Total Distance 60km

See the end of the post for elevation profile, maps, and GPX files

After we stealthily exited the campground without paying we found a few picnic tables about 4 km down the road. We thought this was a great place to stop, have breakfast, and dry out our tent. Every morning the rainfly for our tent has been soaking wet but we’ve managed to dry it either before we left the campground or later when we stopped. It’s been kind of annoying but it’s the best solution to keeping everything dry we’ve been able to come up with this trip. There is nothing worse than that moldy smell permeating throughout your gear.

We made some eggs with the leftover blue cheese and had some coffee while looking at our maps planning our route for the day. We met back up with the bike path through the vineyards and followed the signs through the cute little towns along the foothills of the valley. We figured that since it was a bike route it would be relatively flat, but we did encounter a few hills. These were the first substantial climbs of the trip and we were pretty surprised how much we felt the trailer dragging behind us.

Each city we passed had the quintessential old world attributes. We entered the cities through old ramparts; there were old churches with large bell towers and wine tasting in just about every town. The bike routes were marked with stickers and arrows on street posts which were usually really well placed. When in doubt we just went straight. For the most part only the turns are marked, but it turns into a fun treasure hunt as you wind through the towns looking for your next clue.

When we got through Itterswiller the bike route took a sharp left up another hill. At that point we had had our fill of cute Alsace towns and we decided to deviate from the marked path and take the mostly flat road with more traffic. At another little town, Gertwiller we picked up the trail again and wound our way through more amazing vineyards and into Obernai. From Obernai the path we were following ended and we made our own way to Molsheim. We got to the municipal campground around 4pm and showered and relaxed for a bit.

The campground here was really cheap—only 11 euro for both of us. We did a little bit of laundry and some planning for our next day. We sat down with a bottle of wine and made dinner around sunset and started to feel moderately accomplished at the distance we have covered so far given how long it’s been since we have been on a bike.

The GPX tracks of our route is here.

The map and elevation profile of our ride is here.

View Beblenheim to Molsheim in a larger map

A Planned Lead Fall

You are tired and struggling. You’ve been searching the rock face for holds but you aren’t finding anything useful and you know you can’t hold on much longer. You need to let go of the rock. How do you keep yourself safe?

It is always safer to avoid shock loading a bolt. Statically weighting the bolt (letting go slowly while you are at the bolt) creates much less force on the fixed gear than dynamic weight (falling, even if it’s just a short distance). Keeping this in mind it is a good idea to try down-climbing to your last bolt or as close to it as possible, whenever possible. I have found that for beginning leaders, down-climbing is beneficial in two ways: it strengthens hand/foot/eye coordination which will help your overall climbing skills and it can provide mental strengthening by forcing the climber to slowly and securely exit the stressful climbing situation. In time, experience down-climbing will make you a better and more confident leader. Too much down-climbing, however can waste precious energy needed to send a route. If you are starting to get pumped don’t worry about taking the fall. You can take the fall, rest for as long as you need, then retry the move when you are ready.

Whenever you consciously let go of the rock it is also crucial to think about body positioning. Nasty lead falls often happen when the climber’s body is in a strange position or interacts with the rope. In an ideal situation you will be able to position yourself with your legs spread wide and the rope directly underneath you. This will provide the greatest chance of a clean fall in which you make contact with the rock only with your feet as the rope stretches to catch you. In many cases there is a traverse or there aren’t sufficient holds for you to truly reposition yourself to prepare for the fall. In this case, if you can, take note of your position on the rock and in relation to the rope and plan accordingly as you let go. If you expect a pendulum swing, you will be better equipped to deal with it as you fall.

One mistake that many new leaders make is to grab their gear. While the bright shiny quickdraw may appear to be a friendly hold to steady yourself on NEVER EVER grab your gear. In a worst case scenario you can seriously injure yourself (warning, graphic pictures). Even in a best case scenario it will put extra stress on your protection.

Finally it is always a good idea to warn your belayer before you take a planned fall. If you are on a long pitch, communication may not be possible and at all times your belayer should be ready to catch a fall. That said, a quick shout is always welcome.

An Unplanned Lead Fall

At a certain point the line between planned and unplanned lead falls blur. In many instances it will be clear that you may fall on a certain move and whenever possible all of the steps above should be taken (obviously with the exception of down-climbing). This includes awareness of body position, not grabbing your gear and warning your belayer. In some instances the fall is truly unexpected. Your foot can slip, a hold can break, the hold you thought was a jug may not be as positive as you’d like, and down you come.

Your best bet for staying safe leading is to be aware of the dynamics of falls and to continue to evaluate your position in relation to the rock, the rope and your last clip. The fall will go well if you practice good rope management to begin with. If you make mistakes or do not pay attention you can seriously hurt yourself.

Good rope management includes being sure to keep the rope between you and the rock (i.e. not backstepping) and planning your clip well. Backstepping can be a bit mysterious to new leaders, but it is a very important concept to understand. By keeping the rope between you and the rock you will make sure that your legs don’t interact with the rope as you fall. In a worst case scenario a backstep can flip you around and land you head first into the wall.

Learning to clip well and safely is also crucial to safe lead climbing. First and foremost this includes making sure not to backclip. Like backstepping, the concept of backclipping sometimes confuses beginning leaders. It doesn’t happen often, but if backclipped there is a chance that the gate of your quickdraw will actually open when you fall, unclipping the rope and leaving your last point of protection useless. For more info look for a future post devoted to backclipping.

Learning when and where to clip involves trusting yourself and learning your limitations. What is most important while clipping is to have a secure stance. When you clip you pull up extra rope, increasing the amount of rope between you and your last protection and leaving yourself the most vulnerable to taking a large fall. Climbing convention says that you should always try to clip when your bolt is between your head and your knot. This way you ensure that if you fall while clipping, there will not be too much excess slack in the system. My advice, however, is to clip where you feel secure. If you have a good hold and feel confident that you can make the clip there is no reason to continue climbing. Try first floating one hand up to ensure the bolt is within range then proceed to attach your quickdraw and clip the rope. As you climb harder routes you will invariably find clips with no secure clipping position. In this case do your best to arrive at the bolt and/or find the most secure position and try to only take the amount of rope necessary to make the clip.

Airborne

If you are leading and you are challenging yourself you will fall. Falling is part of sport climbing. By ensuring you practice these basic and crucial safety methods you will keep yourself safe and happy. Once you leave the rock the only thing you can do is try to keep your feet in front of you to absorb the shock when you come in for the landing. Personally I love falling on lead. I avoid it whenever possible and it often scares me to death, but once I am flying I really enjoy the feeling. It gets my adrenaline pumping and as the rope stretches and I come to a rest I love knowing that I am pushing myself to my limit and that my safety system works. Remember to check your rope regularly, especially after big falls. Happy climbing and happy falling!

After reading that some people used the multimats for sleeping pads. We purchased two multimats thinking that we could figure out a way to fold them to be thick enough to sleep on. At 2 mm think we were kidding ourselves thinking that 8-10 mm would be enough to sleep comfortably on hard ground. Considering most thermarests are 3. 5 cm we realized there was no way we would be able to achieve that kind of padding. In the end we had to buy a foam pad to supplement our Multimats and have managed to keep the weight down but it still takes up about as much space as two thermarests. I will rate these on weight, size, function and durability.

Weight

These mats are only 19oz (540g) which isn’t the lightest thing available but given their size and versatility it is nothing to shake a stick at. Our thermarests weighed 1lb 15oz (almost 4lbs for two) versus 2lb 6oz for two multimats effectively cutting our weight in half. Our foam pad weighs just under a pound so we have shaved off a little bit of weight and gained a sleeping system that fits perfectly in our tent.

Size

The unfolded size of the Multimat is 80in by 40in which happens to be the size of our tent so it works out great for us. The nice thing is you can fold or roll these to fit just about any space you have available. We stuff these into a duffle bag when the bike is packed into the suitcase and fold them to easily fit in the suitcase when we’re on tour.

Function

These are incredibly versatile mats. They are waterproof and provide insulation from the ground moisture that tends to creep in when camping. They can be used for just about any purpose and perform well in any situation. Having two below us lets us use our sleeping bag as a blanket during the summer without feeling any cold penetrating from below.

Durability

Exped boasts that the foam is incredibly durable but this is where they begin to lack performance. We have torn a couple holes in the foam from rocky beaches and pulling on them too hard. I was surprised to find the holes and after only 15 real days of use. The holes don’t seem like they will spread and don’t affect performance. I don’t think this is a real deal breaker but it’s important to keep in mind when handling them.

Review

Overall I would give these an 8 out of 10. They are a great product and really can be used for just about anything. While not the best for sleeping they are light, easy to clean, and dry quickly.

If you found this review useful click through to our affiliate Moosejaw.com that carries the Exped MultiMat and has free shipping.

See end of post for elevation profile, maps and GPX files.

We woke up at our posh Gugel campground and set about starting the day. We had neglected to stake out one side of the tent fly and as a result our tent, fly and tarp were all pretty soaked. Getting packed up, ready to go and drying the tent out ended up taking us almost two hours. Turns out we are slow off of the bike on this trip too.

We didn’t have any cooking fuel yet, having forgotten to get it before we left Switzerland so we stopped to buy some breakfast. I guess that’s a result of spending only one day getting ready for this trip. We stopped by the gas station on the way to the bike path. They didn’t have fuel but they had coffee and breakfast. The gas station had a restaurant attached. It was quite a little scene. The two women working there were what I imagine your German grandmother was. Imposing and brusk at first glance, but very sweet. We tried to order two scrambled eggs each and they asked if we wanted speck (pork product of some sort) as well. We went for it and when the food came out we had a mountain of porky eggs in front of each of us. I swear they couldn’t have used less than 6 eggs each. We sat down and crammed in what we could, watching the local guys watch risqué videos on the TV and play the electronic slots and drink beer (at 9am). It was a truck stop after all. We both hardly finished half of our plates and packed the rest to go, it only came to 9 euro with coffee and we were pretty surprised. Here I am with our massive leftovers later that day.

We hit the road with bellies full of pork products and found the actual German Rhine route. The route was gorgeous. The river was wide and calm and we were mostly in the shade as we rode up the east bank. It was unpaved but the packed dirt was definitely rideable and nothing near as bad as the gravel route we had gotten on the day before. The trail was well marked and full of touring cyclists and lots of groups out for a day ride.

At one point we came across a large group camp of motorcycle tricycle enthusiasts. They had all pulled their RV’s for a big party on the river. Numerous couples were going up and down on hilarious Harley-esque trikes.

We rode the Rhine route for 30 km and then decided it was time to cross back over to France. To my knowledge the route continues all the way to Strasbourg and beyond, but after a few hours of picturesque but monotonous dirt trail we were ready for some pavement and a change. We took a left back to France at Neuf-Brisach and immediately found a well signposted cycling route to Colmar, about 16 km inland.

Having no real plan, or map, or idea of where the heck we were going we decided that today was a good day to get a map. We also really wanted fuel so we could start cooking our own meals. Being a big city, Colmar was the obvious destination. We followed the bike route right into town through some pretty fields lined with wild blackberries and blueberries, lots and lots of corn growing and the occasional happy French cow.

Colmar was very cute and very packed. We managed to find the Michelin maps we needed, numbers 315 and 307 with a 1:150,000 resolution at 4,50€ a pop. These maps show minor roads and major bike routes and in tandem with the GPS should get us all the way to Belgium. At the Colmar tourist office we also picked up a free bike map of the Haute Rhin. They had another one which was very detailed but Colmar was the furthest north that it showed. The other map was 2,50€. We managed to get some fuel and some groceries at the Intermarche supermarket on the outskirts of town and we headed off to find a place to spend the night.

This tour is an experiment for us in a lot of ways. We are on a strict budget and would like to save money wherever possible, the easiest way to do that is to stealth camp. For those of you who aren’t familiar stealth camping, it involves camping out of sight on unused land. Since the land is presumably unused (meaning un-improved and possibly not privately owned) there is no one to ask for permission. You are careful to arrive late and leave early and most importantly to leave no trace.

Heading out of Colmar on the bike route we came across a large forested area. We stopped at a nearby place de picnic and contemplated our options. The forest was the perfect place to give stealth camping a try, it was relatively dense and flat with little underbrush. We tossed the idea around as we ate our ratatouille, bleu cheese and baguette and drank our Corbieres, but in the end we wussed out and booked it another 12 km to the nearest campground and shower. I guess these yuppies dies hard.

To our luck, though this being France it also wasn’t very surprising, the campground was closed when we arrived. The reception closed at 8pm and we rolled in around 8:30. With no one to register us and the sun already set we had no choice but to camp there anyway.

The campground was almost entirely full. August in France is RV mania with huge set-ups hauled around Europe from all over. We circled around and found one open place. We unhooked the trailed and started to pitch the tent. Just as we were putting the stakes in a French couple drove up in their giant RV and informed us that we were in their spot. We helped them pull in and apologized, explaining that the reception was closed when we arrived. Seeing our little tent they were very generous and told us we were welcome to share the space. They parked the RV, went into the back and we hardly saw them again. In the morning we packed up and left well before the 9am opening of the reception so in a way I guess we did stealth camp. Success?

If you use a GPS you can download a GPX file of our ride here. (right click – save target as)

View EuroVelo 5 from Neuenburg, Germany to Beblenheim, France in a larger map

Summer in Finale Ligure is hot, sometimes too hot. Luckily that doesn’t impede your climbing potential with the shady forests and amazing rock in Boragni. The whole Boragni area contains 164 routes within a 15 minute walk of the parking lot. Without your own transportation it can be difficult to reach, but with the volume of summer climbing going on here you can probably find a ride from town.

Boragni can be packed on the weekends, but on weekdays you can have whole walls to yourself. Even when it is busy you will hardly wait for a route and make some friends while you do. Of the walls we visited in Boragni we found a lot of variation from technical vertical climbing, large overhangs and some fun liebacks and other formations. The area has some multi pitch routes on the Settore Sinistro but for the large part is single pitch.

There are several guidebooks to Finale Ligure but the best is definitely “Finale 007” by Andrea Gallo. You can buy it online through a few European retailers or at the Rockshop in Piazza Garibaldi in Finalborgo, a neighborhood of Finale Ligure. The shop also has put selected topos online, including the Settore Sinistro of Boragni. The notes are in Italian but the topo lists the height and rating of each climb which you should be able to use even if you don’t speak Italian. Check out the topo here.

We had a hard time finding the parking lot the first time but realized it was the obvious flat area after a few circles. Here is a map of the parking lot and crag location.

View Broagni, Finale Ligure, Italy in a larger map

When deciding on this pair of shoes I looked for comfort, performance, and durability.

Comfort

I decided on this pair of shoes over the men’s nago and even the La Sportiva Mythos because the toe box is larger. The source of my discomfort with the Moccasym was my toes so I wanted something that would accommodate some swelling. I used them every day in Thailand in 90 degree heat and never had a problem with shoe tightness. In fact as my feet swelled it filled out the shoe and gave me a nice snug fit. They are pretty narrow around the arch of the foot since they are designed for narrow feet but the laces provided the adjustability to make them comfortable for my slightly wider feet.

Performance

I typically don’t climb super hard routes but for the grades I have climbed (up to 6c/5.11c) I have not had any issues with my feet. I’ve had just as much ease smearing and edging with these shoes as I did with the moccasyms. They have been great for single and multi-pitch routes alike.

Durability

This is the one area where I have been disappointed. Within about 30 uses the sole started to peel away from the rand. For beginners this is common since as one struggles to get up the wall it’s easy to drag your feet up to the next hold. I know better than to do this when I’m climbing now and it appears that my big feet stretch the shoe and pull the rubber rand away from the sole. I have another male friend who uses the same pair of shoes and the exact thing happened with his shoes as well.

Review

Overall they fit and perform how I wanted, but I think they could be a little more resilient when it comes to durability. Overall I would give them a 7 out of 10. When I need to purchase another pair of shoes I will likely look for something different and hopefully find a shoe that will stand up to a little more abuse.

If you found this review helpful please click through to our affiliate altrec.com which sells the La Sportiva Nago and has free shipping.

Total Distance: 45.9 km

See end of post for elevation profile, maps and GPX files.

We got up early to catch the train from Geneva to Basel. We were originally going to start our tour from Geneva, but we were a little out of shape and short on time. We opted to start in Basel since it would get us through the Jura mountains and pretty much right onto the Rhine River and EuroVelo 5.

This is our first long bike trip in Europe and we only spent about two days planning it. We got some help from George Jemmet, who sent us GPS files from his trip earlier this year where he followed the EV5. They were a huge help and were fantastic for getting us out of the city.

We arrived in Basel at around 11am and stepped outside to be greeted by a downpour. We immediately wondered if this was going to be Bali all over again. We checked the weather before we left and it appeared to be clear as far forward as the forecast can predict. We decided to assemble our bike and deal with the rain when the time came, luckily by the time we finished it was clear and sunny. While I got to work on the bike Briana ran to the grocery store and set out to look for a map. Being a Sunday we were a little worried that everything would be closed. Luckily there was a grocery store in the train station and it was open. We had no luck finding a map nearby but with our trusty GPS we figured we would manage.

As we assembled the bike we got quite a few people who would give us a second glance as they walked by, and we even had a couple of super friends who stayed the whole time we assembled the bike. Our first friend said he was a musician and was really amazed at how the bike came together before him. But given that it was 11am and he was already on his second beer (that we could see) I think we were just a little bit of morning entertainment and he would have been sitting there in front of the train station regardless. When he found out it was a tandem he just kept saying “that’s love, that’s love.” Our other friend was staring intently at us pretty much the whole time, including when we sat and ate lunch after the bike was assembled. He walked up to the suitcase with our bike parts in it and stared at it for awhile. We were starting to wonder if he was going to demand a ride when he asked us where we were from very slowly and deliberately. That’s when we realized he was a little slow. About two and a half hours after we arrived at the train station the bike was assembled the trailer was packed and we said goodbye to our super friends to hit the road.

The route out of Basel is really beautiful. There is a bike path right next to the Rhine and it was packed with touring cyclists. There were a few summer restaurants set up along the water which were serving sausages and other grilled food that looked tempting but we were eager to get moving. We already spent half a day getting there and we wanted to cover as much ground as possible.

Trying to find our way to the EuroVelo 5 route and across the river into France we accidentally rode right through the border checkpoint. Passing the line of cars waiting to be flagged through we got a pretty funny look from the customs official, but passed through without incident. Only about 20 minutes in and we had already made our first international border crossing.

We deviated from the river at some point and rode through an industrial port area while we tried to meet up with the track we got from George. We didn’t make too many wrong turns before finding it and started riding along a secondary canal that paralleled the Rhine. This route was packed dirt and reserved only for cyclists and pedestrians. It is really well marked with signs for both the EuroVelo route and the Voie Verte, the French cycling paths. The EuroVelo signs showed that we were on EuroVelo 6 but had no markings for EuroVelo 5. As far as we could tell from our preliminary research, EuroVelo 6 is really well developed while there isn’t a well marked path for the EuroVelo 5.

There was a scale solar system along the path where they marked the planets’ distances and sizes along the route. The sun came along soon after we hit the dirt and little models of the planets were spread out at scaled distances throughout the ride. We never saw Pluto on our route and we don’t know if they actually removed it (considering it is no longer a planet) or we missed it when we took the path back to the Rhine. We just followed the bicycle signs and ended up on Velo Route 2 which took us between the canal and the Rhine through a bunch of corn fields and other agricultural land and onto some nondescript French suburbs.

About 3 hours before sunset we checked our GPS for a campground and found one about 5k away and another one 20k away. We had seen a bike path on the German side of the Rhine on the posted maps we kept passing and figured we were up for a change of scenery. We thought we could make it another 20k, took the turn toward the Rhine at Chalampe and hopped onto what we thought was the bike path along the German Rhine. No sooner did we turn off the road than the path became loose gravel and we realized we were actually on some island in the Rhine and not the path we intended. We slogged through it for about a kilometer before we decided to turn around. At that point we decided to be a bit more realistic and headed to the close campground in Neuenburg, Germany and called it a day. The campingplatz was called Gugel and it was 6.50€ per person and 4€ for the tent and is located here. The facilities were more resort than campground; it had a pool, restaurant, little store, spa treatments, laundry and free wifi that was unfortunately broken. We had forgotten to get fuel before we left so we ate a moderately price meal at the restaurant and went straight to bed.

If you use a GPS you can download a GPX file of our ride here (right click-save target as).

View Basel to Neuenburg in a larger map

One of the costs of having too many interests is that it becomes difficult to completely devote yourself to any one activity. After climbing in Thailand we did some tourist stops in Cambodia and went on a bike tour and yoga binge in Bali. The next time my fingers touched rock was months later when we arrived in Switzerland. We drove up to the local crag, St. Cergue, pulled out the guidebook and proceeded to get completely defeated by our warm up. What an impact a few months can make.

After massaging the hurt ego and the sore muscles the only choice I had was to keep trying. For the last few weeks we have been climbing consistently in Finale Ligure, Italy. After the first few climbing days I started to regain my strength and confidence and have been slowly building myself back up to where I was when I left Ton Sai. For better or for worse, if you take a significant break your climbing will suffer. Here are a few tips for minimizing the catch-up time and maximizing your climbing.

Create appropriate challenges

Depending on your climbing level, it will be common to experience a temporary setback if you haven’t climbed in a few months or more. When you return to the sport it is a good idea to start slowly. On your first day back, warm up on a route that is one grade easier than your usual warm up, whatever that grade may be. This will give you an idea of where you are at.

As you climb more, slowly increase the challenge you give yourself. Instead of trying to send that one hard route think about building back your endurance by sending a greater number of easier routes on the first few days. Be satisfied with your progress but continue to push yourself. With a little diligence you will be back to your previous level in no time.

Acknowledge your limitations

Feeling out of shape can be very frustrating, but injuring yourself by pushing your limits before you’re ready will be far more frustrating. Taking it easy and stretching before you climb will ensure you don’t find yourself injured before you get back into a regular routine. Remember that different crags require different strengths. While in Ton Sai we got really good at reading routes and knowing which holds would be good and which would be bad. There can be a steep learning curve at new locations and being patient is key to figuring out how to send a route and feeling good when you get to the top.

On a more touchy-feely side, be sure that you are still having fun. The amount of challenge that you give yourself is up to you. A little fear is healthy, but pushing yourself beyond where you are comfortable can easily ruin your day at the crag. If you give it time you will come back stronger than before.

When selecting a travel bag to carry my SLR I was looking for a few things: camera protection, durability, security, room for a few other items, and style. The Domke F-5XB satisfies all those requirements and I couldn’t be happier with it. Carrying an SLR around the world is a commitment as it is both large and delicate. With the Domke I am easily able to keep it safe and always have it on hand to make the most of whatever photo opportunity may arise.

Camera Protection

In this category the Domke performs as designed. With thick foam padding on the front, back and bottom of the bag and adjustable thin foam inserts on the sides, the F-5XB can keep your camera safe against everyday bumps and bruises. The foam is soft and durable, providing just enough secure protection without taking up excess space. In addition the Domke is pretty water resistant. In Bali we found ourselves caught in countless unexpected downpours and even under a fairly heavy rain the top flap design of the Domke kept the camera dry.

Durability

When you are travel long-term one of the most frustrating things is when a piece of gear or clothing wears out. Inevitably my equipment gets abused as I travel, using it daily and often in extenuating circumstances. The Domke has been up and down multi pitch routes, tossed around the belay ledge as we rock climb and has even served as a go-to handlebar bag on our thrown together bike tour of Bali. Throughout this process the Domke has gotten extremely dirty and has been washed three times. The first time I attempted to remove the Ton Sai filth by hand washing it before we left Thailand. The second two times I just threw it in the washing machine and left it out to dry. Despite the fact that the tag on the bag says it can be machine washed, I was a bit apprehensive about how that would affect the shape. After machine washing it twice, however, there are no signs of wear or changes to its shape. In fact, six months of extremely heavy usage hardly shows on the bag. The only wear I can see is that the color is very slightly faded and there are a few loose threads coming from the soft part of the Velcro in the inner top flap. The loose thread doesn’t seem to be affecting the attachment of the Velcro.

Capacity and Security

I want my SLR to be on me and accessible all the time. Because I am always traveling this also means that whatever bag I choose needs to be able to fit a few other items like my wallet and passport. The bag also needs to be secure from things falling out and an undesirable target for a pickpocket. The large and loud Velcro under the top flap in addition to the full zipper on the Domke F-5XB keeps my camera and other valuables secure. The F-5XB is one of Domke’s smaller bags and has barely enough room to cram a passport, moleskine notebook, pen ,small wallet, and cell phone. For me it works but just barely. I sometimes wish I had gotten the next size up, but I also appreciate that the F-5XB’s small size keeps me from carrying too much.

Style

For me it was important to pick an SLR bag that doesn’t look like a camera bag. Not only are most camera bags generally ugly, they also may attract thieves if they scream “camera bag.” The only other line of SLR bags that I found that were decently attractive and relatively incognito were the Crumpler Million Dollar Home bags. While not the most attractive bag I have ever owned, the Domke has a great casual look that can be worn by men or women. It comes in a variety of colors and fits in wherever you find yourself.

Review

I give the Domke a 10 out of 10. The Strong construction and proven durability can’t be beat and the F-5XB has kept my Canon Rebel XSi safe despite the many abuses I have subjected it to. It is more attractive than your average SLR bag and also provides safe keeping for my valuables as I travel.

If you found this review helpful please click on through to our affiliate, Amazon.com who offers a low price on the F-5XB and other Domke models and provides free shipping.

While traveling you open yourself up to new people, new cultures and new experiences. As you pass through a new place you find experiences as much by luck as anything else. Spending small amounts of time in each place your experience becomes defined by the brief interactions you happen upon. These become your memories and ultimately help shape the way you relate to the world.

I like to think of my travel library in the same way. With near constant movement and limited baggage I can only carry the book I am currently reading. Traveling through foreign countries and places where I can’t speak, let alone read, the language I never know exactly what book I will find next. The result is an interesting line-up of books brought to me as much by chance as by personal selection. Here’s a bit of what to expect as you travel and a few tips for maximizing your reading adventure while preserving your budget.

Ton Sai, like most well-touristed destinations in the developing world, may not have a single gas station but it has at least three used book stores. Anywhere that there are travelers there will be books. The shops on Ton Sai will buy your old book and sell you a new one left behind by some traveler who came before you. The result is an eclectic mix of literature from all over the world.

Looking through so many of these shops I have come to notice a few things. First of all, most of what people read while traveling is complete and utter crap! At least 80% of the stock of most shops is filled with cheap reads picked up at the airport and yellowing Nora Roberts romance novels. To be fair I am not sure if it is so skewed because this is what people leave, or if these types of books get selected against when other travelers are looking at what to buy and they become stuck in Thailand bookstore limbo. Luckily the remaining 20% will usually provide enough of a selection for you to find something.

In the end, the limited selection available is what makes the swapping more rewarding. Because there are only so many books available I push myself to read a wider variety than my 10 favorite authors who I will tend to rotate through at home. The result is a book list as diverse as the cities I visit.

Costs and Tips

Any major city will have a large bookstore with new English language books. The selection won’t be great but major titles and classics will generally be available. The problem with this option is that it is usually expensive and you won’t always be in a major city when you finish your book.

The used bookstores throughout SE Asia are all pretty similar. The standard policy is to give you half the retail price of the book you sell to them to be put towards your purchase of a new book. If you sell back to the same store you bought the book from they will often guarantee to buy it. I ran into problems a few times with stores refusing books I had purchased elsewhere because they found them too old looking or the edition resembled said yellowing romance novels (even though it was by Margret Atwood). A word to the wise: covers sell. If you are terribly concerned about being able to sell a book pick one that has some cover appeal.

Costs vary widely by store but on average I paid about $6 per book. When you are reading a lot and your three meals cost only $3 a day this can start to seem like a lot of money. Luckily a few free options exist as well.

When I cross paths with new and interesting travelers I will ask them if they have any books they have finished. Swapping with a new friend is both free and rewarding, giving you a small window into that person’s experience and offering them something of yours. Many hostels and cafes will also have bookshelves and while most suffer from the same sort of reverse selection that leaves legions of UFO novels and Danielle Steel reads on the bookstore shelves, there is occasionally a gem. Many of these shelves are free for the taking or free if you leave something behind. Always ask first!

Finally, there is the library. If you find yourself in one place for any extended period of time find a library and check it out. This is especially helpful in Europe where used bookstores with English language selections are few and far between and your budget is likely to be stretched even thinner. We have found that it usually only takes a passport and a few minutes to join the library and even the smallest town’s library will have some sort of an English language selection. Case in point, the library here in Finale Ligure where we have already checked out 4 books.

My personal reading adventure

I left California with a thin Murakami novel entitled Norwegian Wood. It was a horrible choice to start a multi-year journey with because it was only about 150 pages and was so good I wanted to devour it immediately. Which I did. Kyle took another route, borrowing a friend’s copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach, a 900 page behemoth on the intersection of art, music and mathematics. A few weeks into Ton Sai I finished the Murakami and had to look for my next book.

After Murakami I found an old Margret Atwood book called Cat’s Eye. It was hidden in the climbing shop bookstore disguised among the cheap romance novels. The book was fantastic, a vivid story of a girl growing up in Toronto in the 50’s. Once I swallowed that one whole I found Born to Run, a great non-fiction account of modern-day ultra-marathon running, secret tribes in Mexico, and human evolution from a distance running perspective. Even as someone who hasn’t run for the point of running in a very long time, I found the book interesting and inspiring. It’s a perfect example of the type of book I never would have picked at home, but am very happy I read. After the running book I found The Geography of Bliss. A bit more on-topic with my current situation, this one follows a journalist as he travels the world in search of the happiest places to try to define what makes people happy.

Further swapping and other chance encounters brought me Volcano by Shusaku Endo (one of Murakami’s influences), Bali Blues about the 2005 bombing of a nightclub in Kuta Beach, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover a Jungian exploration into male archetypes and psychology, Barbara Kingsolver’s Pigs in Heaven , and Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers . If you like Murakami I definitely recommend Endo. He writes with a similar tone and character development. Kingsolver is another great author I had heard about but never read. Pigs in Heaven was fantastic and I can’t wait to get my hands on more of her books.

After all of these I was nearing the end of my stay in Asia and needed to brush up on my Italian, I scoured the shelves of Yogyakarta’s alley-way shops for something in Italian and easy enough for me to understand. At this point the curse became a blessing and I scored a hilarious 1980’s romance novel called “Voglia di Baci” telling the heartwarming story of love between a young idealistic law student and her older more conservative professor. At the hot price of $1.25 the bookstore owner was happy to see it go, I am sure it had been there for at least 10 years.

Now in Italy I’m onto another, more substantive Italian novel titled Due e Due that I checked out from the library. Can’t wait to see what’s in store next!