Archive for the 'backpacking' Category

Wanderful Words No. 22: A Map for Saturday

Posted by Ekua on May 11, 2010 in backpacking, movies with movement, solo travel and wanderful words ★ 4 Comments

Turistas. Hostel. The Beach. These are all examples of Hollywood’s poor representations of traveling with a budget and a backpack. So it was refreshing to finally watch A Map for Saturday, a documentary by Brook Silva-Braga that takes a realistic look into the world of long term solo backpacking.

While my month-or-sos away would not be considered long term by non-U.S. citizens who go away for longer, I found that I could relate to most of the content in the movie—the initial loneliness, learning how to meet people, settling into the coming and going, traveler’s guilt and what it’s like when you have to go home. Throughout the film, I felt like I was reliving many of the emotions I’ve had abroad.

There were moments where I thought the movie was a little vapid. I think this stemmed from my wanting there to be more of an underlying story or a unique angle. Something more edgy and captivating than following yet another advantaged young person on the road. But all in all,  it’s a solid backpacking documentary full of inspirational tidbits. I’d recommend it for any past or potential backpackers.

As the film began, a traveler being interviewed by Silva-Braga supplied this quote about one of the most profound transformations traveling lightly and cheaply can instigate:

“When you have everything on your back, material goods don’t mean as much as they used to. That’s something you take with you for the rest of your life.”


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The Art of Squatting: A Guide to Using Squat Toilets

Posted by Ekua on February 23, 2010 in backpacking, female travel and general travel ★ 21 Comments

I remember the beginning of my first squat toilet experience vividly. I was 17 and visiting Ghana for the first time in 15 years. Ghanaians love formalities, and because we’d been away for so long as a family, there were many welcome home rituals to take care of. A trip to my mom’s home village was in order. So one day, after hours of driving down pothole laden roads in heavy tropical rain, we reached the village. The constant bouncing and sounds of water combined with lack of facilities along the way meant I really had to go when we arrived. I asked to use the toilet, totally naive about what I would find. I opened the door and inside what appeared to be the bathroom was a hole in the ground. “Where’s the toilet?” I thought as I carefully examined the entire bathroom and the surrounding areas. My teenage heart sank as I realized the hole was my only option. Whatever happened after that has been erased from my memory.

I’ve now squatted many times and in many places, even unexpected locations like France. Asia was the number one squatting skills development location. My month in South East Asia was like a senior year course in sucking it up when it comes to toilets. It’s inevitable that every adventurous female traveler accustomed to sit down toilets will face these dreaded holes at some point. Once you accept them, they become a lot easier to deal with. Especially when you consider that if you avoid them, the health risks (dehydration, etc.) can be much worse than the few minutes you’ll spend strengthening your thighs as you relieve yourself. For women who are afraid of squat toilets, and I know many are, I thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned about how to deal with them during my travels:

Leave Your Stuff in the Vehicle

Don’t expect to have a place to hang your belongings. And because squat toileting requires balance and concentration, you want to make sure your hands are free. If you’re in a situation where you can’t leave your stuff unattended, make sure you’re carrying a backpack or messenger bag that doesn’t need to be held on to.

Wear a Skirt or a Dress

For once, fashion equals function. Weather permitting, it’s a great idea to wear a skirt for long road trips where you’ll likely have to use a bathroom in the middle of nowhere. It’s much easier to lift a skirt and get it out of the way than it is to get pants or shorts out of the way. Enough said.

Bring Your Own Toilet Paper or Tissues

Where there’s a squat toilet, there’s likely to be a lack of toilet paper. Or sometimes you may find yourself scrambling for change to buy some unearthly colored or scented toilet paper. So make sure to have your own stash.

Wash the Toilet When You’re Done

If there’s a bucket of water and a container to scoop it out with next to the toilet, it probably means you’ll need to wash the toilet down after your done. Do this to be courteous to the next squatter and know that if  you walk into a wet toilet, it’s likely that it’s just water (if the water looks relatively clear) and not whatever you were imagining it to be.

Have Hand Sanitizer Ready

I like the spray kind. If the toilet stall seems to be particularly gross, I will spray it on my feet as well.


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Bolivian Transportation Survival Guide

Posted by Ekua on January 21, 2010 in Bolivia, backpacking, d.i.y. travel and safe travels ★ 0 Comments

Home to the official “World’s Most Dangerous Road”, Bolivia is notoriously challenging to travel through. Its extreme geography is a huge part of what makes it such a unique country, but it can also make it tricky to get from place to place.

If you plan on visiting many different parts of the country, it’s recommended to tough out the winter temperatures to decrease the chance that rain will derail your travels. In the rainy season, roads are more likely to be washed out and flights are more likely to be canceled because of flooded runways. But even if rain is not an issue, traveling through Bolivia can test your patience, temperature thresholds, and sense of adventure.

Buses are the most common and readily available way to get around the country. They are not the most comfortable option, but they are cheap. And there are wonderful moments to be had staring through the window in awe at Bolivia’s dramatic scenery as your bus navigates the sharp curves and cliffs of the mountainous terrain.

With any method of transportation you choose, it’s wise to have a somewhat flexible schedule. And the most important thing you can bring with you is a sense of humor…

Continue reading ‘Bolivian Transportation Survival Guide’


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Bolivian Expectations: Hostels

Posted by Ekua on January 18, 2010 in Bolivia, backpacking and d.i.y. travel ★ 9 Comments

As I was preparing for traveling through Bolivia, I noticed that there was very little information on what I might find there. I know that not knowing what to expect and figuring it out upon arrival can be part of the fun of travel. But sometimes a little preparation allows you to make the most of spontaneity. And in a challenging destination like Bolivia, not being prepared for what might come up can potentially leave you S.O.L. in Middle of Nowhere, High Altitude, Bolivia.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from visiting the country as it is an incredibly rewarding place to go to. I just want to present a realistic view of what it’s like to travel there and delve into the practicalities of the impractical act of budget travel in Bolivia. First up: Hostelling.

» Staying Warm

Traveling during Bolivia’s winter (June-August) is often recommended for drier weather (which means better road conditions) and for solo travelers who want to meet other travelers (because it is high season). But the extreme cold can make it a tricky time to be there. Trying to stay warm in order to get a good night’s sleep was a recurring theme of my trip. There was no silver lining of toasty cabins and hot cocoa so I eventually learned a few things about how to fall asleep in a subzero room.

Don’t expect:

  • central heating or even carpeted floors. If it’s freezing cold outside, it will likely be freezing cold inside your hostel.
  • to always have a nicer and warmer sleeping option available. Bolivia is a cheap country to travel in and you often get what you pay for.

Expect:

  • to have to bundle up. Make sure you’re warm as you can be before you try to sleep. Getting out from under your covers in a freezing cold night to put on layers isn’t fun, and neither is having a sleepless and restless numb-toed night.
  • to bring a sleeping bag and/or extra blankets to stay warm. You can also ask a receptionist if your hostel has extra blankets available.
  • to be able to buy what you need there. There is an abundance of llama/alpaca gringo gear for sale in the markets so you can stock up on wool socks, gloves, hats, hoodies, and blankets to keep you warm at night. If you don’t want to take your purchases home with you at the end of your trip, you can always leave them behind for another traveler.

» Water and Showering

Another recurring theme of my trip was shower avoidance. After shivering yourself to sleep, the last thing you want to do is wake up and hop into chilly water. So sometimes you won’t shower. And when you do, it will likely be quick. Try not to think about what you smell like, instead give yourself a pat on the back for your environmentally friendly ways (even if they are forced).

Don’t Expect

  • 24 hour hot water. A lot of hostels will have a window of time where hot water is available, usually during daylight hours.
  • that a hostel that claims to have 24 hour hot really does. In my experience, hostels that explicitly stated that they did, really had 24 hour cold to lukewarm water. So you might be better off with an honest hostel that gives you a hot water time frame.
  • running water. Water is scarce in Bolivia. There may be times where you’ll have to brush your teeth with bottled water or flush the toilet with a bucket of water.
  • to have a towel provided. Bring along a quick drying towel.

Expect

  • that if hot water is available, it might only be a trickle of water. To access the hot water in some hostels, you can only turn on the water a little bit. If you want more pressure, the water will be cold.
  • to take advantage of having a hot shower when you get a chance.

» Party Hostels

Party hostels can be great places to meet other travelers and let loose. And they often have more amenities (such as hot water and warmer bedding) than smaller, more local hostels. However, they tend to harbor all sorts of losery travelers with questionable motives. If you want to stay in party hostels, use them sparingly, and don’t get sucked into staying for an extended period of time.

Expect:

  • to choose your hostel wisely. Chat with other travelers who have already visited a city you’re heading to and get the scoop on the hostels there.
  • to book in well in advance if you want a small dorm or private room in high season
  • to keep track of your hostel purchases. Some hostels let you charge food, drinks, etc. to your room and it’s important to have a sense of what you’ve bought so you don’t get overcharged when you check out.

Don’t expect:

  • to sleep

» A lot of this information is specific to traveling in the Andean part of Bolivia. Some of this information can apply to the Andean parts of Peru as well.


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Nobody Puts Bessie in the Corner

Posted by Ekua on July 12, 2009 in backpacking, female travel and general travel ★ 1 Comment

Last year I became a backpacker. Not a trek-for-days-through-the-woods backpacker, but a travel-cheaply-with-a-backpack backpacker. I can’t remember what drove me to try this style of travel, maybe it was the idea of being able to carry everything you really need on your back. I was heading to Southeast Asia, the ultimate backpacker’s paradise, and it just seemed like the most logical way to travel.

Fitting what you need in backpack is easy enough for a lot of people (a.k.a. men). But with my passion for fashion and history of chronic over packing, it proved to be a challenge. I bought a large women’s backpack at REI and made the mistake of filling it to the brink before my trip had started. I had all sorts of clothing options shoved in there, many of which I rarely ended up wearing. A fellow traveler, noticing my girlie style and overstuffed backpack, commented that I didn’t seem like a backpacker type to her. I took this as challenge, and made up my mind that I could be backpacker, even if my bag was too big and wasn’t sporting the typical earth-toned clothing and zip-off convertible pants that seem to be part of many a backpacker’s wardrobe.

I started off positively, but somewhere along a long hot and humid walk through no man’s land between Cambodia and Vietnam, I began to curse my backpack. I kept thinking how much easier it would have been to have a nice large suitcase on wheels. But soon enough, on my first Vietnamese overnight train ride, I began to see the merits of having a backpack. Those with large suitcases could not fit their luggage in the under bed storage bin. They were forced to leave them in middle of the tiny rooms where they took up space and could be easily tripped on during late night bathroom runs. When we reached Laos, there were no elevators in the guesthouses and I watched the suitcase-clad people struggle to get up the stairs.

Near the end of my trip, another fellow traveler complimented me on how agile I was with my backpack considering how big it was. After making it that far with my backpack that had only become more full, I had grown stronger both physically and mentally. The backpack I once cursed, I now affectionately call Bessie. She taught me lessons about what’s really necessary and allowed me to prove to myself that I am tough and have the ability to endure.

If I was going to do a Southeast Asia trip again, I would have a much better idea of how to pack. But with my upcoming trip to Bolivia and Peru, I have the extra challenge of multiple climates. I could experience 90 degree humid weather in the Amazon and below freezing night time temperatures in Salar de Uyuni a few days later. I have taken Bessie out of storage and I already fear that I am about to over pack. There are a few things I need to remember as I start to fill up my backpack:

My Packing Mantras

  • I will bring clothing that can be easily layered and mixed and matched and will stick to a color scheme that allows for this.
  • I will  realize that I don’t need to have an outfit in every color of the rainbow. (It’s sad but true that I need to repeat this to myself.)
  • I will remember that clothing and accessories that will be inexpensive and fitting for the local climate and style can be bought when I arrive. I will leave room in my bag for purchasing cheap local goods.
  • I will not overpack!

Wish me luck, my friends.


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