What's in our backpacks? Gear for round-the-world travel.

How many memory cards does it take to travel around the world?

2005-09-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

If we were to take an average of 100 photos per day, we would need over two-hundred 256MB memory cards to capture the entire trip. At $20 per card, that's over $4000. Ouch.

Instead, we'll carry 1GB of flash memory and transfer photos to a hard disk drive. And what better hard drive than an iPod?

Apple makes a small camera connector (approx $30) which enables direct transfer of photos from a digital camera. We tested this during one of our pre-RTW trips, and it seems to work pretty well.

Photo transfer is initiated by connecting the camera to a color iPod (using standard USB cable and the camera connector), and switching the devices on. The iPod creates a new "slideshow" (essentially a folder) for each transfer.

Photos can then be transferred from the iPod to a PC using the standard iPod USB connector.

Pretty easy, although I strongly recommend testing this a few times before you begin your travel -- since not all cameras are compatible or easily configurable. There's a list of compatible digital cameras on the Apple website. Even if your digital camera isn't listed (as was the case with my Lumix FZ-5), it may very well work.

Also, be sure that your iPod and camera have sufficient charge when transferring photos. A 256MB transfer drains over 50% of the iPod's battery life, and can take quite a few minutes.

Now all I have to do is find enough bandwidth on the road to transfer photos from the iPod to flickr. Wish me luck!

A man's wardrobe for the road, or performance wear that'll probably make me stick out like a sore thumb

2005-09-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

Probably on the luxurious side. Detailed reviews to come once we start travelling...

- 2 pairs convertible pants/shorts (north face paramount & rei sahara)
- 1 pair swim shorts (speedo, but not the wee little itsy-bitsy kind)
- 1 long-sleeve performance shirtn (ex-officio airstrip)
- 2 synthetic t-shirts (rei)
- 1 short-sleeve travel shirt (royal robbins)
- 3 pairs synthetic boxer-briefs (patagonia capilene midweight, ex-officio; blue and charcoal colored respectively)
- 1 long underwear shirt, 1 long underwear bottoms (rei)
- 1 microfleece sweater (arc'teryx)
- 1 rain shell (rei elements)
- 1 broad-rimmed, waterproof hat (outdoor research gortex seattle sombrero, baby!)
- 3 pairs sock liners
- 3 pairs wool socks
- 1 pair boots (reichle, one piece leather; super heavy, but gotta protect the dogs)
- 1 pair amphibious shoes (salomon)

So that's it. Oh yeah, and one bandana, treated with permetherin of course...

What should I pack, honey?

2005-08-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

"What should we pack for our trip?"

My wife and I have been asking each other this question for the past 6 months, as we've geared up for an epic round-the-world trip. Many hours of research (and lots of credit card bills) later, our bags are pretty much packed. Just 3 weeks before takeoff!

Since we'll be carrying and living out of our backpacks for 7-8 months, we've had to be judicious with our packing. And since we'll put in lots of gear use on the road, we've decided to share our product experience in real-time on this blog.

Will three pairs of underwear really be enough? Which clothing is the best: Patagonia, North Face, or REI? And how effective is DEET against African, Indian, and Asian mosquitoes?

Just some of the questions that we hope to answer on our trip. Enjoy!