BootsnAll Travel Community

Navajo! Now that's one i hadn't thought of!

Carry a very nondescript money clip...have a few pesos, euros in it.

It is your "throwaway".

If confronted by ne'er do well species who is armed who wants to rob you, you offer to them, drop it and scoot!

Obviously, keep your wallet, passport, etc separate from
your "throwaway".

A nod to my cuz in NYC for this one!

So I am laying there with the drip pounding in my head and not being able to sleep and replaying tv shows in my head for something to do. finally I remember a CSI ep I saw that dealt with water and string. I had brought an extra pair of shoelaces and I tied them to the shower head and killed that drip. This is probably the most obvious thing in the world to all of you, but not me. The shoestring thing is this. Find the EXACT spot that the water is dripping from. the exact spot. Tie the shoelace there in line with the drip. The water will naturally follow the course of the shoelace, sliding down it and slough off into the tub or whatever. No fall from some height, no noise. Worked great


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1] Blisters- Polypro sock liner-wicks moisture and you can wear your "woolies" without itch

2]Packing- I use stuff sacks for each clothing type (shirts/pants/etc) easy to organize and get at in my pack...also can use sack as an emergency pillow

3] Keep your meds in original containers with labels (honestly officer thats Tylenol!!!) Some customs people have NO sense of humor.

4] Scan your passport and e-mail as an attachment to your self. Can save your bacon.

5] Wrap a rubber band around wallet/cash wad. Makes it harder to "lift". And DO NOT keep your wallet in a rear pocket......

6] Micro flash light on key chain or around neck is a LIFE SAVER!! I go NO WHERE with out it. Even pack an extra battery or two.

7] If you try out the local language they will respond rapid-fire back at you. Don't try to impress them beyond: "please" "thanks" "yes" "no".


Thanks for the forum. I have learned LOTS. Will pack talc and iodine from now on........

Tiger Balm - It is excellent to use under your nose in dubious toilets in the like of SE Asia.
It's also great when on a hike at altitude stop's the dizzyness or shortness of breath by helping you breath more easily.

Put Tiger Balm on the fresh mosquito bite. It will prevent from itching and further development.

Wrap your camera with black sticky tape - it will be less attractive for the locals.

Katja & Augustas

Take a shower while wearing your dirty socks in your hands like gloves. While you are washing yourself, you are also washing your socks...

Well, if you have been wearing those socks for long time you might lose your fingernails in the process.. just kidding, I think..

This might allready be up but if not:

Use your tied-together shoelaces as a clothesline at night. Then if your clothes still arnt dry by morning just wear an alternative pair around...I did this a lot.

If you really want to stay in a certain hotel (should you want to trade up for a night or two) call and try to negotiate prices ahead of time. Most hotels outside of Europe and USA will be willing to barter prices with you if your polite and do it in good humor. There was one time in Marrakech I felt the need to splurge. I got a room down from 100 dollars a night to 40 just by sweet-talking managment. Sometimes it also helps to show up and ask in person.

I go on short (2-3 week) trips. There's always a component of the trip where I want to camp, but I don't want to lug camping equipment around with me for the whole trip.

The solution? One-use camping equipment. I troll the garage sales for tents and sleeping bags. This past weekend I got two perfectly good 2-man tents for $15 total. Other trips yield no shortage of sleeping bags, usually for $5.

Clean thoroughly, pack, and go. Front-load your trip so camping comes first (leave your city stuff in a left-luggage room in the city for your return). Go to the woods, have fun. On the last day, if you're in a frequented camping area, give it to someone else in the area--you'll never have trouble doing this. If you're in the wilderness, pack it out and give it away in town.

There's a certain truth there. I remember Colin Fletcher in The Compleat Walker recommending a thin pair of inner socks that would take all the rubbing during a long hike. These could be made of polypropylene, thin wool (though these are difficult to find), or -- why not? -- women's stockings.

Jim Paris

quote:

An old army trick that works is to wear the feet of women's stockings inside your socks to avoid blisters.

There isn't that much caffiene in tea. Most articles that say there's more caffiene in tea than coffee are based on dry measure; and a pound of tea makes over 240 cups. How many cups of coffee does a pound make in comparison? According to the Chinese, it is the drinking of hot liquids that cools you off.

Jim Paris

quote:

I think the tea thing has more to do with the caffienne than the heat of the drink. Caffienne dialates blood vessels, especially those near the surface of your skin, and that cools you off rather than the heat of the drink. There's not enough heat energy in a 6 oz. cup of tea to really make that much difference in the heat energy in a 150 lb person. The temp of the drink will change how your mouth and throat feel but that's it. The 100 mg's or so of caffienne will do the trick, though.

quote:

Tip three: If you don't want to be bothered by touts and obvious hustlers, learn a phrase or two in an obscure language and use it with a blank look on your face. They usually give up on you and move to the next English speaker.

That usually works for me. I just start speaking in Hungarian. Then one day, I ran into a bum in Vancouver who understood what I was saying and offered to buy ME a cup of coffee. He was a nice guy, too.

Jim Paris

I do it in German. People never know that I have a terrible accent!

Take several small safety pins. Fasten the pocket that contains your wallet with one of them. You should see the look on the face of the pickpocket on the Paris Metro when he encountered the, uh, obstruction.

The flipside: You have to remove it to access your cash, but then you still have your cash!

Jim Paris

if you have a hairdryer handy (since I never carry one I either borrow it or use the one in the room, when there is one) you can dry out your sox in no time, just be careful not to caver the dryer's opening for too long - if it gets too hot it could possibly blow...with some patience the trick works with all kinds of clothes

not sure if this has been said yet to many to read but
getting clothes dry overnight when you have no balcony tie a cord, string whatever or shoelace from the top of the fan to whatever you can see top of curtains etc and walla clothes dryer nothing better sometimes is their knowing you will have some clean dry clothes for the morning

quote:

Originally posted by Corvinus:
There's a certain truth there. I remember Colin Fletcher in The Compleat Walker recommending a thin pair of inner socks that would take all the rubbing during a long hike. These could be made of polypropylene, thin wool (though these are difficult to find), or -- why not? -- women's stockings.

Jim Paris

quote:

An old army trick that works is to wear the feet of women's stockings inside your socks to avoid blisters.

Mine as well spend a couple extra bucks and get a good pair of polypro liner socks that will actually wick away moisture, provide some insulation and not shred to pieces after a few miles.

Most outdoor stores carry several varieties.

Bikers use a product called Monkey Butt to avoid chafing in the saddle. It works.

Ear plugs for plane rides and noisy nights and duct tape. Always have some duct tape (not the whole roll- just wrap a bit around the base of your flashlight or something for emergencies).

I buy bar shampoo and use it as my soap it works great and in one less thing to carry.