Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
Wondering how to plan your fun as a digital nomad? We have a simple but effective approach. Hint: it starts with a pen and piece of paper. That’s right. We recommend you go old school here and write down your list of things to see …
We’ve recently written posts about how to pack for trips to cold and medium climates. To round out the advice, this post will be how to pack for packing advice for hot climates. This might seem strange considering it is mid-January, but last year at …
A few weeks ago, we wrote about packing for cold weather destinations. We thought we’d continue along those lines and write about packing for other climates, so this post will be number two of the series and discuss packing advice for Medium Climates.
Following Goldilocks’ guidance, you are traveling to a place that isn’t too hot and isn’t too cold, it is just right. You’d think that it would be easy to pack for the ideal temperature, right? Well, not so fast. It turns out packing for medium climates can be the most challenging packing of the three. Why? Because medium places tend to be cold in the morning and then warm to that perfect temperature. At night, temperatures can drop down quite a bit, so your t-shirt just won’t cut it when the sun goes down.
And just when you think you’ve got it nailed, Mother Nature steps in and throws an unseasonably cold/warm curve ball your way, right when you are on your trip. Last October when B and I ventured to the Azores Islands, it was supposed to be in the 60s. Turns out it was much warmer than that so we had to adjust our outfits mid-trip. Using that week long trip as model, here is what we packed and will serve you well for a week in a medium climate.
The key to medium-climate packing is adaptability.
We knew hiking was going to be one of our main activities in the Azores, so we both packed a trusty pair of hiking sandals. Chacos have officially hit the mainstream (sadly, at the expense of quality…but that’s another story), but they do a very good job of combining grip and traction with a cool sandal. Cool as in not hot.
I like to mix up sandal days/non-sandal days, so I added a pair of cross trainer hikers also. There are a lot of good quality brands that offer great stability and traction without the bulk of full on hiking boots. My favorite brand is Vasque, but I am currently rocking a pair of Patagonias. These type of shoes are meant to be less rigid than a hiking boot, but it is still a good idea to break them in before you leave on your trip. Before we left, I purchased a pair of Ahnus that I thought would be good because they were waterproof. When I took them on an inaugural walk, I realized I wasn’t going to have enough time to break them in fully, so they didn’t make the bag to the Azores.
For a week-long trip you only really need three or four bottoms that you can rotate through. I like variety, so I opted for a skirt, a pair of pants I could roll up if I got hot, and a pair of shorts. Material and color are important when you are only bringing along a few items, so make sure the material is good quality and won’t start to smell and will repel dirt and stains. Lighter colors can show dirt easier, so it is safest to stick to a darker palette.
Four tops should do you on a weeklong trip. Since it isn’t going to be terribly hot, you won’t need tank tops so you can stick to four short sleeved shirts. You’ll want to pack a long sleeve for those morning hikes or evening strolls along the beach and to round things out, make sure to bring a sweatshirt or warmer long sleeved shirt in case it gets really cold. Material is especially important when it comes to tops because they have to live right next to our armpits and come away unscathed.
If you don’t feel like bringing along four shirts, you can cut this down and wash along the way. B had to use this method as she had packed for a cooler climate than what we experienced in the Azores. This wasn’t really a big deal though, because her shirts were made of quick drying material that held their shape when washed in a sink and air dried overnight. We’ve said this before, but the return on investment really is worth it to buy high quality and pricier pieces.
Part of the appeal of traveling to a place that doesn’t get cold is that you don’t have to pack a lot of outerwear. For the Azores, we left our parkas at home and instead brought light jackets and rain jackets. We also brought along rain pants, but luckily we didn’t have to bust these out and they stayed scrunched up in the bottom of our bags.
Traveling to medium climates is great! You won’t sweat or freeze and if you bring a nice mix of adaptable clothing you will be well-suited for whatever weather craziness happens.
I know not everyone loves winter or winter travel, but there are so many great winter activities! If you throw a little travel into the mix, you have got yourself one hell of a good time. You may choose to travel to a particular destination …
This week we are excited to have a guest author, my friend from grad school, Genevieve Brown. Like us, Genevieve enjoys traveling. Unlike us, she sometimes travels with a side of volunteering. We asked her to tell us a little bit more about volunteering abroad, …
We’ve written about how B and I scored a great deal on a trip to Europe this Christmas. It’s going to be a fantastic winter trip…emphasis on winter. Since we will be taking a trip during cold weather, our packing list is going to be very different than what we packed for our trip to Australia during the heat of summer. This post will highlight some key pieces of clothing that will be important to pack for a week-long trip to a cold climate. *
*I’m not going to include incidentals like undies and pjs since you’ll have to bring that for every trip anyway and everyone has their own preference for how much to pack.
I really enjoy traveling during the winter months, probably because I like being cold more than I like being hot. Pros of this season of travel include wearing all your totes adorbs mittens, scarfs and hats; cons include trying to figure out how to get all of these bulky items in your small suitcase.
Since our upcoming trip is only one week long, I won’t need more than one pair of shoes. (B prefers to also pack a pair of comfy slip-ons for the plane.) Winter often brings wet weather, so you’ll need something waterproof on your feet. They’ll also need to be warm. For a one-week trip, a good option for footwear is a pair of tall boots. They’ll keep you warm and look cute while doing so.
Since you’ll be wearing one pair of boots and walking a lot of miles, you’ll need some good support. It is best to go with a well-broken-in pair from a reputable company. For our Christmas trip, I got a little excited and bought a pair of tall Sylva Merrells in March, which I then put under my bed and forgot about. It was fine until I bought a second pair and tried to return the first pair to a store where I didn’t purchase them (embarrassing much?). My second pair I purchased are Merrell Eventyr Cuff boots. I recently took a weekend trip to California and brought only these boots to help me kick start the wearing-in process. B’s pair of waterproof Teva Jade Cove boots have treated her right during several winter trips over the past five years. For this trip, she will be trying out the Keen Bern boots. A couple of test runs so far have been quit successful.
Here is a little review we put together about our tall boots:
Along with shoes, it is important to think about socks. Wool is our go-to. It’s warm, dries fast and keeps the stink away. You’ll want to pack two-three pairs. You might also want to pack a pair to wear at night.
If you alternate your bottoms, you can wear each item a few times. Even though it is winter, you still can wear skirts or a dress if you pair them with nice warm tights. For a week-long trip, three bottoms will do. B’s mom just made her a really cool reversible skirt so she can even narrow down packing to two items if she wants.
If it is going to be really cold where you are or if you just get cold easily, you’ll want to bring some long johns to go under your pants. Alternatively, you can wear lined pants. For a trip to Iceland, I purchased a pair of fleece-lined pants from Mountain Hardware that turned out to be a little slice of heaven. There seems to be two differing stances on whether or not you should pack jeans when you travel; if you decide to pack them for winter travel, some sort of liner or long underwear should also come along because jeans are rubbish in the cold weather.
If you think you’ll experience a lot of rain, it is a good idea to pack rain pants just in case. Very few things are as uncomfortable as being cold and wet. If your jeans get wet, the last thing you will want to do is put them back on. And it may take them a couple of days to dry out.
My favorite part about winter attire is all the wonderful sweaters and coats. For winter travel, you’ll definitely want to bring some sweaters. However, sweaters can be bulky so you’ll want to invest in high performance material, such as merino wool. This will keep you warm without overfilling your bag. Vests also make for a warm + cute choice. If you go with a down-filled vest, make sure it packs down. You don’t want your entire suitcase filled with one puffy vest! A fleece vest is also a good option.
For a week-long trip, three tops should do the trick. You can alternate with your bottoms and come up with new outfits.
You’ll need to bring a good coat, gloves, a scarf and a hat. For coats, you can go for one of two strategies: a thicker waterproof or wool coat, or a thinner coat with an additional rain jacket to go over the top. I’ve used both successfully and the main rationale for deciding what would be best for a particular trip is how much space you have. A puffer coat plus a rain jacket will generally take up less space than a full-on coat (plus you get two looks if the temperature happens to be more mild). For our Christmas trip, I found a new Lole waterproof coat that will be bulkier than the 1-2 combo. However, it is reversible so I’ll get two looks for the space of one. B is going with a long wool coat. Although it will be bulkier to pack, it will also be very warm.
For your winter accessories, you’ll want to make sure they are high performance. Cotton yarn scarves are cute, but if they get wet they’ll take a lot longer to dry than wool or fleece. Hats can be a challenge. A beanie is easy to pack and keeps your head warm, but they are not very cute. And cute hats are generally harder to pack. However, it’s a good idea to protect your head so you will want to pack something. B has an old standby–a gray hat that is easy to fold. She has messed with it so that she can attach different colored embellishments to it to spruce it up.
Packing for winter travel brings with it certain challenge. But following the guidance above will help you to bring the items you need and not bring too much other stuff, thus leaving more room in your bag for souvenirs. Naturally.
One of the biggest impediments to travel is cost. Even though B and I have talked about how we don’t spend as much as you would think on our trips, travel still costs more money than staying at home. One way to keep travel costs …
Planning a Bali spa day is something we highly recommend. However, there are some key things you should know, which we share below. Last week B’s friend K came into town and they had a great time catching up and comparing past travels and adventures. …
I have been thinking about bringing new life to old adventures lately. I do not enjoy doing the same things over and over again. That is why I always choose to go somewhere new instead of to the same vacation spot year after year. I know plenty of people who are perfectly content to return to the same city/island/country/beach/timeshare/etc. over and over again. That is great for them. However, that is not my style. If you are like me, and you enjoy discovering the new, then repeat adventures can sometimes get a little old.
This past weekend, I attended my 12th Braun Brother Reunion (a music festival in Challis, Idaho, that we refer to as BBR). It was the first time in 12 years that I was not looking forwarding to attending the event. In fact, R and I had decided that 2017 would be the “make it or break it” year for this particular festival.
For that reason, I treated this year a little differently than previous years. I am happy to report that I had an enjoyable time and I am planning to attend next year—a decision I made after trying out a new approach. If some of your adventures are feeling a little stale (like BBR was for me), perhaps a few of the ideas listed below will help bring new life to old adventures. If not, it might be time to find a new adventure.
First things first, you need to take a hard look at why you are doing something that may not bring you the joy it once did. Family obligation? Opinionated/overbearing friend? Habit? These may or may not be good enough reasons to continue. Only you can make that call.
When I sat back and really thought about why I go to BBR, several things immediately came to mind:
When viewed like that, I realized I would much rather spend three days in the mountains with friends, listening to music, than going to work. It is that simple.
Next came the not-so-simple part: finding a way to enjoy BBR again. Below are some suggestions, based on my experience this year, for breathing new life to old adventures.
Because I have been attending BBR for so many years, it is easy to focus on all of the negative changes and lament the loss of the “good old days.” An increase in size has led to some growing pains that include larger crowds, longer lines and much stricter rules. Given all of this, my old way of enjoying the festival is no longer possible. Therefore, it was time to find a new way to enjoy the festival.
This year, instead of arriving when the gates opened as we used to (and then getting angry that we missed the first band due to security’s inability to efficiently scan and get people into the venue), we simply hung around camp and arrived late. First, we made sure there were no early acts we wanted to see. By the time we arrived at the venue, the lines were gone and our wait to get in was minimal. Security was still inefficient and we missed out on some of the music, but we were more relaxed going in and less irritated at the situation.
It was refreshing to see what a different approach did for my attitude and my outlook. I would certainly recommend you try something new before you throw in the towel completely.
We have been hanging out and camping with the same crew at BBR for several years now. Honestly, they are one of the main reasons I enjoy this music festival so much. But this year, there was some strife in the group. We knew about it before we left and it was one of the reasons we were not looking forward to attending BBR this year. Although it had nothing to do with us personally, we were caught in the cross hairs of awkward and uncomfortable.
However, this is a group that appreciates good music and fun times. Awkward and uncomfortable did not stand a chance with them and I did my usual laughing until my stomach hurt. In fact, we bonded more than usual with a couple of gals in the group (our all-girl cover band, singing mostly 90s country, is just about ready to hit the road).
Having a group that enjoys the same things you do can make all the difference—good or bad. Make sure you are experiencing your adventures with the right tribe. Find a new one if you have to. Adventures, both old and new, are always better with friends and connecting (or reconnecting) with those friends is the best way to bring new life to old adventures.
Some (or probably most) would say that a three-day music festival is activity enough for one weekend. However, that is not really how R and I roll. Even with all of the music and shenanigans with the group, there is still some downtime. Sure, we like to sit around and chat with our crew, but we can only do that for so many hours. After a while, we get a little restless and need something more to do before it is time to go to the venue.
One thing we did this year (and have done previous years), was take a scenic float down the Salmon River. It may be the easiest rafting trip on the planet, but it is fun and relaxing and we get to see a lot of Idaho wildlife. It eats up a good portion of the day that is not filled with music. In previous years, I have hiked to a remote hot springs, visited an old mining town and gone to lunch with a friend in a neighboring town. These mini-adventures are always a good idea in my opinion. On the last day of the festival, we realized that we should have scheduled something to do in the morning since we found ourselves twiddling our thumbs a bit. Perhaps next year we will go for a hike or take a drive down some dirt road.
Unless you enjoy lounging about doing nothing in particular (and it is totally fine if you do, that is just not our style), you will want to make sure you have ideas or plans for how to occupy yourself during downtime. It helps bring some new life to old adventures.
As stated previously, I love seeing new places and discovering something for the first time. Granted, after you have traveled to a particular place or attended the same event year after year, it is going to be a little challenging to find something new and exciting. But you should at least give it your best effort and you may even be surprised at what you are able to find.
In all my years traveling to Challis, Idaho, for the Braun Brother Reunion, I had never visited the Challis Hot Springs. I had read about it, heard about it and even talked about it a time or two. But I never made the effort to actually see and experience it. This year, I finally made that happen. It was a lovely experience—one I would highly recommend. I can see a visit to the hot springs easily becoming an annual tradition.
As I looked around me this year, I noticed all sorts of undiscovered places including restaurants, hiking trails and unmarked dirt roads. It will not be difficult to try something new in the upcoming years, provided I want to take time away from all of the other fun things I like to do.
Getting a local’s perspective is excellent advice for anything travel related. It is advice I think of and use often when I am going somewhere new. However, it is not something I tend to think of and use when I am going somewhere I have been before. And that is just stupid. Locals are a great resource for bringing new life to old adventures.
Three years ago, a local shared with us his favorite place to eat lunch in Salmon, Idaho. It was delicious and we made sure to go back the next year. This year however, we discovered that the restaurant had closed down and been replaced by something new. Instead of hightailing out of the new place and heading to a place our raft guide recommended, we decided to try it out. Bad decision. It was nothing like we had enjoyed in previous years and I cannot help but wonder what our experience would have been if we had listened to our raft guide.
Locals know what they are talking about. Whether you are looking for a good place to eat or a hidden gem to explore, ask a local. And for goodness sake, make sure you learn from our Salmon lunch spot experience and actually take their advice!
Old does not have to be boring. If you have got some old adventures that you are just not ready to give up yet, try making them fun and exciting again—which may be as simple as choosing a new approach or finding a new place to eat. You will not know until you try.
Unless you have been hiding out in the mountains away from civilization, you will have heard that August 21, 2017, is the day of the Great American Eclipse. The ‘Path of Totality’ or ‘POT” starts on the Oregon Coast and stretches its way through the …