What's in my Pack

Trying to figure out what items are essential for an extended bit of travel can be a very daunting task. After many months of accumulating things, I finally got my bags packed. I did a practice run over the weekend to see if I could fit everything into my packs and to also see how light I would be traveling. The results were around what I had expected.

My Main Bag: Eagle Creek Meridian 50 liter -- 23.6 lbs


My Daypack/Camera Bag: PacSafe Daysafe 100 -- 24.2 lbs


My main bag will be carrying all of the following, which fits nicely into three packing cubes, making it a chester drawer type set-up that can easily be pulled in and out when items are needed.


My Main Bag List:

Clothes


-2 pair convertible pants (ex-officio)
-3 Sportif Valhalla Shirts (I liked the shirt so much, I got three of the same in different colors)
-1 Oobe Expedition Long-Sleeve Shirt
-1 t-shirt (old and comfortable -- I found it on the street during college)
-2 pair low-cut SmartWool socks
-1 pair regular SmartWool socks
-4 pair quick drying underwear (ex-officio)
-Swim trunks
-Fleece
-Rain jacket/Wind Breaker
-4 bandannas
-Belt (it has a hidden zipper on the inside to stash money in)

Footwear

-Merrell Chameleon II Stretch Shoes

-Merrell Outback Sandals


Guidebooks

-Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring
-Trailblazer Southeast Asia : The Graphic Guide

Eating/Sleeping

-Inflatable neck pillow
-Sleeping mask
-Earplugs w/ case
-Lightweight silk travel sheet
-Rubber door stop/wedge (helps keep unwanted people out)
-Coleman Spoon, Knife & Fork Combo Utensil (looks like a swiss army knife)

Toiletry/Laundry

-Soap
-Shampoo
-Deodorant
-Lotion
-Face Wash
-Mouth Wash
-Toothbrush
-Waxed Floss (serves many purposes)
-Chap stick with SPF
-Razor
-Q-tips
-Anti-bacterial wipes
-Hand Sanitizer
-Small Travel Towel
-Toilet Paper
-Mesh Laundry Bag
-Universal Drain Plug
-Clothesline
-Fingernail Clippers
-Woolite Detergent (small sample pack)
-Tweezers

Health

-Antibiotics
-Multivitamins
-Sunscreen
-Mosquito Repellent with lots of Deet
-Liquid Skin(Band aides)
-Antihistamine
-Cold Tablets
-Imodium
-Prescriptions with copies
-Laxative
-Neosporin
-Probiotics
-Hydrocortisone Cream
-Pain Reliever/Aleve
-Dramamine (Motion Sickness)
-Throat Lozenges

Miscellaneous Items


-Duct Tape (wrapped around a Sharpie)
-Electrical Tape (wrapped around a Sharpie)
-Rain Cover for Packs
-Cards
-Hacky Sack
-Clif Bars
-Sharpie
-Journal
-Pens
-Sewing Kit
-Superglue
-Candle
-Safety pins
-Rubber bands
-Lighter
-Lots of different sized Ziploc Bags
-Twist Ties
-Zip Ties
-Cheap Poncho
-Combination Locks
-Carabiner (Climbing Clips)
-Electrical Splitter

Money Belt Items


-Passport
-International Driving Permit
-Immunization Records/Proof of Vaccination
-Emergency Contact Numbers
-Extra Passport Photos for Visas along the way
-Credit and ATM Cards
-Drivers License
-Business Cards
-Cash/Emergency Funds
-Old Student ID Card
-Photocopies of important documents
-Plane Tickets



My Daypack/Camera Bag will be carrying the following items while traveling. I plan to reallocate some stuff when I get to each destination to make it lighter.


Electronics


-13.3" MacBook Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz (2GB of RAM, 80GB Hard drive)
-Rhinoskin MacBook Hard Case
-80GB iPod Video (also used for extra storage of photos)
-Collapsible headset w/ microphone for Skype
-Corsair 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (it has Potable Apps installed on it... Highly recommended)
-150 Country Auto-Detecting Travel Adapter and Converter
-Motorola V557 Quad-band Cellphone w/ Explorer SIM card
-Princeton Aurora Headlamp
-Targus Retractable Mouse
-Dane-Elec USB 2.0 Card Reader
-Small Ethernet cable

Camera Gear/Accessories


-Canon EOS 20D
-Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS
-Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM
-Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
-Tamron Di II SP AF 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 LD
-2 Canon BP511A Lithium Ion Rechargeable Batteries
-Canon CG-580 Battery Charger
-Promaster Lens Pouches (1-small, 2-medium, 1-large)
-Giottos AA1900 Large Rocket Blaster (for cleaning the sensor)
-Lenspen Sensor Klear (for cleaning the sensor)
-Kenko UV Guard Filters (58mm, 58mm, 72mm, 77mm)
-Kalt Snap-in Lens Caps (58mm, 58mm, 72mm, 77mm)
-Sandisk 4GB Extreme III CF Card
-Hitachi 6GB Micro Drive
-Fuji FinePix F10 (point-and-shoot camera)
-Olympus M1Gig xD Memory Card

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What should you pack in your travel bag? Clothes, first aid and of course a comfortable pair of sport shoes! You can find a great selection of shoes online, including dress shoes, hiking shoes and even Rocket Dog shoes.

On the Road

Staying in Touch

With the Internet and Internet Cafes being widely available anywhere in the world these days, there are many different options to staying connected with friends and family while abroad.


1) Email allows you to easily send and receive messages while away. I personally use Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail.

2) Blogs, like this one, let people stay connected by posting an online diary of sorts to let everyone know what's going on and what they're missing. The comment feature allows the readers to leave words of encouragement to get us, the bloggers, past those inevitable days of loneliness. **So remember to comment family members and let me know you're out there**

3) Skype: This is a great service that allows you to call other Skype members from anywhere in the world for free. (When talking from computer to computer)

All you have to do is sign up and share your username with friends and family. It's only 2 cents/min. to call from anywhere in the world (on your computer) to the United States (to a person's cell phone or land line.) When calling computer to computer, it's best to use a headset with a microphone and possibly a web cam if you want to see live video of the person you're talking to.

4) Cell Phone: I'm bringing an unlocked, quad band phone to have in case of emergencies. I found a cheap Motorola V557 on eBay. I bought the Explorer SIM Card through telestial.com because it will allow me to get coverage in all countries. The above website has a good tutorial about traveling with a phone and what to look for when purchasing one.

5) Pay Phones: They may be a thing of the past but they still allow you to communicate when in a pinch.

Where to Stay


I will be staying predominately in hostels or guest houses, depending on what part of the world I'm in. I'm also a member of couchsurfing which I hope to use at times throughout my trip. "Couchsurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit." Check it out if your not already a member.

Transport


Since I don't know where I'll end up, I'm sure to encounter many forms of transportation to help me along my journey. Some of these may include aircraft, bicycle rickshaws, bicycles, buses, camel, canoes, cars, cruise ship, elephants, ferries, horses, jeepneys, minibuses, motorcycles, walking or hitchhiking, overland trucks, kayaks, subways, taxis, trains, tuk-tuks, and water taxis. I'm sure there are many more clever ways to travel, but this covers your more common modes of transportation.

Laundry


This is an inevitable part of traveling and I hope to make it as simple as possible. I bought a universal sink stopper, basically a thin piece if rubber, to help make my job easier. I have some liquid Woolite detergent and I plan on plugging the sink and learning the art of 'hand-washing clothes.' I am also bringing a nylon cord to tie up to toss my newly cleaned clothes over to dry. When buying my clothes, I took into account how fast things dried. You will be able to find what clothes I finally settled on in the 'What's in my Bag' section.

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It can be expensive to stay in touch with friends while traveling, but luckily international cell phones are a great option. With a cell phone rental, you can stay connected with family and friends back home while avoiding those roaming charges. Look into a satellite phone rental before you travel abroad.

Preparations

Initial Preparations

First off, I should tell you that I had been planning a trip that entailed traveling to each state, staying for exactly one week, and documenting as much of it as I could with the help of photographs and video. I had been saving for this trip for a long time.


It wasn't until around 8 months ago I stumbled upon a post on a travel site that would for ever change my thinking of long-term travel. I, like so many, thought it would be extremely expensive to gallivant around the world. Little did I know, many were doing it on as little as $10,000. A light went on in my head and I haven't looked back since.


I decided that I can travel across the United States when I'm older and own an RV. Now that I knew it was possible.... I wanted to see the world! My eyes were opened wide and I was like a kid in a candy store. I started searching for as many travel sites as possible. I spent hours on them reading about tips, tricks and all the ins and outs that people have learned along the way. It was an addiction.


Some of my favorite sites that helped me the most were Travelblog, Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Forum, Boots'n'all, Travel Independent and Travellerspoint. There is such a wealth of good information on these sites and they are constantly being updated with user question and answers. Many of these sites also link to user blogs so you can follow like-minded people, as they wander from place to place, all from the comforts of your home... an 'Armchair Traveler' of sorts. Very helpful and fun if your planning an exotic vacation or trekking across the globe.


Along with travel sites, I also went to bookstores and read about various places that I found interesting. This led me to buy a couple of great books. The first was a 'how-to' book called 'First-Time Around the World' by Doug Lansky. The second book was a very inspirational, yet equally informative book called 'Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel' by Rolf Potts. I recommend them both for anyone planning any sort of travel.


Finances on the Road

Many people wonder how you carry all that money with you while traveling from country to country, not to mention all the different currencies you will encounter on your journey.

After getting my first experience with this conundrum in Europe, I learned that first, you have to be flexible because nothing runs as smoothly as planned and second, there isn't a perfect method.

What I found out is that while traveling overseas banks love to charge you fees. My bank, Wells Fargo, charges $5.00 for each ATM withdrawal and a 3% conversion fee. Now that can add up over the course of a year. I was fortunate enough to qualify for a PMA Account which waves all ATM fees in the US and abroad. This still didn't help with the brutal 3% conversion fee so I researched some more until I found a solution.


And that solution was a Capital One Money Market account. I'm keeping my Wells Fargo account as my 'home-base' and my Money Market account as my secondary one. With the Capital One Money Market account I'm not charged ATM withdrawal fees, no conversion fees, and my money gains 5% interest while it waits to be spent. Not a bad deal.

I'm also bringing along two Capital One credit cards-- One Visa, One Mastercard. It's always nice to have one of each in case one isn't accepted.


I will be carrying a few 'new' one hundred dollar bills (they get the best exchange rate) for emergencies along with some traveler's checks (between 2 and 3 hundred dollars). I will also be carrying some smaller denominations of bills and stashing them throughout my two bags.

As I was writing this, I was asked " Why do you want to carry any Traveler's Checks, they're hardly accepted anywhere." My response-"I'm carrying them as an absolute last resort and I like the fact that they are 100% refundable. I plan on stashing them at the bottom of my bag and only using them if all other methods have failed."

If you want to know any more tips and info about carrying money abroad, you can always e-mail me and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions. I could go on and on about this but you would get bored and I would get tired and nobody wants that.
~robalrson2 (at) gmail (dot) com

Visas

Visas are "an official authorization appended to a passport, permitting entry into and travel within a particular country or region." Most visas can be attained on arrival. Others you have to apply for before entering the country.

My first stop, Indonesia, has a 30 day visa on arrival policy. With Indonesia being so large I opted for the more difficult 60 day visa. I only say difficult because you have to contact the Indonesian Embassy in Chicago and send them a bunch of forms along with your passport and a money order. Once I got that all straightened out it went pretty smoothly. I sent it off and received it back a week later. Pretty slick.


Health

When planning my trip, I went to the CDC website and they provided a list of what vaccines I needed to keep me healthy and happy. I got my first jabs (Hepatitis A & B and a Tetanus Shot) at the local County Health Department in town. They are much cheaper than your typical clinic. For my other shots (Yellow Fever, Typhoid and a Polio Booster) I went to a travel clinic in a nearby town.

I opted out of the Japanese Encephalitis and Rabies vaccine for two reasons. 1) Japanese Encephalitis has some nasty side-effects and 2) they are both very costly. I'm hoping this doesn't come back to haunt me in the future. The likelihood of getting either is very slim... your chances of getting in a traffic accident are much higher.


I also got prescriptions for Anti-Malarias, Traveler's Diarrhea, and Motion Sickness Patches. I was fortunate to have good insurance that covered most of these expenses (shots included). Thanks Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

To make sure my body gets all the nutrients it needs, I'm taking along One-A-Day Men's Multivitamins. I will also be taking probiotics to help keep my digestive system in proper order. It might take awhile for my body to get accustomed to the food so these two supplements are sure to keep me healthy and fit.

While I'm abroad, I decided to get Traveler's Insurance to cover both my health and my possessions. I opted for World Nomads because they had a policy tailored for backpackers. Hopefully I will never have to use them, but for a small price it's well worth it.


Driving



Many people ask me how I will get from place to place. One of the ways will be driving. In order to do this legally in most countries you need an International Driving Permit. What this does essentially is translate your current Driver's License into one that can be interpreted in most countries. It only cost me $15 and you can get them at your local AAA store.

Scanning Your Documents

As Rob has mentioned in the comments section, It's a great idea to scan all important documents that you will be taking with you. That way, your just a computer away from getting any important information you may need. When I first traveled to Europe, we photocopied everything and kept the copies in a ziplock bag in case we lost something. The 'Digital Age' has made our lives much simpler in a lot of ways. It still doesn't hurt to go the old-fashioned route and make a set of copies to have in your bag or to leave at home. It's never a bad thing to have too many options.

About the Trip

My Plan

The plan is to leave September 4th and arrive in Bali, Indonesia on September 6th. I'm flying from Minneapolis, MN to Denver, CO to San Fransisco, CA to Taipei, Taiwan and finally to Bali, Indonesia. It will take me 30 hrs of travel and a sore tush to arrive at my final destination... that's if everything goes as planned and we all know that never happens.


View Larger Map

(If you click on the 'View Larger Map' and scroll down, you can actually see the airstrip I'll be landing on .)

I will be flying with Frontier Airlines on the first two legs of my journey and China Airlines will be carrying me over the Pacific for the the last two legs. I requested an aisle seat so I'm almost guaranteed I'll get stuck in the middle. I love how airlines work.

Once I get to Bali I'll probably hang around the island until I get acclimated to the surroundings and the god awful humidity this beautiful place is cursed with. From there my only other plan is to be in Medan, Indonesia on November 2nd to catch a flight out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before my 60 day visa runs out.


The only reason I booked my flight to Malaysia is to provide 'Proof of Onward Travel.' Since I bought a one-way ticket to Indonesia I felt I should be on the safe side and have this ticket as a security blanket so they won't send me packing back to America. Plus, it only cost me $32 through Air Asia. That's a cheap price to pay for a little peace of mind.

The rest of the trip is up in the air. I plan to go and do whatever feels right at the time. If I meet some fun people and they are heading to the Philippines to do some diving... Count me in if it feels right. That's my approach to this whole trip. I wanted to have as much flexibility as possible which led me to the decision of buying one-way tickets versus the typical 'Round the World' ticket so many people buy.


The trip is sort of a stepping stone (testing the water) to see if I like the lifestyle of long-term travel. If that's my calling, then I plan to do everything in my power to keep it going. I don't want this to be a one year gap thing that I do just to say I did it . I'm hoping it's something I can make a little cash at to prolong it until I feel it's time to settle down. I'm sure I'll be in and out of the US... but then again who knows. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I could be gone 2 weeks or 2 years and I may stay continuously overseas or I may travel back to the US to refuel before my next adventure. I just don't know. I guess we will find out in the months to come.


That's the little bit of the plan that I know. Stop back to watch how the rest unfolds.

Why did I chose this location?

I chose Southeast Asia and more specifically Indonesia because of the diverse landscape and culture this area of the world offers. Steaming volcanoes, pristine beaches, ancient ruins, and remote jungles are just a few of the highlights boasted by the largest archipelago in the world.

Southeast Asia seemed like a good starting point because it had a fairly decent traveling structure already in place. I wanted to go somewhere that wasn't intimating to me, deep with culture and history and also wasn't too hard on the budget. When I added all of these things together along with a list of some other considerations, Southeast Asia was the obvious choice.

About Me

My name is Rob Larson. I was born and raised in the small town of Grafton, North Dakota. It has a population of 4,500 people (large by North Dakota standards) and is located on the north eastern tip of the state about 30 minutes from the Canadian border. --It gets cold here. I have a very loving mom and dad, older brother and younger sister... That's right I'm the 'middle child.' Now I know what you're thinking and you're right... It's tough being the middle child and yes I turned out alright. Just keep reading and you'll find out.

Here's a couple of recent photos of my family: Steve & Linda (Parents), Tony (Older Brother on left), April (Sister-in-Law on bottom left), Abby (Younger Sister on bottom right) and Rob (that's me in the glasses)


This is one of the last times the whole group will be together. I'm leaving September 4th for Indonesia, my sister is leaving September 17th for Logrono, Spain and my brother and sister-in-law have their eyes on Boulder, Colorado.



Like my profile says, I got the travel bug at an early age. My parents wanted their children to see all 50 states by the time they graduated high school. Each summer we would travel cross-country and see what each state had to offer. Needless to say, at the time it was tough to give up your summer vacations with your friends but it turned out to be a wonderful learning experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Thanks Mom & Dad!

After my freshman year in college (1999), I was fortunate enough to be able to travel with my brother to Europe to photograph it. We photographed 14 countries (we were using film back then) and have many fond memories of our journey. I went back a second time with a girl I met in the Swiss Alps and we wandered around Portugal, Spain, and Northern Africa. That was also a very interesting and different type of trip.

Here are some random photos from our Europe trip. Pardon the yellow hair (I was called 'sick-boy' from the movie Trainspotting the entire trip)


It's been awhile since I've done any sort of extensive travel but this September I embark on a world tour starting with South East Asia. I plan to document everything for a series I'm doing entitled 'Through the Eyes of...'

My Background

After high school, I attended the University of North Dakota and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, so after college, degree in hand, I followed my older brother into his profession and got a job in the financial industry. I moved to St. Louis, MO and accepted a job with Edward Jones. I absolutely hated it. Finances weren't my thing. I quit after 6 months and moved to Minneapolis, MN.

I stayed there for awhile sleeping on my brother's couch until he finally gave me a job as his assistant. (A sort of made-up job to keep me busy) I was basically a glorified secretary. Thanks for the job Tony.

After 4 months on the job I was once again unemployed when my brother accepted a new position with another company. This going to college and getting a job thing wasn't working out too hot for me.

During this 10 month ordeal of moving from city to city, I decided to move back to Grafton (my hometown) and help build my parent's home which had been ravished by fire just month's previous.

So here I was, 23 years old and back living with the folks in a rented home while building their new/old home. Life seemed pretty foreign to me at the time but I just learned to roll with the punches.

I finished building their home and a year later I was back living in Minneapolis with three other guys in a run down house on Lake Calhoun. I found a job delivering supplies to various companies around the Twin Cities. I enjoyed the freedom of being on the road, but the hours got to me after awhile. Waking up at 3:00 am and taking 8 shots of espresso before hopping into the shower somehow didn't feel like a healthy lifestyle choice and I soon grew old of this job too.

After many months of being unemployed, I had finally found my calling in life... to sell Real Estate. I enrolled in a month long college-like course through Prosource. I drove to class everyday and sat in a classroom for 8 hours and learned the ins and outs of Real Estate. It was like being in high school all over again but I actually enjoyed what I was learning.

I went on to take and pass my Minnesota State Realtor's Exam. I was now cruising in life. I had a new focus and I was ready to be the next Trump. There was only one problem. After my first interview with Coldwell Banker, I was enlightened to the fact that most Realtors starting out had a nest egg of around 6 months income because that was the unofficial time it took to sell your first home. Uh, Oh.... what to do now. I was dead broke.

Now I'll give you a little background on my parents before I go on with this long, drawn out story. My parents had been in the photography industry for the past 23 years and not much had changed during this span. That was until 'Digital' came along. If you haven't noticed the older generation doesn't adapt as well to technological change as the younger generation. That is were I fit in.

So I was off to Grafton once again (sorry Otis... cats don't like change too much either) to save my parents and build my six month nest egg that I so badly needed.

I worked with my dad all through high school so I knew a thing or two about the business. What I didn't know was how much I really enjoyed photography and everything that went with it. This whole time I had been looking for my calling in life and all the while it was here right in front of me. It's in the blood I thought, and I've been here ever since working in the family business. My time spent in Grafton has been a fun growing experience but now it's time for me to branch out once again and see what this great big world has to offer. I'll be armed with a camera, computer and a backpack and I hope to see the real side of things.

That's my story, I may update it or I may not, but at least you know a little bit about me and my past and if you follow along you will surely know where the future takes me. Hop on board and follow roamingrob.com while I trek across this great planet of ours.

Cheers,

Rob

Meet Otis