5 ITEMS I REGRET NOT BRINGING FOR LONG-TERM TRAVEL

Time is the ONE thing in life you cannot buy more of. Your minutes are granted. Do not waste mine. – Andrea Vlad

Friday, February 28, 2014 (DAYS 728 – 756)
One of the best pieces of advice I received prior to setting out on this amazing journey came from a friend that I first met through Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum from a post I threw out to the online community of budget-minded travelers. Jeff is an experienced backpacker from the States that surpasses me by more than 8 years of continuous travel and we have continued to maintain a good friendship as well as meeting up in person for the first time almost two years after our first initial exchange of online messages and emails in Lima, Peru in March of 2013. His advice to me when purchasing all of my items for my extended travels was, “don’t go cheap.” By this simple statement, he meant that when every material possession you own fits into a bag and can be carried on your back you certainly get what you pay for, and while most every item can be found around the globe there are certain things that are more difficult to come by or at the very least will be much more expensive (double or triple) than if you were just to purchase them in the United States (sorry international readers, this may also be true in your home countries). This is my personal list of five items I wish I had invested in and brought with me prior to my extended and ongoing travel adventures, because these items as a travel blogger or a person of any type of tech skill can be used to save you money with service exchanges for free accommodation or meals to earning you paid work for your skills or just having this equipment with you. As much as I understand some travelers want to limit their amount of electronics or expensive gear, which is what I attempted to do from the beginning, if I would have had these items with me there would have been an even greater possibility for saving money through my travels, which speaking with most backpackers on a long term travel plan, “we are all hustling our way to stay on the road,” and this is one of the best ways of making that a reality. 

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#BACPACKERTIPS 5 ITEMS NOT TO GO CHEAP ON

5. WATERPROOF WRIST WALLET
Even though I found a similar item such as this in Bali, Indonesia, the cheap material caused the wrist wallet to fall apart in less than a week. This item will come in extremely handy whether you are at the beach, swimming under waterfalls, or exploring the nightlife where pick-pockets or the lack of secure pockets on your clothing are available.  

4. BETTER BACKPACK
The item that tends to take a larger pounding than anything is your smaller backpack that not only carries your valuables while in transit, but this is also constantly being opened and adjusted. When choosing a backpack, I personally look for multiple pockets with zippers including one specifically for my laptop, overall comfort as this bag may weigh the same if not more than your larger backpack and with that I want strong durable straps, zippers, and I evaluate the material on the bottom of the outside of the bag for long-term abusive use.    

3. MACBOOK PRO & LAPTOP HARDCASE
Since I use my laptop outside of surfing the web and watching movies (as many backpackers utilize their laptops in this manner), I actually use my laptop for professional video editing, graphic design, blogging, as well as the usual backpacking up digital materials, researching, and communication. Once again don’t go cheap with hacking a netbook for the sake of price or weight, go with the real deal! And since this will be the most expensive possession you own protect it with a hard case and always lock it up.

2. LACIE RUGGED 1TB EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE
Even though I currently have an older MacBook that has been ugraded with a 1TB HD, you can always use more memory and I would suggest the LaCie Rugged HD. When I was working for HDNet (AXS.tv) in the States, these were my favorite drives that we constantly shipped to clients both domestically and internationally and I felt they held up very well.

1. DSLR CAMERA & CASE
This will be your second most expensive item and while I chose to go with the cheaper option of a point-and-shoot waterproof camera, this in the long run has a terrible lens, video quality is poor, and once again whether you are blogging or shooting video a DSLR is the way to go even though it does seem bulky or you are concerned with pulling it out in some areas. That’s why having a iPod or smartphone will be your next best electronic because the size and the multiple functions for use over Wi-Fi. Having a solid camera will allow you to negotiate shooting video or photos for events, parties, charity organizations, etc because electronics are more expensive everywhere else in the world, including Asia, surprisingly!

Crossing the Vietnam border at Ha Tien

MY PERSONAL RTW EXPERIENCE:
I apologize in advance for condensing my entire month spent in Vietnam into a single blog post, but I feel that I’ve fallen so far behind that the memories are beginning to fade and I would like to be more recent with my writings now that I am back to a country where Wi-Fi connects are consistent, South Korea. My last few months in Southeast Asia (#SEA) have been filled with sparse connections to say the least. Everywhere from Indonesia, Singapore, and Cambodia, these countries have left me out of communication with many family and friends, and entering my 34th country of Vietnam this continues to follow the same trend. The short two-hour bus ride from Kampot, Cambodia to the overland border crossing of Ha Tien, we arrive just after 5pm in the evening. Since Vietnam is one of the few countries that does not offer visas upon arrival, this document was secured in Cambodia several days before, but I have heard that recently Vietnam is offering visas on arrival at the airport for those that enter the country in this method. After learning that the bus to Ho Chi Minh City, which most Vietnamese still refer to it as Saigon, will not be departing until 7:30pm I decide to walk around the small border town and stretch my legs before the 8-plus hour journey to the old capital. 

Taking in a local neighborhood soccer match on the streets of Ha Tien, Vietnam

As I was slowly strolling several of the side streets I came across a local soccer game being played in the street that incredibly the men playing were not only doing this on broken asphalt but also completely bare foot. After a few minutes, they noticed me, and it seemed as though they took an interest to having an audience and more trick moves were now put on display. This pick-up game also made me reminisce of my youth each time a vehicle came driving down the road and the game was temporarily suspended until it had passed through their makeshift playing field. I was tempted to join them, but decided against being quite sweaty for the upcoming overnight bus ride. 

The overnight sleeper bus in Vietnam

Our bus arrived in one of the various bus terminals in Saigon (or HCMC) just after 3am where I pulled myself from my seat and since I would be flying to Korea from this city at the beginning of next month I decided to forego spending time here but wanted to make my way to the central highland town of Dalat, which was another 8-hour journey by bus. Amid the confusion when asking if there were buses departing from this terminal for Dalat, I was rushed onto a transfer bus, and lost track of my friend that decided to stay in the southern part of the country and was waiting at the terminal on a bench. I attempted to get off to let her know I was heading for another bus terminal, but before I could the bus was already in motion and there was a handful of people between me and the door off the bus. The free transfer to me to District 5 and in the darkness of the early morning I noticed that it was just after 4:10am. After searching for someone that spoke English, I was able to secure a bus ticket for the 5am departure to Dalat. In the haze of being sleep deprived and exhausted, as soon as I was situated in my seat I was fast asleep and the next memory I had was daylight piercing through the windows of the windy mountain roads. 

The outside of our overnight bus headed to Dalat, Vietnam

My final bus arrived in Dalat at 12:40pm where my body felt as though it had been through one of the toughest longest travel journeys yet. To recap this momentous haul; we departed Kampot, Cambodia the day before at 3:30pm and in the following 22-hour journey I had been on six buses, a ferry boat, a tuk tuk, completed an overland border crossing, and waited at three different bus terminals between transfers.

Hoa Binh Square Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng, Việt Nam Thành phố Đà Lạt

Nicknamed the City of the Eternal Spring, Dalat, was originally built as a vacationing spot for the French when the country was colonized by the European nation and the architecture and natural landscapes are a cross between Vietnam and the French Alps. The lush evergreen pine forests that surround the area are dotted with several lakes and waterfalls, however, since it is outside the rainy season many of the waterfalls are barely trickles this time of year. Dalat is also a popular destination for those that seek to escape the heat and humidity of Saigon for cooler evenings and nights in the higher altitude of the central highlands.

Dinner with Swiss friends at Chocolat Restaurant

During my time in Dalat I met some great people, including two French Canadian retirees that were in their 70s and 80s, as well as two girls from Switzerland that I was able to share several meals and adventures with while spending time in the highlands region of Vietnam.

Nha Trang, Vietnam aka Little Russia

Departing from Dalat just after 8:30am and only transferring once, the windy mountain roads created quite the bus ride, which is certainly not for those that are easily prone to motion sickness, since on more than a few occasions the belongings that were situated on the floor between peoples feet were flung across the aisle way. Arriving four-hours later in the coastal town of Nha Trang, where I was warned well in advance of the numerous Russian tourists that flock to this specific spot, which has been dubbed “Little Russia.” I thought it was quite interesting that many of the signs and food menus in Nha Trang were listed only in Russian, not even in Vietnamese. When I inquired about the Russian infatuation with Vietnam, I was told that that this trend has only been popular in the past few years from a foreign business owner, Malcom, and much of the reason for this is due to the fact that there are five direct daily flights from Moscow to Nh Trang and Russian nationals that wish to visit are not required to obtain a visa if their stay is no more than two weeks. Malcom also went on to tell me that because of the bargain vacation packages that include round trip airfare and a week’s worth of hotel accommodation all for the price tag of around $400 this makes for one of the cheapest destinations for Russians to escape the cold. I suppose it can be equated that Vietnam is Russia’s Mexico for most American leisure vacationers.

Thành phố Nha Trang, Việt Nam

While in Nha Trang I also had the great pleasure of reuniting with my friend Quinnan and his girlfriend Grace, both whom are from Alaska, and I first met Quinnan in Nicaragua over a year ago and bumped in to him in Laos a few months prior. The three of us had a great time catching up and during this time I was also informed of the incredible seasonal work opportunities in Alaska. On our last day we decided to indulge mud baths at the Thap Ba Spa for only $10 for the entire afternoon and included several swimming pools. A bit nervous in our departure time from the spa since I had an overnight bus to catch at 6pm the same evening, we thankfully made it back to the hostel with time to spare and our brief goodbyes were exchanged and before I knew I was heading north to Hoi An.

Looking like a BOSS in custom tailored suits Vietnam style son

There have been several great friends that I’ve made during my travels in SEA and one have them has been my good friend Christophe from Germany. Since he was traveling from the north we decided to meet in Hoi An and booked a room to share, which was a nice change from the dorms. Our first full day in Hoi An we decided to rent bicycles for $2 for the day and peddled out to the beach before heading back to the historic city center, but on our way we were solicited in to a tailor shop where we proceeded to have custom tailor suits made for $150. You are probably wondering why would a backpacker need a suit? Well I decided that since I was going to be stopping in Seoul before my potential stopover in Alaska to work for the Summer and then head back to Costa Rica I wanted to surprise my birth mom with this gift of escorting her to church and I also knew that I would get plenty of use out of this suit while in Korea and could easily ship it to Costa Rica before returning to the States.

Hội An, Việt Nam

I was told several times by the locals, "ooh, I thought you Vietnamese. You brown like me." I couldn't help but laugh at this.

So I was in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam with two Germans and….

Originally planning to continue north to Hanoi before returning to Saigon for my flight to Korea at the end of the month, I made the decision to travel south with Christophe since the weather did not appear to be improving. After talking with several friends that had either just came from the north or were currently there it seemed as though everyone was coming down with a cold or even worse and I didn’t want to tempt this before a long flight to Korea. Instead I figured I could explore the Mekong Delta and more of southern Vietnam and save Ha Long Bay for another time when the season is more preferable. On our second day in Saigon we added another German to our group, Bernie, and we spent a few days together exploring the city that included a visit to the War Remnants Museum. 

The seaside town of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu

After the departure of Christophe and Bernie I made my way to the Mekong Delta and the towns of My Tho and Vung Tau.

View from my private room in Saigon

My last sunset in Ho Chi Minh City before heading to East Asia and returning to my motherland of South Korea.