There are no shortcuts in life—only those we imagine.
– Frank Leahy
Thursday, April 2, 2015 (DAY 1,123)
After more than three-years of continuous global travel–using most of the same items, which are in pairs of three–obviously there are items that you kick yourself for bringing; added dead weight, the things you wish you would have brought, and of course the things that have worked well, but over the course of time and the second law of thermodynamics, where items just become worn out, it becomes necessary to not only purchase new items, BUT, items that are of good quality, which often can be both expensive and/or limiting in the fact that I may only be able to find particular or specific items in the United States. One realization I've had through my ability to travel; Europe, Austrlia, Central and South America, South East Asia, and East Asia, plus talking with international travelers, there is a universal concession that electronics, especially, are the cheapest in the United States whether brand new or used and it doesn't matter what brand or model.
I know that for many people–including myself–find that asking for help, assistance, charity, whatever you would like to call it, can be extremely difficult and utterly humbling. But, I've realized that there are times that I have to suck up my pride and ask for some assistance, therefore, if you are interested in supporting me I would TRULY APPRECIATE, especially if it is material items from the good ole USA, primarily because in my personal opinion, some of the best prices and quality in items are often only available in the United States.
Lastly, as a backpacker that has a very limited amount of material possessions where everything I own not only gets used almost EVERY SINGLE DAY, but stop and think about if you could only select three outfits and maybe one or two pairs of shoes that you have to wear in rotation for three-years....that's my lifestyle, and yet, it can be hard at times, but I still love it! Therefore, below are just some examples the reason why I might be in need of future items.
After more than three-years of continuous global travel–using most of the same items, which are in pairs of three–obviously there are items that you kick yourself for bringing; added dead weight, the things you wish you would have brought, and of course the things that have worked well, but over the course of time and the second law of thermodynamics, where items just become worn out, it becomes necessary to not only purchase new items, BUT, items that are of good quality, which often can be both expensive and/or limiting in the fact that I may only be able to find particular or specific items in the United States. One realization I've had through my ability to travel; Europe, Austrlia, Central and South America, South East Asia, and East Asia, plus talking with international travelers, there is a universal concession that electronics, especially, are the cheapest in the United States whether brand new or used and it doesn't matter what brand or model.
I know that for many people–including myself–find that asking for help, assistance, charity, whatever you would like to call it, can be extremely difficult and utterly humbling. But, I've realized that there are times that I have to suck up my pride and ask for some assistance, therefore, if you are interested in supporting me I would TRULY APPRECIATE, especially if it is material items from the good ole USA, primarily because in my personal opinion, some of the best prices and quality in items are often only available in the United States.
Lastly, as a backpacker that has a very limited amount of material possessions where everything I own not only gets used almost EVERY SINGLE DAY, but stop and think about if you could only select three outfits and maybe one or two pairs of shoes that you have to wear in rotation for three-years....that's my lifestyle, and yet, it can be hard at times, but I still love it! Therefore, below are just some examples the reason why I might be in need of future items.
1. ELECTRONICS
© www.cheaplaptopcompany.co.uk
TECHNOLOGY BECOMING OUTDATED:
Unfortunately, one piece of advice that veteran backpacker of 8-plus-years at the time told me, "spend the extra money on good quality items, because when EVERYTHING you own can fit on your back, it's worth it. I would have never even imagined spending $20 on a single pair of boxer shorts, but, because you are paying for high-quality material that will both be worn almost daily (or in short-rotation) and therefore you will need to be durable." I should have taken the same advice when it came to the tech items I began my journey with, instead of going cheap or trying to save space. Plus, as we have all noticed, over time technology become outdated and unfortunately this can eventually hinder my ability to find work or continue to work remotely from time-to-time.
© www.ebay.com
MAKING TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR ME:
I've noticed that the majority of people–travelers or not–tend to use their laptops for basic uses (i.e. email, surfing the web, social media, etc). However, IF you understand technology even a bit, you can make the best use of your laptop and actually make your laptop work FOR you! For example, for myself of course I have professional editing skills and understanding, website building and design (relatively basic level), SEO, Photoshop and graphic design, etc. Also, by having a laptop and having these skills, I've not only have been able to barter or find paid work, BUT, also by having my own website that cost me exactly $54. for 5-years for my domain, and in that time I've been able to pay back this amount by WORKING HARD by making technology work for me!
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© www.shoptime.com.br
TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNICATION:
Since I am still using an iPhone 4, this has impeded my ability to often stay in communication with family and friends, whether that be in the United States or around the world. Plus, because my phone, which I consider more as a communication tool since most of my travels I have not had actual cell phone service, but utilized the
Wi-Fi and free app capabilities such as; SkypeⓇ, FaceTimeⓇ, FacebookⓇ Messenger, KakaoTalkⓇ, etc. and etc. I have noticed that over time with the advancement of the transmitters and receivers (i.e. my mobile communication device) that connection to Wi-Fi has started to become a more difficult issue. Therefore, good or bad it's starting to become necessary for me to update my mobile phone in the near future. 
© www.9to5mac.com
LET'S STAY IN TOUCH BETTER:
Just as the previous paragraph above, regarding the necessity for upgrading specific technological items, especially mobile devices that are starting to become relatively obsolete due to restrictive access to sites, the inability to use certain apps, etc. and etc. As a global budget traveler, I learned early on both prior to leaving as well as traveling while living on savings, that with each and every purchase I ask the very simple question: Is this a NEED or a WANT? Well, recently I found two great articles that help demonstrate this NEED versus WANT attitude. The first is, from the Wall Street Journal: Is It Time For That New Phone? And the second article is titled, Is Your Gadget Collection Outdated Technology? Both are great and again it's about that time for me to upgrade! ☻
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2. CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES
IMAGINE WEARING THE SAME THREE ITEMS IN ROTATION FOR 3-YEARS:
It may be harder to notice from this photo, but there is a very obvious discoloration in these pants that when purchased were one solid color. Now the top part (shorts) are a much lighter color, while the bottom (pants portion) are more of the regular grey color. These tend to be sort of my 'go-to' pants that I wear frequently, especially for in transit because they have multiple pockets and can zip-away and convert to shorts or vice versa. You can also see in the smaller box on the image (upper left) where they tore and I very poorly stitched them back together.
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ACCESSORY ITEMS WEAR OUT FROM MASSIVE AMOUNT OF USE:
We all know that any item goes through the normal "wear and tear," however, when you are using these items again on a daily basis through some of the most extreme conditions, various climates–high heat, humidity, cold and wind, etc–this is when they obviously begin to deteriorate more quickly. This is exactly WHY I actually spent HOURS in carefully selecting VERY SPECIFIC items on my Wish List, because each and every item will serve a specific purpose for work, travel, or both. Therefore, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but deviating from the items can cause me problems.
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3. GEAR & EQUIPMENT
SECURITY AND OTHER ITEMS:
Surprisingly, there has only been a limited amount of items that I feel that I missed out on bringing for long-term budget travel, but like I continue to say, the items I do have, for instance this retractable cable lock has been used NUMEROUS times to protect electronics as well as ALL of my stuff, but once again this along with many other items have either began to become worn out, were lost, stolen, and have deteriorated to a point that I've either had to throw them away or if they were in decent condition I've donated them to others. For example, before leaving San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua–where I called home for nearly 10-months–I accumulated several items and while I could have sold many of these items, which I did try selling my surfboard, but when that didn't sell I donated it to Pacha Mama Hostel, donated my queen-size bed to our hostel cleaner Marta, and gave a large garbage of various clothes and other items to our overnight security guard, pool cleaner, and friend, Mauricio! So please know that even if items are sent to me in the form of physical items or monetary funds, I'm constantly on the lookout for ways to Pay–It–Forward to others, because I've realized living with less has actually given me more. Therefore, I hope to repay those that have especially helped me!
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BACKPACKS:
As I mentioned many times before, I did not just wake up one morning and say, "I hate my life, let's quick my job and travel the world." But, quite the opposite. Not only did I love the company I worked for, but I spent nearly a year in planning, researching, and testing out clothing, equipment, etc. My Eagle Crest Truist 65L Tour Pack, has held up quite well and I test LOTS of packs before deciding upon this particular one. Butm as you can see from the image and the box (lower left) this was when "someone" in Guatemala broke into my room even though I had my bag locked both to a permanent pipe and the bottom portion was locked that held my excess cash and the thieves went through the inside of my bag and cut it to get to the locked compartment to steal my cash. I used a great tip, which is using dental floss to repair it, but obviously again over time there may be a need for a new backpack in the future that is actually smaller in size as I reduce items, primarily the weight of my laptop, which currently is a 13" MacBook from 2007 is 5lbs plus with the case, mouse, and charger compared to if I were to upgrade to a 13" MacBook Air, which is 2.96lbs, and this of course we be a huge benefit not just on my back but also in the amount of space it occupies.
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4. MISC
PROOF OF MY HARD WORK:
While working as a private English (#ESL) tutor in Seoul, I've been extremely proud to have managed to maintain not only the number one, BUT, also the number two spot on Google! I just thought I would demonstrate, and maybe brag a little, about my ability of using technology by working hard through using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in order to accomplish this feat. Notice as well that my #1 and #2 Google ranking is out of 16.1 million results! This is also a great article I found recently about how to achieve top SEO rankings, feel free to read and agree or disagree.
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WORKING WHILE TRAVELING:
I'm sorry if this particular blog entry seems to be repetitive, but as I said EACH and EVERY one of my items on my Wish List serves a specific purpose, whether at the current moment or in the near future.
JOIN ME ON MY TRAVELS via INSTAGRAM #TROYTRAVELS
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