Jacqueline and I are traveling through Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama for a few weeks. You can catch our updates at our Tumblr!
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World Travel Gear part II – Electronics
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I find it hard to imagine travelling without all my toys. All the surprises would be lovely, but so is being sure the driver is actually taking you to your hotel…
This is the second part of my Gear post. You can read the first part here.
Electronics on the road
Ahh, electronics for travel. It’s a very nice contradiction. You leave to get away from it all, but you bring your electronics to stay in touch, or make your frenemies jealous when you return. If you’re like me, you want to make photos, triage them, book hotels, create blogposts, navigate and a whole lot more. We used the following stuff.
Camera: Sony DSC-RX100 (three versions by now)
In short: the best camera that you can fit in your jeans pocket. A sensor that’s a lot bigger than those in other cameras makes everything better. Combine it with a f:1.8 wide-angle lens and low light photography, depth of field and dynamic range become best in class. If the best camera is the one you have with you, I’ll happily bring this one. By the way, The Wirecutter agrees with me:
If I could have any point-and-shoot camera under a grand, the one I’d get is the Sony DSC-RX100 II. It’s $750, which puts it in the price range of cheap DSLRs, but make no mistake—this is the best pocketable camera out there for less than $1,000 thanks to its large sensor, fast lens and small size.
There are three versions, all great. Get the one you can afford.
Gorillapod
If you bring a small camera, you can also bring a smaller tripod. We haven’t used our gorilla pod often, but when we did it was super nice for selfies and night photography.
Phones and Pads
We’re a pretty Apple-centric household (because of me). We brought our iPhones for navigation, reading, music and hotel booking. The iPad mini got used for triaging photos, reading and exploring TripAdvisor. Which brings me to apps. We couldn’t do without:
- Content creation
- Exploring
- TripAdvisor: Making sure we book your trip at the right place.
- Foursquare: What to eat, what to drink?
- Forevermap: Got us home…
- Booking
- Agoda Best prices, but you pay in advance.
- Booking.com (and their Tonight app for discounts):
- Air Asia, Nok Air, etc.:Flights!
- Communication
- Messages
- iTranslate
- Entertainment
- DS File: Yes, we downloaded complete movies…
- Spotify: Mister music, will you play?
- Pocket Casts: News and entertainment for me.
- Reeder: This has to be the most used app on my phone.
- Information
It’s surprising how little we used things like Nu.nl and the various weather apps. Usually you’ll deal with the weather when it gets to you…
Sometimes we put the phones into a waterproof case by Lifeproof. The Frē model for the iPhone 5 sucks! It has a vanity window at the back so you can see the Apple logo. After a month, this had fallen out, so no more waterproof joy for me. The version for the 4(s) is fine.
Toothbrush
Yes, we brought an electric toothbrush (actually, we brought two!). It will be hard to brush three times a day, so you might as well do a good job of it. It’s a shame all electric toothbrushes are so terribly designed, but that’s a different rant (watch this space).
Charging
All Those electronics need a steady stream of electrons to keep them going. That’s why we bought the ‘mother of all chargers’. This is a USB charger with 6(!) ports. Have you got an iDevice with a Lightning port? This device will make your touchscreen feel adventurous, since it becomes wildly inaccurate. Still, it’s a lot better than bringing six chargers… And you can share with fellow travellers!
We also brought a world plug and a triple plug plug of course.
Would we bring it all again? I would, although I’m not sure about Jacqueline…
Have you read read the first part of this blogpost?
World Travel Gear part I – Bags, Clothes and stuff
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Before we left for our world trip, I was planning a post titled: “Ik ga op reis en neem mee” (Dutch for “You go on a trip and you take, a well known cargame). Of course that never finished due to us actually leaving for Asia. However, here we go with much more meaningful information. If you ever find yourself travelling in Asia for a long time, I hope you will (not) bring the following items…
Trusty companion 
Shoes! 
Small pack 
Medium pack 
Big bag 
Charge all the things
Packs
Travelling without a bag is like drinking without a cup. Difficult. That’s why Jacqueline and I planned a packing strategy.
‘Backpacks’
Most of you know that I’ve had some back troubles. That’s why Jacqueline and I both bought a rolling bag that can be transformed into a backpack. We both bought an Osprey Sojourn bag. The 60 L version gives you is spacious, very sturdy and utterly practical. However, in Asia, there is one superfluous function. The backpack system. I have not used it once in our 24 weeks of travel. Jacqueline used it once… Mind you, I’m not saying you can use any old rolling suitcase. Ours have more ground clearance and big sturdy wheels. They’re like Range Rovers without engines! Now I can hear you asking: “I don’t see any rolling suitcases on all those hiking pictures you’ve shown me!” Well, it turns out that you don’t bring your big bags on those hikes. Your operator will arrange for them to make the trip on your own. Instead you use your…
Daypacks
Another place where our packing strategy came in handy is the daypack situation. We brought a small one (10L) to use for small trips or for me on the hikes and a North Face Casimir 32L (Thanks Charly!) for full days together or for Jacqueline to carry during the hikes. Lastly you should put your stuff in small bags and not buy these at Xenos, because those will disintegrate in front of your face… We also brought two Camelbaks. They’re water bladders you put in your daypack. A great way to keep hydrated during the day without the sloshing of a bottle.
Clothing
Clothes are quite easy, if you’re a dude. Just pack for a week and don’t bring a lot of t-shirts. You can buy those cheap everywhere. If you’re a girl, it gets complicated quickly.;-) Ask Jacqueline. Washing clothes is so cheap I’d travel again just to not have to do it myself!
Footwear
We bought so called ‘trailrunning shoes’. These are lightweight, quick-drying and have some support and a very grippy outsole. Not for real backpacking, but they turned out to be perfect for the hikes we made. Jacqueline says she has never had shoes that were this comfortable. As for flipflops/sandals, she brought Birkenstocks and I brought sandals. The Birkenstocks lasted three times as long as my Teva / Merrell sandals did (I broke two pairs before we even got to Africa). YMMV.
Eyewear
We both have a prescription, so we brought lenses, glasses and sunglasses.
Lenses
Bring daily lenses if you use them. No cleaning, no problem when (not if) they get irritated after snorkling, and no fluid to take with you. I know it’s not the most environmentally friendly option. 🙁
Prescription Glasses
For the days when you can’t get out of bed, or are in a city that is really to dusty for living (I’m looking at you, Mandalay). We both have glasses that darken in the sun. This saves you bringing an extra pair.
Sunglasses
Buy some cheap ones for your hikes/swimming!
Miscellaneous
A.K.A. How to fill the rest of your bag. 🙂
Hooks
When we were doing our shopping at the Bever store in Houten, we asked the sales girl whether we had missed anything. She told us to abolutely bring some hooks with a suction cup. We’re glad we did. No matter how dirty the bathroom, we could always hang our toiletry bags.
Leatherman/multitool
Of course you need a multitool (unless you’re going to travel without checking any bags, then you would have to buy a new one after every flight). We got a Leatherman Sidekick. It’s a cheaper model and has pliers with a spring action. It was very useful when we came across a Myanmar family with scooter trouble. I handed the father my tool and after a minute the family of four (!) was on the move on their bike. Of course, the most important tool is on the accessory they give you…
Sleeping bag
No, you don’t need a traditional sleeping bag in Asia. However, a sheet that’s sewn into a bag is perfect for nights in ‘not pristine’ hotels.
First aid kit
Bring one. Also bring the spray on plaster. Very useful in the dusty surroundings.
What we missed
Looking back we’re quite happy with what we did and did not bring. The one thing we would bring next time: a UV based water cleaner like the Steripen. We bought a lot of water bottles, which is a shame considering this option. We had just never heard of it before.
That’s part one of our gear post. Can you guess what the next one will focus on? Read it here!
