Preparing for the trip - Part 2:

Preparing for the trip - Part 2:

I've been living off a shoe string for the better part of 6 years - divorce in Massachusetts is financially crippling - so I had to reassess my non optical/digital travel gear.  Cha-ching again...

I had spent a grand total of 9 months on the Arabian Peninsula a few years ago so I had some idea of what I needed to do to be in a hot climate.  At that time, I bought some light weight long sleeve shirts and pants from LLBean.  Those are still kicking around and those will be on the trip.  But what about other things like boots, sandals, hats, underwear, luggage bag (remember the hernia), and all that stuff?  My primary focus was to get good boots and sandals.  My boots were about 11 years old and I wore them without laces.  They were good but couldn't imagine running around tropical areas in those bad boys.  My sandals?  Tevas bought in the 90's.  Socks?  WalMart specials. 

I started with boots.  I went to REI and spent a long time trying on different boots.  The problem was, I was so sore from my hernia operation I couldn't even bend to tie my laces.  The good folks at REI understood and were most gracious.  I ended up with a pair of light weight North Face (I think) boots.  I'll update this post when I get home.  They have good support and dry really quickly.

I ordered a pair sandals on line from Amazon.  Keen Men's Clearwater CNX Hybrid Shoe, Burnt Olive/Black, 9 M US.  These things did not fit.  I think they sent me a pair of woman's shoes.  These bad boys went back with the RODE microphone...  Buying shoes on line sucks.  I have to try them on so I made a visit to Bass Pro Shops in Foxboro, Mass - home of the 5 time super bowl champions New England Patriots!  They were a great help.  I was able to get a pair of Keen Newport H2 that fit the bill.

I picked up some real nice, tropic weight, padded socks - both in ankle and crew length.  These are RedHead Ultra Silver Light Weight socks.  4 pairs of each.

I'm using my LLBean large Rolling Adventure gear bag.  It fits my tripod, all my clothes, and everything else I need.  I used this when I travel to SW Louisiana for the Yellow Rails and Rice Festival.  Great bag, bright orange, LLBean.  Boom!

So I'm going with:

• 8 pairs of socks (4 crew, 4 ankle)
• 8 pairs of underware (all UnderArmor, boxer briefs, tight fit)
• 4 long sleeve tropic weigh shirts (2 from Bean, 2 from EMS)
• 6 ultra cool t-shirts (Reebok, UnderArmor, Columbia)
• 2 ultra cool polo shirts
• 1 pair boots (North Face)
• 1 pair sandals (Keen Newport H2)
• 1 Outdoor Research Sun Runner Hat
• 1 Eidlvais mesh fishing vest - lot of pockets, cheap (yup, I'm going to try one.  Worse case, 29 bucks down the drain

A few other odds and ends I picked include:

• 1 spare battery for my Canon SX60
• 1 Insten Universal World Wide Travel Charger Adapter Plug
• 1 PowerBear Travel Adapter & Surge Protection Power Converter Strip | Charging Station with USB Ports | Global Power Adapter with 3 International Power Adapters
• 1 Black Rapid Hybrid Camera Strap - can have my PowerShot on the left and my DSLR on my right
• 1 Black Diamond 200 lumens head lamp
• 1 FlexaMed Hernia belt
• 3 books - "Culture Shock! Thailand", Berlitz "Thai Phrase Book & Dictionary", and "A Naturalist's Guide to the Butterflies of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore & Thailand" as well as the aforementioned "Birds of Thailand"
• IsaGenix shake mix
• Manfrotto MT190XPRO4 4 Section Aluminum Tripod Legs with Q90 Column
• Manfrotto 128RC Micro Fluid Head with Two Replacement Quick Release Plates for the RC2 Rapid Connect Adapter

My tripod and head were in pretty bad shape due to all the salt spray at Race Point.  Figured I had to do it at some point, why not now.

That's all, I think!