Hey all, been meaning to write up a blurb about my travels this past summer touching on some gear I used along the way. As many of you know, I ended buying a round the world (RTW) ticket and was able visit 21 cities over 6 continents 55k flying mi in about 3 months time. Many have asked what was my favorite place and, to be honest, it's a little difficult to answer considering how one wants to frame it. For instance, South Island New Zealand is probably the prettiest place I visited (though Oahu Hawaii has to be a close 2nd!) but I thought Capetown, South Africa was fantastic as well especially since the USD conversion rate was so friendly! Also, I'd be remiss in excluding Hamburg or Madrid as I truly love Germany and Spain as a country! Anyways, the following are a few things I discovered along the way. Feel free to share this note so, perhaps, others may benefit.
Ticket - I purchased my RTW ticket from One World. This is an affiliate program consisting of several airlines (American, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar, etc.) all working together to fly you to over a 1000 cities worldwide. I know of no other measure of affordable flying around the world. They sell 3, 4, 6 continent packages all bundle in a convenient price. I, of course, went with the 6 continent deal which allowed me to pick 16 cities (the other 5 I just booked myself when in-continent). There is a little trick to using them as the prices vary depending on where you start. I ended up starting my trip from Japan as it was quite a bit cheaper than doing so from NYC (even after I purchased a one-way ticket to Japan!). I have no good explanation for why this condition exists but it's a good way to exploit an arbitrage loophole in the program. You effectively have one year to finish your trips and there are a few rules to consider (eg flying in one direction, you can't leave and re-enter a continent, etc.) but they're pretty straight forward and don't get in the way too much.
Credit Card - Do yourself a favor and pick-up a credit card that doesn't impose any foreign transaction fees! We got burned pretty bad with Amex while traveling in Germany last year and ended up having to pay 100's of dollars worth of fees unbeknowst to us at the time. I went with an AAdvantage Citibank Mastercard that gave me access to all the Admiral Lounges at the airport (where available), no foreign transaction fees, and, I was lucky, 100,000 AA miles provided I spent 10k w/in 3 month. It also gives you 1pt for $1 spent each month. There is a $450 annual fee which is steep (you get $200 back in statement credits so it's effectively $250/yr which is still kinda steep) but I plan to get rid of the card before it renews next year. 100,000 is a lot of miles and can effectively give you 3-4RT tickets for domestic flights and 1-2RT ticket international, well over $1000 depending on how you play it. Now, the 100k mi offers comes and goes (most of the time you'll see 30k-60k mi) so you'll just need to keep an eye out for it. The current best offer is a 50k offer and can be gotten here.
Banking - I didn't do this so got dinged a bunch of times with ATM fees (grr) but you'll want to get setup with a global bank if you can (make sure you enable global banking!). I saw Citibank ATMs most everywhere I went so it's worth looking into if you travel out of country a lot. The fees were like $5 per transaction so I got nailed with fees quite a bit during this trip!
Accommodations - Airbnb is fantastic! If you've not heard of it, then look them up. Seriously! Effectively, it's a consumer 2 consumer (c2c) website that links people that want to rent out a spare room in their house/apt to those that need a temporary place to stay. I put it right between hostels and hotels. Prices, as you would imagine, vary depending upon location, inventory, conveniences, etc. I generally tried to pick places between $40-$70/ni and was by and large very successful (I think I paid $16/ni in Peru). The pricing is better than hotels, plus you get the benefit of a "local" there helping you out without the hassle of 100 partying kids in a hostel. They allow you to rate hosts and guests so if you wanted to rent your room out to earn a few bucks, it's a useful tool for that too!
Travel Insurance - I bought travel insurance from world nomad. It ended up costing me a few hundred bucks for coverage which included things like lost items, medical issues, and emergency evacuation from a glacier should I get stuck on one ;-)
Phone - I ended up buying an unlocked iphone for this trip as I was planning on having to purchase sim cards along the way per city. As luck would have it, TMobile has a global program which gives you unlimited text, unlimited 3g connectivity, and .20/min calls in like 200 cities world wide for $60/mo. I was able to get 3g everywhere I went which is simply amazing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have connectivity during travel. Google maps is your friend and while 3g isn't super fast, Google maps does well with it! You can find it here.
Also, don't forget your rechargeable solutions. I opted for a mophie case which worked out great. It's a solid case and gives a good full charge which is usually enough to get you through the day.
Luggage - I really had only one requirement with respect to luggage on this trip. I wanted a carry-on case as I didn't want to spend a lot of time at the conveyor belts at the airport and ended up going with a back pack solution. It also proved much easier to lug around on my back than dragging it along like a conventional suitcase. I ultimately settled on a farpoint osprey 55. This is an AMAZING pack and I highly recommend it for even domestic travel. It's actually 2 packs in one with a detachable "day pack" that you can unzip and use for running around town. For the joggers, the day pack has both a waist and a chest strap to keep it pinned to your body while you run. It's incredibly durable and sturdy (it's got a lightweight metal frame builtin) and I was able to carry it on for all my flights (even the smaller in country ones). It's actually surprisingly roomie. I was able to pack about 6 tees, 3 long sleeves, 2 jackets (I wear one), 3 pairs of pants (I wear one), a few pairs of shorts, socks/underwear, computer, kindle, 2 pair of shoes (I wear one), I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pack and cannot recommend it enough!
You'll also want to pick up a few locks for your bag while you travel just to keep things honest. I went with this pair and found the flexibility of the corded loop to be useful (it slips through the zipper holes no problem).
Shoes - Shoes are a bit of a pain in the ass to lug around. There's no great way to pack them as they don't compress very well. I tell all my friends to pack a good pair of walking shoes when visiting NYC so it's no different when traveling abroad. I ended up taking 2 pairs of shoes both for functional reasons:
I do a little running so I brought along my Brooks which is a great shoe for both running and long treks through the concrete jungle of a large city. It's very breathable and offers fantastic support and wears well (even after ~800mi, the wear is minimal on my tread).
I also brought along a pair of goretex vibrams for off road trekking. It's a sturdy shoe with good traction and support and is good with water.
Clothing - I went low rent and took mostly tshirts with me. They compress well and are comfortable to wear around town.
For pants/shorts, I went with FjallRaven. It's an outdoor brand I stumbled upon in NYC and I love them. Their pants/shorts, specifically g1000, are durable as hell and, even though they are cargo style, they don't look too dorky (and the extra pockets do help when travelling!!). Check them out their pants, shorts and more shorts. As someone asked, the cargo pockets are great to keep things like wallets and passports and really circumvented the need to carry an extra pouch. I left my passport in my room most of the time but always had a wallet on me (tip: take photos of all your ids and credit cards should you lose anything and need to retrieve the numbers! Keep them in the cloud or email them to yourself!)
For my jacket, I picked up a Marmot. It's a great waterproof shell and, again, compresses well (getting the idea what's important to me while traveling? :-) )
For my intermediate layer, I went with a FjallRaven sweater zip up much like this one. In all honesty, it was a little thick for the pack but I lived with it as it was very warm.
As a base layer, I bought a Craft long sleeve that I really like. It's very breathable and I use it for running during the colder months.
Accessories -
Wallet - I have a Tumi money clip that I've been using for ages. It's much more compact then a full blown wallet so easily slips in your front pocket!
Watch - Those who know me know that I do a little collecting of watches. I have all kinds (mostly vintage). For this trip, I opted to keep a low profile and went with a Casio G-Shock and I love it! This watch has got great functions, a nice retro look, and, as you would expect, incredibly durable! Mine has gone through 4 Tough Mudders, 3 Spartans, a shark dive in Capetown, a glacier hike in NZ, sand surfing in Qatar, surfing in Hawaii and still kicking. Plus it's an INCREDIBLE steal at $50.
Electronics - Aside from the iPhone I brought along 2 other devices.
Kindle - Seriously, if you don't have one already, pick one up. It's so lightweight and battery last for ever. Also, having access to an infinity bookstore is fantastic. I picked up the Paper White and love the contrast.
Laptop - I picked up a used laptop for my travel. I program for a living, well not currently :-), so my number one requirement for a laptop (as most everything else is equal), is the keyboard. In my view, no one makes a better keyboard then IBM (now Lenovo). The Lenovo x201 is a great notebook for travel as it's so lightweight yet packs a solid set of options. It's not longer made but you can find them used from various outlets. They run about $400 for 8gig of memory and 250gb harddrive. Highly recommended.
That's pretty much it! I had a great time traveling. Any questions, just ask!
Ticket - I purchased my RTW ticket from One World. This is an affiliate program consisting of several airlines (American, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar, etc.) all working together to fly you to over a 1000 cities worldwide. I know of no other measure of affordable flying around the world. They sell 3, 4, 6 continent packages all bundle in a convenient price. I, of course, went with the 6 continent deal which allowed me to pick 16 cities (the other 5 I just booked myself when in-continent). There is a little trick to using them as the prices vary depending on where you start. I ended up starting my trip from Japan as it was quite a bit cheaper than doing so from NYC (even after I purchased a one-way ticket to Japan!). I have no good explanation for why this condition exists but it's a good way to exploit an arbitrage loophole in the program. You effectively have one year to finish your trips and there are a few rules to consider (eg flying in one direction, you can't leave and re-enter a continent, etc.) but they're pretty straight forward and don't get in the way too much.
Credit Card - Do yourself a favor and pick-up a credit card that doesn't impose any foreign transaction fees! We got burned pretty bad with Amex while traveling in Germany last year and ended up having to pay 100's of dollars worth of fees unbeknowst to us at the time. I went with an AAdvantage Citibank Mastercard that gave me access to all the Admiral Lounges at the airport (where available), no foreign transaction fees, and, I was lucky, 100,000 AA miles provided I spent 10k w/in 3 month. It also gives you 1pt for $1 spent each month. There is a $450 annual fee which is steep (you get $200 back in statement credits so it's effectively $250/yr which is still kinda steep) but I plan to get rid of the card before it renews next year. 100,000 is a lot of miles and can effectively give you 3-4RT tickets for domestic flights and 1-2RT ticket international, well over $1000 depending on how you play it. Now, the 100k mi offers comes and goes (most of the time you'll see 30k-60k mi) so you'll just need to keep an eye out for it. The current best offer is a 50k offer and can be gotten here.
Banking - I didn't do this so got dinged a bunch of times with ATM fees (grr) but you'll want to get setup with a global bank if you can (make sure you enable global banking!). I saw Citibank ATMs most everywhere I went so it's worth looking into if you travel out of country a lot. The fees were like $5 per transaction so I got nailed with fees quite a bit during this trip!
Accommodations - Airbnb is fantastic! If you've not heard of it, then look them up. Seriously! Effectively, it's a consumer 2 consumer (c2c) website that links people that want to rent out a spare room in their house/apt to those that need a temporary place to stay. I put it right between hostels and hotels. Prices, as you would imagine, vary depending upon location, inventory, conveniences, etc. I generally tried to pick places between $40-$70/ni and was by and large very successful (I think I paid $16/ni in Peru). The pricing is better than hotels, plus you get the benefit of a "local" there helping you out without the hassle of 100 partying kids in a hostel. They allow you to rate hosts and guests so if you wanted to rent your room out to earn a few bucks, it's a useful tool for that too!
Travel Insurance - I bought travel insurance from world nomad. It ended up costing me a few hundred bucks for coverage which included things like lost items, medical issues, and emergency evacuation from a glacier should I get stuck on one ;-)
Phone - I ended up buying an unlocked iphone for this trip as I was planning on having to purchase sim cards along the way per city. As luck would have it, TMobile has a global program which gives you unlimited text, unlimited 3g connectivity, and .20/min calls in like 200 cities world wide for $60/mo. I was able to get 3g everywhere I went which is simply amazing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to have connectivity during travel. Google maps is your friend and while 3g isn't super fast, Google maps does well with it! You can find it here.
Also, don't forget your rechargeable solutions. I opted for a mophie case which worked out great. It's a solid case and gives a good full charge which is usually enough to get you through the day.
Luggage - I really had only one requirement with respect to luggage on this trip. I wanted a carry-on case as I didn't want to spend a lot of time at the conveyor belts at the airport and ended up going with a back pack solution. It also proved much easier to lug around on my back than dragging it along like a conventional suitcase. I ultimately settled on a farpoint osprey 55. This is an AMAZING pack and I highly recommend it for even domestic travel. It's actually 2 packs in one with a detachable "day pack" that you can unzip and use for running around town. For the joggers, the day pack has both a waist and a chest strap to keep it pinned to your body while you run. It's incredibly durable and sturdy (it's got a lightweight metal frame builtin) and I was able to carry it on for all my flights (even the smaller in country ones). It's actually surprisingly roomie. I was able to pack about 6 tees, 3 long sleeves, 2 jackets (I wear one), 3 pairs of pants (I wear one), a few pairs of shorts, socks/underwear, computer, kindle, 2 pair of shoes (I wear one), I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pack and cannot recommend it enough!
You'll also want to pick up a few locks for your bag while you travel just to keep things honest. I went with this pair and found the flexibility of the corded loop to be useful (it slips through the zipper holes no problem).
Shoes - Shoes are a bit of a pain in the ass to lug around. There's no great way to pack them as they don't compress very well. I tell all my friends to pack a good pair of walking shoes when visiting NYC so it's no different when traveling abroad. I ended up taking 2 pairs of shoes both for functional reasons:
I do a little running so I brought along my Brooks which is a great shoe for both running and long treks through the concrete jungle of a large city. It's very breathable and offers fantastic support and wears well (even after ~800mi, the wear is minimal on my tread).
I also brought along a pair of goretex vibrams for off road trekking. It's a sturdy shoe with good traction and support and is good with water.
Clothing - I went low rent and took mostly tshirts with me. They compress well and are comfortable to wear around town.
For pants/shorts, I went with FjallRaven. It's an outdoor brand I stumbled upon in NYC and I love them. Their pants/shorts, specifically g1000, are durable as hell and, even though they are cargo style, they don't look too dorky (and the extra pockets do help when travelling!!). Check them out their pants, shorts and more shorts. As someone asked, the cargo pockets are great to keep things like wallets and passports and really circumvented the need to carry an extra pouch. I left my passport in my room most of the time but always had a wallet on me (tip: take photos of all your ids and credit cards should you lose anything and need to retrieve the numbers! Keep them in the cloud or email them to yourself!)
For my jacket, I picked up a Marmot. It's a great waterproof shell and, again, compresses well (getting the idea what's important to me while traveling? :-) )
For my intermediate layer, I went with a FjallRaven sweater zip up much like this one. In all honesty, it was a little thick for the pack but I lived with it as it was very warm.
As a base layer, I bought a Craft long sleeve that I really like. It's very breathable and I use it for running during the colder months.
Accessories -
Wallet - I have a Tumi money clip that I've been using for ages. It's much more compact then a full blown wallet so easily slips in your front pocket!
Watch - Those who know me know that I do a little collecting of watches. I have all kinds (mostly vintage). For this trip, I opted to keep a low profile and went with a Casio G-Shock and I love it! This watch has got great functions, a nice retro look, and, as you would expect, incredibly durable! Mine has gone through 4 Tough Mudders, 3 Spartans, a shark dive in Capetown, a glacier hike in NZ, sand surfing in Qatar, surfing in Hawaii and still kicking. Plus it's an INCREDIBLE steal at $50.
Electronics - Aside from the iPhone I brought along 2 other devices.
Kindle - Seriously, if you don't have one already, pick one up. It's so lightweight and battery last for ever. Also, having access to an infinity bookstore is fantastic. I picked up the Paper White and love the contrast.
Laptop - I picked up a used laptop for my travel. I program for a living, well not currently :-), so my number one requirement for a laptop (as most everything else is equal), is the keyboard. In my view, no one makes a better keyboard then IBM (now Lenovo). The Lenovo x201 is a great notebook for travel as it's so lightweight yet packs a solid set of options. It's not longer made but you can find them used from various outlets. They run about $400 for 8gig of memory and 250gb harddrive. Highly recommended.
That's pretty much it! I had a great time traveling. Any questions, just ask!
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