6 SIMPLE TRICKS FOR EASIER GLOBAL TRAVEL

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, April 1, 2015 (DAY 1,122)
Even though today is commonly known as "April Fool's Day" in the U.S. and I love a good prank! This is actually a very legitimate topic of suggestions to help make both global and possibly even domestic travel a bit easier. There are several previous articles I've written about travel, whether that be advice and suggestions or inspiration to travel abroad:

---

5 Suggestions for Adjusting to Hostel Life
10 Life Lessons Living Abroad Teaches You
20 Ways to Travel Better in 2015
10 Money Saving Tips for Travel
How to Become an Ultra Light Backpacker
5 Items I Regret NOT Bringing for Long-Term Travel
10 Reasons to Travel the World in Your 30s
5 Ways for Replenishing Funds for Long-Term Travel
Backpacking South East Asia vs Central America
17 of The Worst Fictional Characters to Travel With

1. HANDKERCHIEFS

2. TIGER BALM

Excellent for use to keep dust out of of your face, cover your eyes as a sleeping mask, when you need to a cloth tissue, etc and etc. Plus the fact that it's washable and takes up a small amount of space, I travel with two of these and you would be surprised how often you use them. Even though a washable medical mask is handy, it is not as universal in function as a handkerchief. 

3. RAIN JACKET WITH
 ZIPPER POCKETS

This may be more difficult to find in areas outside of Asia, but with the proliferation of online shipping, this item is both cheap and small in size. It works great as an ointment, typically for used for muscle aches, but because of the relatively strong menthol smell I've used this to place a small dab under my noise when riding on smelly local buses. Tiger Balm explanation

4. NECK PILLOW
 WITH ZIPPER

As I've mentioned before in a previous blog about becoming more an 'Ultra Light Weight Backpacker' a rain jacket with deep ZIPPPER pockets is extremely useful in many ways and can serve multiple functions–such as keeping your toiletries bag readily available going through airport security, chargers accessible, and more.

5. DUMMY / FAKE
BANK CARD

Besides most travelers carrying neck pillows, as a budget traveler and backpacker that is often staying in hostels or guest houses with others, having a zipper neck pillow is an added hiding place for items, as odd as it may sound, I would often keep an extra roll of toilet paper in mine both because it's soft and of course for the other reason! 

6. PORTABLE HARD DRIVE

There are many advantages of carrying a 'fake' or 'dummy' credit card. I carry several prepaid gift cards that carry a ZERO balance on them, BUT you want to make sure that they are either Visa or MasterCard with both a 16-digit number and a magnetic strip on the back. The reason for this is for protection when using ATMs interntation–maybe even domestically in a new city–because there are several scams such as the Lebanese loop, card skimming, etc and while there are other ways of having your card number stolen, it's trying to do ALL you can to avoid the possibility of being a victim in general. Therefore, before your travel purchase a gift card and use it both before inserting your actual bank card in ATM machines as well as after you make your transaction. 

Even though the image I used is of a specific brand in my opinion having any type of portable hard drive that is both PC and MAC compatible will be very useful for travel–backing up your photos, sharing music or videos, storing documents (even creating encrypted folders, etc.–the reason I do like this design is primarily because you can have several of these and connect them together with a carabiner or even simple nylon rope. Any backpacker, or I suppose general traveler has experienced losing those smaller items in your bag and having to dig through it to locate it, which can be either annoying or time–constraining and stressful if you need to locate it quickly. So whether you choose a USB Flash (Thumb) Drive or a portable hard drive, these are valuable in so many ways. 

CREATED ENCRYPTED FILES ON MACS USING OSX

Open Disk Utility (use Spotlight to search) → File → New → Disk Image from Folder → (*select folder*) → Create Password → Save your file

BLOG HORIZONTAL: