in good old Moscow (hitching rides and bargaining cabbies down til they cried) with random side trips to places like Vladamir and Suzdal. We spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at the crystal collection in Vladamir which was actually not a complete waste of time.

My favorite part of the whole trip, though, has to be the week we spend in Siberia! We stayed in a touristy yurt camp on Olhon Island in the middle of Lake Baikal. I not only learned that it's flipping cold in Southern Siberia in July, but that a fox head bracelet makes for a very stylistic conversation piece. (Disclaimer: It was on the other guy's wrist. I'm pretty sure it was stuffed a bit before I got there). On the bright side, I officially learned how to build a fire from scratch because I didn't feel like crawling across camp at 0300 to wake our lovely hosts in 20 degree weather.

Mother Russia, thank you for creating this monster of a traveler. My bank account might not appreciate it, but I sure do.

This is not a travel blog

So, I've been tinkering around with the idea of completely forgetting that I set this thing up to record my rather mundane travels. I never expect this thing to actually see the light of day outside of keeping myself connected with family and friends.

I'm planning on throwing some old travel photos and logs on here just for my own little self.

Also see: procrastination.