Packing List Part 1

Posted on November 19, 2013 by katez

Well we all knew it was coming, the moment of truth…packing.

I actually have been dreading this day, but was amazed at how quickly it came together. I figured I would separate this post into two parts, today I’ll review clothing, and then on Friday I’ll go over all the extra stuff. So, without further ado, here are all the clothes I’m bringing.

Starting top right:

Two beach wraps that can double as sleeping attire
Bathing suits! I’m bringing 3 suits, but all the tops and bottoms are interchangeable. (I may go buy this beautiful polka dot one piece before I go, do I need it, no, do I want it, yes).
Bandeau tops, I’ve brought three of these little guys, they are perfect when I want to go out in a loose fitting top but don’t want to deal with a bra.
One pair of black leggings
Gitch!! 13 pairs of underwear…It’s so exciting that my underwear is now permanently on display on the internet. It was really was just a matter of time.
Next row…yes that is one very lonely pair of socks. I think I’m going to bring about 3 or 4 pair. Even though I will live in flip flops, I know I will use them to workout every day.
Bottoms, one pair of jean shorts, and one pair of capris
Shirts, a weeks worth. Mostly tank tops, but a couple short sleeves as well.
Dresses, 7 to be exact. I know I will live in sun dresses while I’m down there, and these ones are really compact. Most of them I actually bought down in Costa Rica on our last trip!
Sports bras- I’ll be bringing two with me, but only one is shown cause the other was in the dryer!
Workout bottoms- Two pairs of shorts, which can double for bathing suit bottoms, and two pairs of dry wick capris
Workout tops- Five tops, mostly drywick.
Warm clothes- I’m bringing one pair of long waterproof pants, that can be zipped off and turned into capris, and one long sleeved shirt. I imagine these will be used when hiking in rainforests, and travelling on those chilly air conditioned buses.
A bright purple waterproof jacket.

So there you go! What do you think? Did I miss anything? Is it too much? I definitely found the workout gear challenging. I know I’ll be having a crazy sweaty workout every morning, so I had to bring extra to accommodate that. But the nice thing is, my Mom is coming to visit for Christmas, so if I find I’ve brought to much, I can always send some things home with her!

Stay tuned for my next post which will cover things like, shoes, electronics, and all the other little knick-knacks I’m bringing!

What are your packing strategies? How do you think I did? Any tips you want to share?

Pura Vida!

Kate

The Bootcamp Backpack Test Run

Posted on November 15, 2013 by katez

Some of you may know that I have been blogging as a guest “challenger” for my Bootcamp this month. Each month, one bootcamp member take on their own personal challenge, and documents it in some way. My challenge has been to take a more flexible approach to my fitness, and challenge myself to get comfortable creating effective workouts on the fly. If you’re interested in reading more about it, or learning about the best bootcamp in Victoria, feel free to check it out here!

So, last week, one of my challenges was to walk/run for an hour wearing a backpack with 15 pounds inside. Each time I got to a new street I had to do 20 jump squats, 20 step ups on a curb, and 20 fast lunges. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to test out my backpack.

As many of you may have read previously, Tatonka is my backpack, and we are BFF’s. So I jumped at the chance to take her out for a spin. For this challenge, I decided to detach Tatonka’s day pack, and use that for my weights. I realized at that moment that I need a name for it as well. So far, I’ve come up with TinyTonka, TittyTonka, BittyTonka, but I’m open to suggestions!

Anyways, I started my challenge by loading up 15 lbs worth of barbel free weights into the pack, and I was off. The first thing I noticed was that the straps were too long. I had them adjusted as far as they would go, but found myself holding on to them to keep them taught. This is definitely a disadvantage to not buying a backpack made for a women. I felt that my torso just wasn’t long enough to have it fit right. That being said, I think a lot of that had to do with the amount of weight that was weighing it down. I doubt that I will often have 15lbs worth of weight in my daypack.

As the walk continued, Jenn, my instructor, challenged my flexibility by calling me and asking me to pick up milk for her. I then proceeded to get text messages from two other fellow bootcampers, also requesting milk. After making multiple purchases, I embarked, milk in hand, for the final leg of my trek. As I walked, I thought about how perfect this challenge was, as I’m guaranteed to be faced with lots of long walks carrying lots of weight in my not so distant future.

In the end, I made it all the way to the park where Jenn was teaching a morning class. She was kind enough to snap a photo of me, milk in hand, looking very relieved to have arrived.

She was also kind enough to take the milk off my hands for my run home. I knew at this point that I was going to have to make some sort of adjustment to the pack in order to run the 5km back to my car. So, with Jenn’s help I played around with the straps, and came up with a fabulous solution.

You can see here that I unbuckled both straps and then re-buckled one across me. I then took the other strap and wrapped it around my waist, attaching it into the buckle on the other side.I could not believe the difference this made. The pack sat higher on my back and the weight was distributed more evenly. You can tell by my smile that I’m much happier (although I did take this picture once I had completed the 10km route, so that may have influenced my grin as well!).

Obviously those magical makers of Tatonka knew what they were doing when the designed the straps to unbuckle. I’m certainly glad I learnt this lesson now, instead of half way up the side of a volcano!

So, here is the big question…what on earth do I name my little Tatonka day pack?? Let me know in the comments!

Pura Vida!

Kate

My First Blog Award- The Liebster!!

Posted on November 12, 2013 by katez

What a wonderful way to start my week!! I was so excited to find out that Wendy from Life Unmapped, nominated me for a Liebster award. I’m still grinning to myself as I write this, so thank you so much Wendy. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

So what is the Liebster award? Well it’s an award given to new blogs with under 200 followers by their fellow bloggers. It sounds like such an amazing way to connect with our blogging peers!

Here are the rules for Liebster nominations.

Thank the person who nominated you and link back up to his/her blog.
Answer the 10 (or 11!) questions which are given to you by the nominator.
Nominate other bloggers for the award who have less than 200 followers.
Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

So here are the questions I received from Wendy, along with my answers

1). Where is the last place you travelled?

The last place I travelled was Disneyland! Although I haven’t spoken about it much on this blog, I am a Disney fanatic! I got at least once a year. This year was particularly special because I went to run the Disneyland Half Marathon. Words cannot describe how amazing this experience was. I even got to cross the finish line with Shannon from The Birthday Dinner, as she finished her very first Half Marathon. Such an accomplishment!

2). What is your earliest travel memory?

When I was very young, my family would travel from Victoria to Vancouver to visit my “Nan”. It was always such an adventure, because we would have to take the ferry. I have very vivid memories of these ferry rides, and the excitement I would feel throughout the whole process. Although my travels would get more extensive as I grew older, these hour and thirty minute ferry rides seemed like huge journey’s to me!

3). Do you prefer to travel with others or on your own?

My instant reaction is to say with others, but probably because I have never travelled extensively on my own. A few trips here and there, but I’ve always ended up meeting up with people I know at some point. The best trips I have had have been with one or two other people. I find there is often a tipping point with travelling in groups. Suddenly there are too many people to please, and decision making can be difficult. I’ve definitely had more than one occasion where my travel group has spent more time deciding on where to go for dinner, then actually eating dinner!

4). What is your favorite food or drink you’ve found while travelling?

If you read my must sees post, you’ve already heard about my love affair with Mandarina smoothies in Costa Rica. I could probably extend that to all fresh tropical fruit. There is nothing more amazing then eating freshly picked pineapples and bananas!

5). If you could only complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

I’m staring blankly at the screen with this one! Only one item, that seems impossible! Geez, well, seeing that I’m freshly off the Disney run circuit, I would love to complete their coast to coast, and double dare challenges. Runners who complete a Disney race in Disneyland and Disney World in a year, get a special “Coast to Coast” medal. In addition, each race weekend includes a “Double Dare” Challenge. Runners complete a 10km run on Saturday and then the Half Marathon on Sunday. You get a medal for each of these runs. So, if I all the challenges, I would end up with seven medals! (but whose counting ;))

6). Do you have a favorite travel destination?

Not surprisingly it’s Costa Rica. That being said, I feel like I have so many places left to explore, the answer will likely change depending on what beach I’m laying on!

7). What is your preferred method of travel (airplane, train, bus, car…)?

When exploring a country, I like the freedom of having a vehicle. It’s nice to have the flexibility of stopping whenever you see something that strikes your fancy. This won’t often be the case for us during our Costa Rican adventure, but we might rent one on the odd occasion.

8). What is the one thing you never leave home without?

No, it’s not hot rollers! This answer was easy, a couple good books. I love reading, and travelling offers the perfect opportunity to sink your teeth into literary adventures. I also like finding books in hostels to swap with. I often end up reading things that I would never have picked up on my own!

9). What is your favorite travel film or book?

Hmm, rough one. I think I’m going to stick with the basics, and say my lonely planet books. I often pick one up before going travelling, and gain so much valuable knowledge from them. Reading them prior to departure also gets me so excited for the adventure to come!

10). What are your three favorite blogs?

Oh gosh, they change so often, and there are so many! Here are my current faves:

So, with that, I now present to you my nominess for the Liebster Award!!

And here are their questions:

1) Where is the most memorable place that you’ve travelled?
2)What was the biggest adventure you’ve had while travelling?
3)What is your favourite part of Costa Rica?
4)What travelling experience made you feel most outside your comfort zone?
5)What brought you to Costa Rica?
6)If someone came to visit you for the first time, where is the first place you would take them?
7)When travelling, what is the one item you would never leave home without?
8)Plantains or Papaya?
9)How did you feel when you read about your Liebster Nomination?
10) What are your three favourite blogs?

What fun! Can’t wait to hear your answers! Have you ever won an award??

Pura Vida

Kate

Makeup for Travelling

Posted on November 8, 2013 by katez

Well, this is where the “Hot Rollers” portion of “Hostels and Hot Rollers” comes in. I’m not going to lie, I’m a girly girl, and I like to get glam every once and a while. I also became a certified makeup artist this year, and with these credentials came a huge expansion to my makeup collection. Obviously I want to keep things as light as possible for travel, but there are still a few beauty essentials that I knew I would want on hand.

After much soul searching, and little shopping, I narrowed it down to these 9 products, and 3 brushes.

My “kit”

Foundation: Anyone who has been around me in the past month knows I’ve been searching the world for a light coverage, mattifying powder foundation with an SPF. Apparently, this is a tall order. I thought that if I found a foundation that had an SPF, I could eliminate the need to bring a sunscreen for my face, and cut down on the number of products I was bringing. Traditional sunscreen makes my face shine like the top of the Chrystler building. This is also the reason that I steer clear of any and all BB Creams. The only foundations I found that had an SPF, had way to much coverage. Obviously I will need to reapply sunscreen throughout the day, but I didn’t want to be applying layer upon layer of a really visible foundation. In the end, I decided to bring my favourite powder foundation. The Lise Watier compact give me light coverage, mattifies my shiny skin tendencies, and is an all around fabulous product. It doesn’t have an SPF, but I’ll just suck it up and bring sunscreen.

Blush/Bronzer: I’m bringing my NARS “Super Orgasm” blush, what a name eh? It’s small, so its the perfect travel size. I’m also going to bring my MAC bronzer. I love these two products, and although I won’t use them on a daily basis, they’ll be all I need to get my face a little glam for a night out.

Mascara: I love mascara, and I knew I would be bringing a tube with me.I also heard from the lovely Maribel of Stroller Adventures, that it is notoriously expensive in Costa Rica. So I wanted to make sure I brought some from home. I thought about bringing a waterproof mascara to help combat the sweat and surf, but the idea of having to try and scrub that stuff off my face every night didn’t appeal to me. In the end, I stuck with a traditional cover girl lengthening mascara. You just can’t go wrong.

Rosebud Salve: This stuff is AMAZING. It’s a lipgloss/moisturizer/all around magial item. I can’t tell you how many of these I have gone through in my lifetime, so I knew it would be an essential item.

Sephora eyeliner: I wasn’t going to bring this (in fact, I’m still on the fence). This is a kohl based liner, which makes it really versatile to create different looks. That being said, Kohl is smudgeriffic, and that doesn’t mix very well with heat and sweat. I probably will bring it, but only wear it if we were going out somewhere nice for an evening out (and then instantly regret it as it starts to run down my face:P)

BabyLips Maybelline: I can guarantee I’ll run out of this stuff within the first month. This is a fairly new product, and I think I’ve gone through two tubes already. It’s a peppermint scented chapstick with SPF 15. It goes on so smooth and keeps my lips…I want to say moist…but I hate that word…juicy? That’s really not that much better. I’ll go with luscious, it keeps my lips luscious.

Maybelline eyeshadow pallet: I have a zillion amazing eyeshadow pallets in my makeup kit, but they are all gigantic. I wanted to find a pallet that was really neutral, but had a couple different colour combination options. This little one I found is perfect. Whites, browns, and beiges, some shimmery, some not. Again, this won’t be part of an everyday look, but nice to have the option.

Neutrogena Moizturizer: This was the SPF for my face I ended up deciding on. I’m actually happy that I went this route, as I was able to get a 30 SPF, an option not often found in the powder foundations. With a history of skin cancer in my family, I want to make sure I’m as protected as possible for this long term stay.

Brushes: I’m bringing one large angled brush for bronzer and blush. The foundation has its own makeup sponge for application. Then I’m bringing one eyeshadow brush. It’s fluffy enough that I can use it for both application and blending. Lastly, an angled brush, I will use this for filling in brows and smudging eyeliner.

So there you have it! Makeup essentials for a backpacker who loves glam.

Do you travel with makeup? What are your essential travel beauty items?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Staying Active While Travelling

Posted on November 5, 2013 by katez

Those who know me, know that I am a glorified gym rat. Jumping on a treadmill and sweating like a mad women is something that has always kept me sane.

The entire month prior to leaving, I have been working at creating flexibility in my workout regime. I’ve been focusing on shorter more intense workouts that can be done quickly and with limited resources. Here are a couple tips I’ve come up with to help with those who want to stay fit, while on the move.

Be creative with your environment

At the beach? perfect, sand provides great resistance when running. In the forest? awesome, tons of logs to lift up, jump on, or hop over. In a park? fabulous, benches are great for dips, step ups and push ups. You don’t need a gym full of equipment to get an effective workout, just use what you have around you! Added bonus, it’s usually way more fun!

Look for active adventures

You have all heard that I want to see every volcano there is, well undoubtedly that will involve hiking! Learning to surf? That is bound to burn a calorie or two!

Walking, Walking and more Walking

Part of the bonus of being a budget trapped traveller like myself, is that walking will become my primary mode of transportation. I’m so looking forward to being able to go on daily adventures to explore my surroundings. Certainly beats the normal routine of working in front of a computer all day!

Get it done early, and get it done dirty

Costa Rica can get HOT, so, if you are trying to get a workout in mid day, you’re going to run out of gas pretty quick. Shaun and I have always been early risers, and this will certainly work to our advantage while travelling. Getting up early, and getting my workout done will be my plan of attack. As for the dirty part, I mean intense. Who wants to spend all their time working out when there are adventures to be had! The workouts I have planned will be short sweet and intense, so I have more time to play!

So with that, I thought I would share with you a couple of my favourite down and dirty workouts that I will be rocking while in Costa Rica. You can bet there will be plenty more of these to come!

The Centurion is a great challenge. 1000 total reps of various exercises. You can break them down into small sets and decide what order you complete them in. I usually find that working opposite muscle groups works well, so you have a chance for a quick rest before starting up again. However you do it, you’ll feel a huge sense of accomplishment when its done. Quick tip: keep a piece of paper or your phone handy to keep track of your progress

Strength training can be challenging when you don’t have weights available to you. I have decided to bring a set of resistance bands with me. These are small compact and are extremely versatile. The arms section of this workout uses the bands for resistance. If you didn’t have bands, you could easily use whatever you had around you: water bottles, soup cans, be creative! Check out this amazing workout from The Healthy Maven using only resistance bands!

Dear HIIT, How do I love thee, let me count the ways….

Nothing gets me more sweaty, then a HIIT workout. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Sometimes referred to as “Tabata,” it is a great way to get maximum calorie burn in a very short period of time. Timing the workouts can be tricky, as you have to preform 20 seconds of an exercise at maximum exertion then a 10 second rest for 4 minutes straight. I would suggest downloading a HIIT app to do the counting for you. I use Tabata Timer, and it is fabulous

How do you stay active while on vacation? Any other tips and tricks you want to share?

Pura Vida!

Kate

(Just a quick note: I’m not a trained fitness professional, just a lover of all thing fit. Remember to ask your Doctor before trying out anything new!)

Our pre-travel checklist

Posted on November 1, 2013 by katez

There are always things that need to be done before leaving on a vacation:get a pet sitter, turn off the lights, but leaving for 5 months adds a whole new dimension. Here are some of the major things that Shaun and I need to cross off our lists before we go.

Passports and ID: An obvious one, and thankfully one that we just got checked off. You want to make sure that your passport is valid, which means it shouldn’t expiring in the near future. If you are leaving for 5 months and your passport expires in 6 months, I’d say you are better off getting it renewed before you go. Also double check your ID. Shaun had to get his drivers licence renewed early, as it expires while we are away. Another handy tip would be to take copies of your ID, and leave it with a family member (one who won’t lose it 😉

Pets: Oh Bearcat. For those of you who have never met our lovely furry companion, let me take a moment to fill you in. Bear, or Barry, is our overweight, diabetic, toothless cat.

The Bear- Looking very majestic

We love her so! Figuring out what to do with Bear was a huge obstacle for this trip. She’s a little more high maintenance then most cats, as she needs to be fed twice a day at certain times to keep her diabetes at bay (or her Beetus as we call it). We wanted to make sure she was well taken care of, but didn’t want to inconvenience anyone. We looked into a kennel, but the cost of 5 months was way outside of our budget. We started looking for house sitters, and my brother stepped up to the plate. It’s nice to know that Bear will have a friend the entire time we are gone, and that the house will be looked after at the same time.

Travel Insurance: I’ll be honest, I’ve been procrastinating on this one, but I know it’s important! Take a look at all your policies, and make sure you have appropriate coverage. Also, jot down the information you need to access your policies while travelling.

Veronica, she doesn’t normally look this clean!

Cars/Insurance: Lindsey and Veronica are our two trusty steeds. This is a big one to cross of the list still. Both Shaun and I are planning on getting storage insurance for our cars. Not only will this protect us if anyone bumps into our cars, but our strata requires that all cars parked in our parkade are insured. We’re also going to ask my brother to start our cars up, and drive them around the parkade once a month or so. This will help make sure our tires aren’t sitting on the same spot for too long, and Lindsey and Veronica will know they are still loved.

Bills: I’ve been going through the painfully tedious process of calling all of our providers and getting our services cancelled or reduced while we are gone. I’ve also made sure that our bills are either set to come out of our account automatically or that we get an electronic copy when they come due. I’m also going to be setting up an auto-pay for all of our credit cards as well. (sidenote: Shoutout to Telus, for being the best cable provider ever. They gave me amazing service. I’ll be switching everything to them as soon as I can get out of my current contract with their not so fabulous competition).

Banking: Closer to the trip I plan on making a trip to the bank so cancel all my contributions to my savings accounts. I will also be setting up a friend with a temporary POA on my account. This will make sure that if anything happens while I’m away, he can act on my behalf, and get it sorted out.

Cancel Memberships: Gyms, Magazines, newspapers. All of my monthly memberships will have to go!

Doctors Visit: Although it’s not mandatory to get any vaccines before leaving to Costa Rica, I did go to the Dr’s for a check-up. It was the perfect excuse to go in, since I had been procrastinating for way to long! This would be the time to stock up on any prescriptions you made need to cover the duration of your trip.

Saying Goodbye: The countdown to departure seems to be speeding up, and I’m feel like I’m running out of time to see everyone before I go! Plan carefully, maybe even write a list of everyone you want to touchbase with before you go. For Shaun and I, it involves travel weekends to both Port Hardy and Vancouver. If we could go back in time, we would have planned this out better, as we find we are stressed about trying to fit it all in.

What do you do to prepare for big trips? Do you think there is anything that I’m missing?

25 days to go!!!

Pura Vida!

Kate

Our “Must Sees” in Costa Rica

Posted on October 29, 2013 by katez

Although Shaun and I have visited Costa Rica before, we’ve only seen a small fraction of what it has to offer. Our previous vacations were short, sweet, and full of beer. That didn’t leave a whole lot of time for sightseeing. With five months ahead of us, there will be plenty of time to see it all. Here is a small sample of what we’re looking forward to seeing! (honesty check: Shaun hasn’t seen this list, nor will he probably look at it until we’re on the plane, but I assure you, he’s excited and just doesn’t know it!)

Manual Antonio

Manual Antonio is one of those places that I can only describe as paradise. I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon there during our last trip, and couldn’t get over it. White sand, blue water, palm trees, and SLOTHS!

Yes that’s right, there are sloths! Part of the wonder of Manual Antonio is their national park. During our visit we saw so much wildlife including: sloths, toucans, monkeys, iguanas, frogs, and coatamundi’s! Since Shaun has never seen it, I can’t wait for us to experience it together.

Caliches Wishbone, Jaco

Shaun and I have been to Jaco, in fact we got engaged there. It wasn’t one of our favourite places, but we will go back for some Wishbone!

Wishbone is a local restaurant that we went to several times throughout our stay (including the night of our engagement), and let me tell you, it was the nachos that kept us coming back for more.We have spent the past two years trying to recreate Wishbone nachos, and we just can’t get it right. Something about the bean mixture they put on the bottom of it? I don’t know, it’s all just a foggy nacho laden memory now. You can be assured there will be a post about it when we make it there! Oh, and just a note on this photo. Shaun has full right of veto on all photo’s, and as I was snapping this shot, he was asking me if he was allowed to eat yet. The resulting expression on his face was priceless, yet not shareable.

Arenal Volcano

Well not just Arenal, but all volcano’s in general! I apparently have developed a bit of an obsession about seeing volcano’s. Not sure why, probably because I have never seen one before, and they’re AWESOME! Last time I checked, Costa Rica has 67 volcano’s, six of which are active. Think we can see them all?!? (I can hear Shaun’s eyes rolling as I write this)

Anyways, Arenal is one of Costa Rica’s most famous volcano’s. It’s apparently quite active and last erupted in 2010. All the activity makes it a prime spot for hot springs! I can’t wait!

Dinosaurs always come with Volcano’s…right?

Mandarina

To me, Mandarina is the Starbucks of Costa Rica (or at least the towns we’ve visited in the past!)

These cute little smoothie shacks can be found all around popular tourist towns. I’ve seen a bunch in both Tamarindo, and Jaco.

They make smoothies using fresh fruit of your choice. You can get yours custom made too. I learnt very early that they are often made with milk and lots of added sugar (we’re talking multiple heaping table spoons of white sugar!). It’s okay to ask for agua instead of leche, no sucre, and always add passion fruit! Super delicious!

Santa Teresa/Mal Pais

Santa Teresa has been recommended to us by a number of people. We’re lucky enough to be staying there fairly early on in our trip. It’s located in the southern region of the Nicoya Peninsula, and according to our research, is a surfers paradise. I am sure that Shaun will be in his happy place here! Although I’m not an avid surfer (yet), Mal Pais and Santa Teresa beaches are supposed to be some of the most beautiful beaches in the country, and there is also little bustling town!

Drake Bay

Drake Bay is located on the northern side of the Osa Pennisula, and it sounds pretty rustic. It’s touted as a place where people go to”get away from it all”.

Numerous people have mentioned it to us, so it’s now on the must see list. Although we don’t know much about it yet, we’re looking forward to adding it to our adventure!

Montezuma

Everytime I look up information for Montezuma, I come across another picture of an absurdly gorgeous waterfall. I feel the same way about the waterfalls as I do about the volcano’s. Can we just see them all?!?(poor Shaun).

Montezuma is in the same general area as Santa Teres. Recently I heard someone describe as “off-beat” and “bohemian”. Hmmm, we will see how we fit in!!

So that is just a small sample of the many places we are looking forward to visiting. Can’t wait to tell you all about them!

Have you ever been to Costa Rica? If so, what are you must sees? If not, what are you most excited for me to post about?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Meet Tatonka

Posted on October 25, 2013 by katez

Yes, it’s official, the backpack has been purchased. I’m pleased to announce the arrival of our new bundle of joy, Tatonka.

Finding a backpack was actually harder than I thought it would be. After a lot of research on backpacking websites, chatting with experienced backpackers, and multiple trips to MEC, I determined my backpack needed the follow two and a half things.

1-Side Loading: My current backpack loads from the top, and I’m always rummaging around looking for things. Undoubtedly, there are things that fall to the bottom that never see the light of day. If you are going to be staying in one place, a top loading pack would likely be fine (as I’m assuming you would unpack everything anyways), but, since we are bouncing around, I wanted to make sure I had easy access.

2- Two Compartments: While we are travelling, I plan on working out, running on beaches, and doing all sorts of things that will make my clothes smelly, and my shoes dirty. As much as I am opening my mind to the idea of “roughing it,” I’d rather not contaminate all my clothes with my stench. Hence the rationale of the two compartments. One side for things I’d like to keep clean, and one of the not so clean items.

2.5- My final criteria was having an day pack that attached to my main backpack. Why is this a .5 you may ask? I wasn’t actually completely sold on the idea at first. When I envision what our travelling style will be, I doubt that there will be many times where I would have my day pack attached to the bag itself. When we are on the move, I imagine I will be wearing my day pack on my front with my valuables in it. I figure that only time it would come in handy would be on our way home, when our bags are so full of junk, that I need to buy a new one to carry on. Then I could just attach the daypack and check it on the plane. Also, many of the bags with attachable day packs didn’t seem very well equipped for attachment. The ones I saw had a few buckles to attach it, leaving the back susceptible to being ripped off in an airport or theft. Yet, as I priced out the bags, I realized how much money I would save if I found an all in one unit that had both packs together, plus it would save me the hassle of starting pack shopping all over again. Ultimately, I was wishy washy about the whole idea.

Once I knew what I was looking for, the search began. Enter Pinterest. You may laugh, but I found that Pinterest was the best way for me to organize all the packs I found. I would cruise around online, and as soon as I found a pack that hit my criteria, I would pin it to my board for future review.

In addition to my social media savy search, I checked out a couple of stores here in Victoria. I spent lots of time in MEC, Robinsons and Atmosphere. I made sure I spoke with employees to get their opinions. It was great to hear first-hand experience about the packs.

After three weeks of searching, I was beginning to get a little anxious. Not only were there very few packs that met my criteria, the ones that did were tipping the scales at $400plus. On a fateful Friday afternoon, I made one last ditch effort and popped into Capital Iron (a local “we have everything” store in Victoria). I chatted with an amazing employee, and told him all about my plight. His reponse…”You need a Tatonka.”

Tatonka?

I’d never heard such beautiful words…and she was…beautiful.

I purchased the Tatonka Great Escape 60, which literally has everything I need and more.

Features:

– Two big compartments that can be converted to one if needed.

-A side loading zipper for easy access.

-A detachable day pack (which also has two compartments), that is secured by an industrial zipper.

-A protective layer that can be zipped over the packs straps for easy travel

-A duffel bag conversion, so the bag can be worn over your shoulder as needed.

-A semi-reasonable price tag. At $200 it was at the top end of my budget, but the fact I was getting the two bags out of the deal sold me.

So here we are. Tatonka and Kate, lifelong friends. Or at least for the next 5 months. I’ll do a follow up post during the trip, and let you know if all the trials and tribulations of tracking down Tatonka were truly worth it!

What kind of backpack do you have? What do you like about it?

Pura Vida!

Kate

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