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041 AIO Travel Gear · bit of a Rambler

• 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,240 Hello, my name is Kai and I am a bit of a rambler. 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,600 I like to travel, learn and tell stories. 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,720 This story is all about my gear. 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:22,080 So this is my setup that I can use in any season, any temperature, any country, and 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:28,840 every environment with anchor points, like trees, because I settled on Hammett Camping. 6 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,640 This is going to go beyond just the Hammett Camping. 7 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,520 There's a dedicated episode to Hammett Camping. 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:40,480 This is about all my gear though, how I could live in every country without paying any rent 9 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:42,320 very comfortably. 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,800 This is why I always recommend getting into DIY and just making something, even if you don't 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:54,440 think it's the best solution that fits the problem you want to solve, because the second 12 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,200 time you make it, it's going to be better and eventually you're going to have the perfect 13 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,440 item for how you like to travel or how you like to live. 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:05,280 I did this around the house when I lived, you know, said it entirely. 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,120 But for me, travel, I wanted to move around a lot. 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:16,080 I wanted to hike for very long periods of time and this was the setup that I came up with. 17 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,880 So I didn't have any clues on what to do. 18 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:27,320 I started with a tent and then the tent got dirty and I didn't like that. 19 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:28,720 I didn't want to clean it. 20 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,640 I didn't want to have to do maintenance on something I was going to use every day. 21 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:37,200 So I looked at the other options and Hammocks will not get dirty. 22 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:42,960 It's much more difficult to dirty a hammock by sleeping in it than it is to dirty a tent 23 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:44,280 by sleeping in it. 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,840 The bottom of the dirt sticks to the bottom of your tent. 25 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,160 You have to deal with that with a hammock you don't have to deal with that. 26 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:52,160 So I got a hammock. 27 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,680 Mine was from de-cathalon, they're my favorite sports store. 28 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,040 The hammock worked great. 29 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:05,200 Then I was in Thailand and I realized that the hammock was very comfortable and breathable 30 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:11,200 but bugs were murdering me and I couldn't even sleep because I couldn't ignore them because 31 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:16,000 there are just thousands of them and I was sleeping in a tide jungle. 32 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,720 So I felt exposed not to mention spiders or snakes or anything that could have been there. 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,760 So I thought about that and well bugnets of course. 34 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,800 But bugnets don't fit hammocks. 35 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,400 Bugnets are pavilion type things with no floor on the bottom. 36 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,080 So I bought a bugnet. 37 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:43,720 I cut it into a rectangle, rolled it into a tube, sewed it up, added a cinch lock to each 38 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,240 end and put it on one side of the hammock. 39 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,160 And there it stayed for ever. 40 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,480 It worked perfectly. 41 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,880 I had a permanently attached hammock. 42 00:02:53,880 --> 00:03:01,440 So as soon as I set up the hammock, I get in it, pull the bugnet over my head, cinch it, 43 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:02,440 boom, no bugs. 44 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,560 I was like, holy crap, I've done it. 45 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,600 I made the perfect hammock. 46 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,840 And then I went to Ireland and it rained on me. 47 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,920 And I was like, ah, I forgot about rain. 48 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,120 Luckily the wind was blowing very strong. 49 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:27,880 So I walked totally sautant down the road, letting the wind like air dry me just blow the 50 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,560 moisture out of me. 51 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:36,000 And while that was very uncomfortable and quite a long walk, I had a while to think. 52 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,160 And I was like, how can I solve this? 53 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:39,480 Rain tarp. 54 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,480 And I personalized a bugnet for my hammock. 55 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,120 So I can definitely personalize a rain tarp. 56 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:55,240 So I got a tarp and I cut it to size so that the diagonal had a couple feet of overhang 57 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:56,800 on either end. 58 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:03,080 I put an eyelet, the little metal ring on either corner tied in a paracord and now I could 59 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:09,080 tie the rain tarp to either tree on either side or the rope itself. 60 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,480 But the hammock rope as an anchor point. 61 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,560 And that stood up to monsoons for years. 62 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,080 It was perfect. 63 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:18,320 It was the perfect solution. 64 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:19,800 I loved it. 65 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,360 So now I had a very comfortable hammock. 66 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,120 I fall straight asleep in them. 67 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:28,400 No bugs, snake spiders, anything are going to get to me because of the bugnet that's always 68 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,360 attached to the hammock. 69 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:38,600 The rain tarp that rolls up and is easy to pack stops all weather, including monsoons. 70 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,280 There are snow storms also. 71 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:46,840 I was in snow storms in Japan with my tarp and it was fantastic. 72 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:47,840 It's so cool. 73 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:54,000 I got a clear plastic sheet so I can see the rain or the snow falling all around me. 74 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,000 It's the best. 75 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,760 I really like that. 76 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,480 But in Japan, I was like, boy, this works so good, but boy is it cold. 77 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:03,600 It was cold in Ireland too. 78 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:05,960 I was there during winter. 79 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,560 But I was only hiking across Ireland for about a week. 80 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,200 So the cold, I was kind of just sucked it up and worked through it. 81 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:20,240 In Japan, I had said, okay, now that I have the elements can't get to me and the bugs can't 82 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:22,200 get to me, I think I have the perfect solution. 83 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,920 I'm going to hike for three months. 84 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:30,840 And after a week of literally sub-freezing temperatures in Japan, I didn't look it up. 85 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,520 So you know, you could have planned ahead for this. 86 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:34,760 I didn't. 87 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:40,240 I just started walking west from Tokyo Airport. 88 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,680 And yeah, I was freezing literally. 89 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:51,440 So I found the closest sport store on my offline map and my Japanese is pretty terrible, 90 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,160 pretty, pretty terrible. 91 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,240 And I made it there within 20 minutes of the store closing. 92 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,320 And I was like, okay, I can get something so I'm not freezing. 93 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:09,280 But I knew what I wanted because I got a generic exercise mat in decathlon when I was in China, 94 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:11,880 but I didn't bring it with me because it was too big. 95 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:20,280 But that centimeter of insulative porous foam will reflect all my body heat back at me and 96 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:26,040 keep the temperature almost completely away from me of the ambient air. 97 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:30,480 And I was looking and looking and I found one that was pretty close, not perfect, but extremely 98 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:37,240 lightweight like I was looking for foam exercise generic exercise mat. 99 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,680 And I got it and it worked that night. 100 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,680 I was so happy because it was already nine at night. 101 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:44,440 It was 8.40 when I got to that store. 102 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,360 Nothing else was going to be open until the following day. 103 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,600 And this was supposed to be the coldest day. 104 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:58,760 So I set up my hammock and unrolled this generic six foot exercise mat inside the hammock. 105 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:05,000 And it was just a couple inches larger than my shoulders, but this was still a very quick 106 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,000 setup. 107 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:12,520 So I put up the hammock, I put on the exercise mat and then I put down the sleeping bag, get 108 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:19,620 inside the sleeping bag and my weight pushes down on the exercise mat, which is a little 109 00:07:19,620 --> 00:07:21,160 wider than my body. 110 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:27,800 So the sides of the exercise mat, fold up along the sides of the hammock. 111 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:36,160 So now my hammock shape, just with one extra centimeter of foam is reflecting all of my 112 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:37,880 body heat back at me. 113 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,160 Obviously a little is going out the top, but I heated up instantly, especially inside 114 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:43,520 my sleeping bag. 115 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:48,300 I had been sleeping in the sleeping bag and had to put all of my layers of clothes on and 116 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:49,540 zip my jacket up. 117 00:07:49,540 --> 00:07:54,440 And I had to take off layers until I only had a single layer and unzip my jacket within 118 00:07:54,440 --> 00:08:01,940 my sleeping bag because this insulation of a generic foam mat that cost whatever $8 119 00:08:01,940 --> 00:08:07,360 in Japan and $1 in China was so good at insulation. 120 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:13,720 It just works perfectly within a hammock application for keeping your body heat in yourself. 121 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,400 It's fantastic. 122 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,440 So air exercise pads done. 123 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:28,120 Now I really did have a four season setup, fifth season with monsoon season, like even in 124 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,760 a rain or snow storm, you're fine in this setup. 125 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:37,660 You're warm enough, you're off the ground if the snow piles up or if water, you know, if 126 00:08:37,660 --> 00:08:41,040 it floods, you're off the ground, you're a foot off the ground at least. 127 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,720 You should probably be a couple feet off the ground. 128 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:45,320 It's my favorite setup. 129 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:46,320 I love it. 130 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,360 Very comfortable hammocks are the most comfortable. 131 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:49,360 So I'd fall right asleep. 132 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,640 Anyway, that is my sleeping setup. 133 00:08:52,640 --> 00:09:00,560 hammock, bugnet, rain tarp, sleeping bag, generic foam exercise pad. 134 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,800 And that works in almost every country I've been to. 135 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:05,280 It's fantastic. 136 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:06,880 It worked in Italy. 137 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:07,880 Fantastic. 138 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:14,000 I hike to cross Sicily and I don't even know how long of the country of Italy itself. 139 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,200 I was all around Rome and just everywhere. 140 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:18,920 It worked amazing in Taiwan. 141 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,840 I lived for three months in my hammock in Taiwan, same with Japan three months hiking every 142 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,840 day and that setup never failed me. 143 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,120 It always worked perfectly. 144 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,120 It didn't even come close to being stressed out. 145 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,040 It didn't matter how cold it was. 146 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,640 It didn't matter how bad the rain was or anything. 147 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:36,880 It just worked. 148 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:41,080 So I had my sleeping setup down. 149 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,360 And after I had worked on it, I had to buy a few bugnets until I got the perfect bugnet 150 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:46,840 that I liked. 151 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:52,360 I had to work on the foam pad so that it fit me just right. 152 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,880 And all of this DIY work I did made me think that I should be tweaking everything else 153 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:03,120 I do while I travel because this setup has made my whole experience so much more enjoyable 154 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:09,080 and so much more personal and comfortable that I can probably do that with other aspects 155 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:10,080 of traveling. 156 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,400 I started exploring other aspects of traveling. 157 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,040 What's my main thing besides sleeping all day? 158 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:17,480 Eating all day. 159 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:24,640 So I had to work on cookware and I just thought, what do you know about cooking outside? 160 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,520 Answer was nothing. 161 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:33,960 And I literally just remembered cowboys sitting around a fire, a fire circle holding a frying 162 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,480 pan over a fire. 163 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:42,280 And I knew that I could make alcohol stoves out of a soda can. 164 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:47,840 So since I knew I could do that and I had a multi-tool with me, all I needed was the frying 165 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:54,640 pan because a little rubbing alcohol, alcohol stove, you have a stovetop wherever you are. 166 00:10:54,640 --> 00:11:00,080 And it's the size of the last one quarter of a soda can. 167 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,800 It's an extremely compact, very strong stove, portable stove. 168 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:10,960 If you don't know what I'm talking about, just type in Coca-Cola can alcohol stove on YouTube 169 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:15,720 or wherever and there's a hundred people that make it all different mine, of course, is 170 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:16,720 the best. 171 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,760 No, mine totally sucked in the beginning. 172 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:24,080 But I made six of them in one day and the sixth one was pretty darn good. 173 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:25,880 I could fill it with alcohol anywhere. 174 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,400 The wind didn't really matter. 175 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,240 It lit very quickly within one minute. 176 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:36,320 I think I got it down to 30 something seconds, that final design because it's all about how 177 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,840 big the holes are, how they're spaced and all that. 178 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,160 But I got it working and now I had a stove. 179 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:49,360 So go to the Taiwanese thrift shop that I was at because now I needed a pan, a frying pan. 180 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:57,280 And I walked in there and there was a foldable pan, like a soup pan kind of thing. 181 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:59,120 So with a foldable handle. 182 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:05,000 So it condensed down to the size of a small sauce pan. 183 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:11,320 But that as soon as I saw it, I knew I was getting it because I could cook curry in it. 184 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:12,320 I could cook rice. 185 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,480 It had actually a steaming tray for rice, which I never used. 186 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:18,200 I could cook instant noodles. 187 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,080 I could make stews with vegetables and mushrooms and all that. 188 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,880 So I got that thing for $3 in the Taiwanese thrift store. 189 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:34,200 I went to the store, bought a thing of curry blocks, bought some mushrooms from an old lady. 190 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,000 And I had mushroom curry that night. 191 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,520 I walked until it got dark. 192 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:45,960 I got out of sight just like so I could discreetly cook without bothering other people. 193 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:51,760 And I put down my alcohol stove on a tree stump or a rock or something. 194 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,120 I think it was just a big rock actually. 195 00:12:54,120 --> 00:13:01,320 Put the pan on top of that, put in water, curry block, mushrooms, instant noodles. 196 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:06,960 And I had this great curry dinner in Taiwan. 197 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:12,280 And as soon as I ate the curry, I knew that I could do this indefinitely, that I would be 198 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:18,640 able to walk indefinitely because the curry is so good, I can get fresh vegetables everywhere 199 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,080 around Taiwan. 200 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,880 There are trees everywhere, it's a beautiful place so I can sleep anywhere. 201 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:30,680 And there are new amazing things to see fields of arranged flowers like football field size 202 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:36,280 that I never saw before, crazy architecture, nature hikes and all this stuff. 203 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:38,560 And fantastic. 204 00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,160 So I had all of my basic gear. 205 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:47,120 Now I could sleep and eat basically anywhere, anywhere that I wanted to travel anyway. 206 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:52,120 I had a hat so I wouldn't get sunburned and I traveled to a lot of countries with this 207 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:56,680 setup and it was absolutely fantastic. 208 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:01,240 And then I got to Vietnam and I wanted to bike pack. 209 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:06,960 So I wanted to bicycle with my big, rucksack and that was fine. 210 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:08,080 I landed. 211 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:14,320 I bought a used bicycle and I rode out of the city. 212 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:24,560 This was my hat, didn't cover my neck while I was leaned over and I am pale unto ivory. 213 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,040 But I'm nowhere near as strong as ivory. 214 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:32,200 My skin crackles and blisters like poor, vulnerable bacon in the pan. 215 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:36,840 And I got a sunburned, I felt it after like two minutes and I was like, okay, got us all 216 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,200 this before I keep, before I actually embark on this journey. 217 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:46,720 And so on the outskirts there was a formal dress wear kind of place and that is where I made 218 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,720 my sun sleeves for the first time. 219 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:56,560 At first I just bought a button down shirt, five bucks, great, fits me perfectly. 220 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:03,160 But I noticed when I was riding it, my knuckles, my hands, the back of my hands at the beginning 221 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:07,520 of my wrist was pulled out of the sleeves themselves. 222 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:09,680 So I was worried that was going to get burned. 223 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:15,080 The collar wasn't staying up on my neck, so I was worried that was going to get burned. 224 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:23,440 And I was sweating profusely because I had my whole torso covered in a second layer of fabric 225 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,800 in Vietnam in the summer. 226 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,560 It was hot. 227 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:33,040 And I just suffered through it for a few days and then I thought to do something about it. 228 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:38,200 So I cut off most of the torso basically up to the chest and even up to the neck in the 229 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:44,120 middle and then I swooped the fabric down to the under the pectoral area. 230 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:48,680 So like down to the fifth rib or something and then that goes around the back. 231 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:55,040 So now three-fourths of the material, the second layer under torso is gone and the wind 232 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:59,440 from the bike was hitting me and I was so much cooler instantly. 233 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:06,960 And after that I put in a couple pieces of paracord so that my thumbs and fingers would 234 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:13,600 hook onto that and pull the sleeve over my exposed palm and wrist. 235 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:21,560 And then by buttoning the collar like normal and then flipping it up, it stayed in place. 236 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:23,440 So I had... 237 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:29,280 Now every area cover, I was totally protected by the sun also if I was going to go 238 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:33,120 cross-country biking or cross-country walking. 239 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,160 I would have been burned also, both the long sleeve shirt. 240 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,480 I was staying cool and protecting my skin. 241 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,400 So I can't recommend sun sleeves enough. 242 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:48,840 No matter how dark your skin is or how you use you are to walking in the sun, if you're 243 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:57,840 out in the sun repeatedly exposing your largest organ to radiation constantly, you will 244 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,520 damage your skin. 245 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,760 And this is such a simple solution for bikers or anything. 246 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:10,240 Just a button down shirt, cut off the bottom of it, sun sleeves, cover your neck as well. 247 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:11,760 Get a good hat. 248 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:13,240 Part of my gear, my hat. 249 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:14,240 I don't know. 250 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:15,240 I'm not going to... 251 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,960 My hat looks like one of those old dorky fisherman's hats. 252 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,040 It does the job. 253 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:30,080 Because I'll have the cowboy hat that's weaved, retanned, material, woven fiber, yeah, woven 254 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,440 fiber cowboy hat looking thing. 255 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,800 Whatever hat you like, you need a hat when you're walking across a country for months. 256 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,880 Otherwise you won't have a face when you get wherever you're going. 257 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:45,280 The sun sleeves were my last, I think, big thing. 258 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,800 And I use them everywhere. 259 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:52,720 Now just when I use them every day, whenever I walk anywhere in the daylight, I just throw 260 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,720 all my sun sleeves because I don't want to get burned and I get burned super easily. 261 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:02,200 And before I forget my last major addition to this setup, which makes everything complete 262 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,080 and modern, is the solar panel. 263 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,080 So I was going to walk for three months across Thailand at a later date. 264 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,960 I've been to Thailand 12 times, 15, a lot of times. 265 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,160 But I was going to walk across Thailand for a few months and realized I wouldn't have 266 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:21,880 any electricity for my phone because there's not a lot of outlets between cities in Thailand 267 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,160 and I would be walking for a long time, more than a day at a time. 268 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:32,120 So I went to every electronics store in the town I was leaving from Chiang Mai. 269 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:41,000 And then the last store I went to had a foldable solar panel, very thin three panels. 270 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,960 As long as my Rucksack was tall, they let me take it outside to the parking lot and test 271 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:46,680 it for half an hour. 272 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:47,680 And it worked. 273 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,800 So I bought it for, I think it was 30 bucks. 274 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,720 And then that thing worked for the next year that I was traveling. 275 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,440 Charged my phone, when my phone was charged, it charged my two battery packs. 276 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:05,920 And then I had those two battery packs overnight or even all the way through the next day, 277 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:10,840 in case it was cloudy or overcast in the panels weren't that top efficiency. 278 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:17,160 But even when it was overcast, like cloudy before rain, those solar panels when all three of 279 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,040 them were on fault could still charge my phone. 280 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:26,040 So that was a game changer for nomadic travel backpacking. 281 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:27,160 So that was my last big one. 282 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:32,280 After I had those, my kit was complete. 283 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:40,440 I had a hammock, a sleeping bag, bugnet, rain tarp, air exercise pad if you're in cold 284 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:50,720 water, alcohol stove, a collapsible pot, solar infrastructure, and then sunsleeves. 285 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:58,040 And with those items, I can indefinitely camp outside in pretty much any country. 286 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,360 No, not Antarctica or Arctica. 287 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:08,360 But the other 200 countries, most of them covered by this setup and this setup is very light 288 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:09,360 weight. 289 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:18,560 I carried it around for in Japan when I did the walk meter, pedometer thing, like 2000 miles 290 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,480 without a worry. 291 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,880 Like with this whole setup that works in all seasons, all temperatures and everything 292 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:31,040 and completely covers me in every country, that's small enough that the Rucksack fits into 293 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:36,480 those baggage, you know, little metal cases they have to test if your bags too big for 294 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:37,480 the airplane. 295 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:43,320 Not at all, my bag, my 40 liter Rucksack slides right in no problem with that setup. 296 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,600 I also had my clothes for like 5 t-shirts and a couple pairs of pants. 297 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:53,960 And with all of that slides right in there, so you can take your baggage on the plane and 298 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,800 go anywhere you like with that setup. 299 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:57,800 I did. 300 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:00,080 I mean, that's what I could do and I loved it. 301 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:08,480 So if that sounds good to you, very easy to do, very comfortable and works in literally 302 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,840 nearly every environment. 303 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:15,880 If you get the hammock frame, you know, every environment, but the ones that they make are 304 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:21,000 way too heavy and look cumbersome to me, I'm going to make my own eventually. 305 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:23,720 So after that, I worked on little things. 306 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:27,760 I made stuff sacs for everything so I could organize everything inside the bag really 307 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:28,760 easily. 308 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,240 So each component of the hammock setup has its own little stuff sac, my jacket has its own 309 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,760 stuff sac, my shirts have their own stuff sac. 310 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:43,320 And that way it's just so easy to organize and pack and smash things down because the air 311 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,400 that's inside all of your fabrics and everything takes up so much space inside the Rucksack. 312 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:53,000 If everything's in a stuff sac, you save a ton of space inside your baggage. 313 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,000 Okay. 314 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,120 So I just found out about packing cubes. 315 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:59,920 So do people not say stuff sacs anymore and they just say packing cubes? 316 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:04,240 If you know the packing cube is not a stuff sac, that's what I'm talking about. 317 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,040 That's what a stuff sac is. 318 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,120 A stuff sac was a packing cube before a packing cube was a thing. 319 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:16,680 Oh, one last, I did need to see my phone while I was riding the bicycle because I didn't 320 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:21,560 have any idea where anything was in Vietnam. 321 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:26,960 So I just clicked the next town in a hundred miles or whatever and would just follow the blue 322 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,880 line toward that next town. 323 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,760 And then I realized the jogging bands were perfect for that, the kind that you would put 324 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,200 on your upper arm. 325 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:40,740 So I got a jogging band, put my phone in it and then boom, I had a bike attached GPS. 326 00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:42,640 And that worked great too. 327 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:48,000 So yeah, you don't need to spend thousands of dollars. 328 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,240 Oh, geez, that's right. 329 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,240 I didn't mention any of the cost. 330 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:58,100 I think over the cost real quick because this setup that works, I mean, as long as the material 331 00:22:58,100 --> 00:23:09,820 lasts, which for me was 15 years, was hammock, $12, bug net, $1, rain tarp, $8, air exercise 332 00:23:09,820 --> 00:23:18,220 mat, $1 to $8, depending where you get it, cookware, $3, long sleeve shirt, $5, portable 333 00:23:18,220 --> 00:23:20,520 solar panels, $30. 334 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,800 Oh, and a sewing kit, $1. 335 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:27,500 With the sewing kit, you can fix all of these things. 336 00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:33,560 If any of them break or make your sun sleeves look a little snazier, I got a lot of compliments 337 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,640 on my sun sleeves after I just designed them a little to look like they were meant to 338 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,320 be cut off like that, even in the States. 339 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,400 Like girls stopped me on the street and asked me what it was and how it worked and why 340 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,240 I was wearing it and I always got compliments on it. 341 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,880 And maybe they were just being nice, but I'll take it. 342 00:23:51,880 --> 00:24:03,200 So everything my decade plus camping gear that never failed me was $68, $4 a year or something, 343 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,640 incredibly cheap. 344 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,360 And as long as you buy the quality stuff the first time and you take care of it and if 345 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:14,520 you can do any DIY stuff, you can make it easier to take care of that stuff. 346 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:21,080 So 38 bucks, full outdoor camping setup that lasts for well over a decade. 347 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:27,920 Very lightweight, very compact, almost everything is collapsible, the hammock, the bug net, 348 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:33,240 the rain tarp, and you can use it in practically any country you're going to go to. 349 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:39,560 Unobtrusively camp, a hammock is much less noticeable than a tent or other standard camping 350 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,360 equipment. 351 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:44,520 Or as long as you want to basically. 352 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:50,240 Talking about Ireland, which I loved visiting and do want to return to, let's look at tickets 353 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,680 to Ireland to close this episode out. 354 00:24:53,680 --> 00:25:00,520 From New York, 187, from Michigan to '08 from Florida to '22 from Chicago to '28 from 355 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:06,600 Atlanta, Georgia to '17, you can get over there for a couple hundred bucks. 356 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,360 Have you finished your sojourn teaching English in China? 357 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:17,600 Yeah, two Ireland is 283 bucks, 287, 323, 300 bucks. 358 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,440 Hundred dollars more from anywhere in China, rather than the States and of course if you're 359 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:27,560 in anywhere in Europe, you can get right over there because transportation works in Europe. 360 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,600 Have a great time in Ireland. 361 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:36,360 Public camping is legal there, the people are very cool, the Guinness is very good. 362 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:39,920 It does taste different in Ireland, by the way, which surprised me a lot. 363 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,640 But it just tastes better there. 364 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:43,640 More fresh. 365 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,400 Gotta be fresh. 366 00:25:45,400 --> 00:26:09,480 Thanks for watching.