Life on the Road

We've been traveling well over 2 months now and the time seems to be flying by.  Our usual posts focus on the places we've recently seen, interesting sights, and the cultures we're experiencing.  These fun aspects of traveling account for about 95% of our time.  However, there's still some things about constantly being on-the-go that aren't quite as exciting.  This post is about some of the less glamorous aspects of life on the road.

 

Planning while on the road:

Before we left we had a general outline of our route.  We knew roughly which countries we wanted to visit, an approximate amount of time in each place, and the general areas we wanted to see in each country.  We purchased a couple major flights but the rest was pretty much unplanned.  Basically, when we're getting to the end of being in one place we start thinking ahead about the next week: what nearby towns/cities we want to see, how many nights we'll probably need in each place, and using the guide book to look at general logistics about transportation.  This constantly gets revamped as we find that we'll want to spend more time in one place or less time in another once we get there.  Then a day or two before we move to each new town we figure out the logistics, such as bus times, etc.  When we get into a new town we first find lodging.  We rarely book our hotels ahead of time but just showing up and seeing the rooms has usually worked out.  If a place is booked or too expensive (or too gross) we just try another.

The constant planning and moving around can get a little tiring.  But one thing that has been nice for us is that we're able to move at a slower pace than we would for a normal-length vacation.  Places where we'd often spend one day, we often will spend two or more.  This allows us to catch our breath and get to know a place better.  It makes the traveling feel a lot more enjoyable and less tiring.

 

Errands

We only spend a small amount of our time doing "errands and chores" but we quickly realized we needed a notebook to keep track of our to-do lists.  Most of these involve sending various emails, checking and paying bills, writing the blog, buying replacement toiletries, medicines, etc., doing laundry, and buying snacks.  It's stuff we've never really had to do on other, shorter trips.

 

Living Out of a Backpack

Alex: I was concerned about the idea of living out of a backpack for so long: 2 pants, 3 t-shirts, and 2 long sleeves don't leave a lot of options for a variety of outfits.  Plus, there was the daunting thought of having to repack the bag every 2-3 days as we moved around.  However, I've gotten used to it.  Having practically no clothing choices makes getting dressed very simple: "What did I wear yesterday?  Is it still clean-ish?  Did I wear the day before, too?  No--great, I'll just put that back on!"  Laundry days involve a lot of forethought, though, as I try to wash as much as I can while still having something to wear.  I've managed to arrange everything in my bag so that I can get to everything that I use daily quite easily.  Re-packing is quick and I've been really pleased with the things I brought.  It's not too much (as in, it all fits) but I also have everything I really need.  Two purchases that were definitely worth it: the sleep liner and my full-zip microfleece.  The first has saved me from many gross beds and the second has saved me from the freezing cold. 

 

Chris: We both put a lot of time into thinking through what we wanted to pack.  Some of the more random items that have turned out indespensable include:

• ear plugs -- for all the barking dogs, thin hotel walls, honking cars, and generally loud places we've been
• mini ipod speakers -- Having music in our hotel room that we can both listen to at the same time has been a lot fun I wasn't sure if it'd be a waste of space but it's only a few inches long and weighs a few ounces
• sleep sheet liner -- absolutely necessary for the sometimes less the perfectly clean bed sheets; it also adds some warmth in the colder places we've been
• headlamp -- this was especially important for trekking, where there's often no electricity at night, but also for places like Kathmandu, where nightly power outages occured
• water purifer -- this was our effort to cut down on plastic bottles, especially in places like India and Nepal where there's no recycling.  It was tough to use at first; it's one thing to use the purifier in a rushing river in New Hampshire but I realized there was a mental hurdle to using it from a gross faucet in India.

Keeping in Touch:

Alex:  Internet access is widespread, making it easy to keep up with people through emails.  As long as we have internet every few days it doesn't take much time and I love hearing about everyone's lives back home. I've even been able to call home a couple times when we found particularly cheap phone rates.  Sometimes I feel a bit removed which is hard but a part of being away for 6 months that I anticipated. Having the blog also really helps me feel connected.  I've loved hearing back from people who comment on it or just send a note saying they're reading along.  It's great picturing what friends and family are thinking about when they read it and it's another way that helps me feel connected to "back home."

 

Comforts of "Home"

Alex: It is definitely difficult at times to never have a permanent home.  We have stayed in such a range of places with: hard planks and soft beds, clean sheets and those scattered with someone else's hairs, Western toilets and holes in the dirt outside (I will spare most of you the details), showers with and without sandals for protection.  For the most part it doesn't faze me but every once in awhile I just ache for my regular bed with sheets I washed and a bathroom that I know is clean because I cleaned it.  (Wow, now I'm missing cleaning!)  On the other hand, I've been surprised by how easy it is for me to adapt to all these different situations. 

 

Chris: Pretty much the same as what Alex wrote.  The time is flying by and I'm having the time of my life.  But there are times I wish we could be on our couch drinking wine, going to get pizza at Upper Crust, going to Mike's video to rent a movie, running along the Charles River, hanging out in the Public Garden, etc. 

 

Food and Exercise: The Quest for Healthy Living

Back home we both go to the gym regularly, eat healthy home-cooked meals, and only eat out once or twice a week.  This is fairly easy as it's part of our routine.  All this flies out the window while traveling.  One of the things we both miss most is being able to cook (Chris misses that, Alex misses eating it) and just having healthy options for meals and snacks at the ready.  We're particularly craving fresh salads with good olive oil and balsamic, yogurt (Chris), and cereal (Alex).  Eating at restaurants for every meal can get old.  We try to eat the local foods as much as possible (except for breakfast) but definitely have cravings for Western foods.  Therefore, when we get to really touristy towns we'll take advantage of their "international" menus once or twice.  This often means disappointing pizzas, etc. but sometimes it's close to the real thing.  The other problem with always eating out is the temptations.  There's the slew of unhealthy, but tasty, entrees as well as desserts and drinks.  Also, we constantly are tempted by the loads of cookies and bisquits in the snack aisles and the many bakeries with sweets that we pass.  When you haven't seen a good looking chocolate dessert or a real Snickers in a long time it becomes very difficult to pass it down.  Who knows when you'll see the next one?  (Unfortunately, it's usually too soon.)

 

Also, we are doing a lot of walking and some hiking but other forms of exercise are difficult to fit in.  We have a band so we try to do strength exercises in our rooms but without any regular schedule we've found it hard to either remember to do it or find the time.  This is something we're making a better effort at doing regularly.

 

So that's a bit about the "unseen" parts of our travels!