Category Archives: Travel: The Americas

Bags & Luggage, NightFlightTravelDuffle, TeamUltraviolet, Texas, Tom Bihn, Travel: Packing List, Travel: The Americas, travelbunny

Dallas – 4 days in the Night Flight Travel Duffel

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Aside from what I wore on the plane (knock off rose pattern doc martins, leggings, a black shirt and a long sleeve black T-shirt) this was perfect. (My phone and my wallet tucked into the end zip pocket as I went through security.)

CENTER SECTION
Bottom strata:
First aid pouch
flips
standard tiny travel towel

Clothes strata:
black leggings
stripe shirt
white Ably shirt
socks, undies and jammies in packing cube

On top:
Tom Bihn sack with plane stuff (earbuds, spare battery, etc)

RIGHT POCKET
CPAP
Power supply
Power strip (with USB ports and a several ft extension cord)
USB cords for phone and battery
Mask
Lewis N Clark fold up ultralight backpack

LEFT POCKET
Goes Everywhere With Me pouch
Bubba watertight bottle
Klean Kanteen small insulated bottle
Snacks

 

Synapse 25, Tom Bihn, Travel: Packing List, Travel: The Americas, travelbunny, USA, Wisconsin

Packing List: Green Bay, Wi

Final packing list for Green Bay ended up having 2 things I didn’t really need, but when it comes to light layers in the cold, it’s better to have them than not, and since they are light they weigh almost nothing.

It was quite warm when I got there, in the 40’s F, so my uniqlo hoodie was just fine with my merino shirt, my jeans, and my blundstones. I did bring a long packable down coat to wear most the time because the length is really a luxury to have if you insist upon wearing leggings, like I do. 😉 (Yeah I would’ve wore my jeans if it was that cold but frankly my jeans make me cranky. )

Full list:

Plane wear:

Other items:

  • Long sleeve stripey layering shirt
  • Long sleeve tunic
  • Sleep tank and shorts (which can double as layers if we got into the polar vortex situation or had to be outside for any length of time.)
  • Leggings
  • General Leia T-shirt (for theme party)
  • Bombas socks and Ex Officio undies
  • FitKicks for hanging about the hotel
  • Merino scarf
  • Gloves
  • Hat
  • Camp pillow cover (to stuff down coat in for the plane if I wanted a nap)
  • IPad and Apple Pencil

I packed all the clothes in the Tom Bihn packing cube shoulder bag and my toiletries in a #2 sized stuff sack.

Electronics baubles in a 3D clear organizer cube hanging from the rails loops on top (thanks TB forum hacks! Best. Idea. Evar!)

Organizer pouch for headphones and anything I want to carry around for the day (like my Gotcha charger or a spare iPhone cable).

My sleep system extension cord with built in USB chargers and power supply get stowed in a travel cubelet. (I like that I can make either my travel cubelet or my packing cube shoulder bag my purse while I’m there.)

I keep receipts and other flat things in a medium double organizer pouch.

Lip balm and other plane necessities went in the top small zip pocket, straw and water bottle in the deep zip pocket.

Side pocket 1: toiletries (all dry so no need to remove for TSA)

Side pocket 2: shopping bag, USB plug, pens, laundry stain stick (I’m clumsy ;). )

Bottom pocket: snacks and gifties for friends

Main pocket: clothes, down coat (with gloves and hat in the pockets), iPad and sleep system.

NightFlightTravelDuffle, Tom Bihn, Travel: The Americas, travelbunny, Wisconsin

New iPad and Night Flight Travel Duffle

I was happy to have gotten a new iPad for my birthday (and I can use the Apple Pencil now! Great for my design work!) but was bemoaning the fact that my old iPad mini fit so perfectly in my NFTD.

Lo and behold, the new larger iPad tucks in just fine on top! I can live with that 🙂

EDIT: looks like my search fu in the Tom Bihn forums let me down. This (and much more good info) was discussed.  🙂

Bags & Luggage, Synapse 25, TeamUltraviolet, Tom Bihn, Travel: Packing List, travelbunny, Wisconsin

Riding the Rails prep

I’m doing a preliminary pack for a long weekend in February (I’ll be kind of riding the rails so I wanted to be super mobile). I haven’t flown American Eagle with my Aeronaut 30 yet and I didn’t want to take the risk of it being gate checked – because O’Hare airport is consistently the airport of chaos and evil. Instead, I’ll be using my Synapse 25 and I loaded it up with just the basics to see how it feels.

So far I have socks and underwear, a merino wool shirt, pajamas, my sleep system and charging cords in the TB Packing Cube Shoulder Bag and travel cubelet (both in Island blue, either of which can be used as a purse while I’m there), flip flops in a shoe sleeve (from who knows where), my stuff pillow. Not pictured: my little kit that I never go anywhere without as well as my 3D organizer cube that I use as my purse catchall that I will clip into the top of the bag from the cache rails loops. I’ll have a long down coat that packs into its own envelope that will go in there when it arrives, a couple more T-shirts and probably a few more odds and ends or presents that I’m bringing people.

In the front side pocket, I have dry toiletries and a travel towel (see below for a list with linkies) that don’t need to be separated out for TSA.

In the other front side pocket I have a couple of shopping bags, a power plug, a couple of cables and things I might need to get to easily in the airport.

Front small pocket will have my ear buds and some batteries, bigger pocket will have a water bottle and my reusable straw.

The bottom front pocket has snacks (on the plane) and my fold up silicone mug. There will be more food in there before I leave but there’s lots of room left.

I bought the new frame sheet from Tom Bihn recently and I am excited to try it out on the Synapse 25. I already have the frame sheet for the Aeronaut 30. I used it when I went to Detroit last month and it really made a huge difference. (I carried my Aeronaut in Paris and much whining ensued about the long walk with ALL our stuff since the metro station nearest us was closed; the difference between carrying it without the panel vs. with it is incredible!)

I’ve had this backpack for several years now and while I do use it, I don’t use it as regularly as I would if I like the panel as much as I did on my Aeronaut. This might make the difference between being madly in love with it and just thinking it’s pretty cool.

I’ll definitely do a final set of pictures when I get all this packed up, for now, I’m pleased with the set up.

Dry Toiletries:

https://youtu.be/Ynedk112cAw

California, Camping, Travel: The Americas, travelbunny, USA

Samuel P Taylor State Park

A quick camping trip is always welcome! Happily there are many beautiful and varied options around the San Francisco Bay Area to head over to see.

Just north of the city, the redwood forests are still standing from the gold rush days of the 1800’s. Some are younger, but there’s a stretch at the beginning of the Pioneer Tree trail where there’s a bunch of old growth redwoods and beautiful streams to hike along.

The park is named for Samuel Penfield Taylor, who found gold during the California Gold Rush and used some of his money to buy a parcel of land along Lagunitas Creek.[3] In 1856, Taylor built the Pioneer Paper Mill, the first paper mill on the Pacific Coast.[4] In the 1870s, the North Pacific Coast Railroad was built between Cazadero and a pier in Sausalito where passengers could transfer to a ferry to San Francisco. The railroad passed near Taylor’s mill, and, ever the entrepreneur, he built the “Camp Taylor Resort” alongside the tracks. A destination for city-weary San Franciscans, the resort offered both a hotel and tent camping, as well as swimming, boating, fishing, and a dance pavilion.[5][6]
– Wikipedia

We also took advantage of all the yummy food in the area. To be honest I didn’t totally feel like it was a legit camping trip since we ate fancy cheese at Cowgirl Creamery (I recommend the Red Hawk and the Mount Tam), had oysters on the half shell in Olema and pretty much nibbled yummy food continuously around the area. But we did have all of the campfires with s’mores experimentation. Substituting chocolate chip cookies for graham crackers was my favorite.

It was great 🙂

California, Ooooooh!, Toy Story Alien, Travel: The Americas, travelbunny, USA

Disney Pixarfest!

Alien and I will be trekking down to SoCal to visit the other aliens in the house of mouse sometime this year… yes, of course I will be dressed up ridiculously.

I think my primary accessory (other than my alien who has been all over the world with me) will be this backpack (Venture Pal Ultralight Lightweight Packable Foldable Travel Camping Hiking Outdoor Sports Backpack Daypack (Blue)). I’m adding a Pizza Planet patch to it and will have a few things in there for the day. Alien headband, sunscreen, water bottles, various snacks etc. Must leave room for purchases.

I also have a short sleeve shirt with the aliens on it that I’ll probably wear most of the day, but long sleeves is always necessary at some point.

If you hear lots of squeeing, it’s ok, just me losing my mind over all the alien stuff.