*update* Many people seem to be interested in my trip so I decided to keep a bit of a journal of the journey on here. I hope this will make it easier if I write a guest post.
For those of you who didn't read the original thread of this road trip it can be found here: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/spending-1500-on-a-vacation-before-starting-med-school/
Upon the advice of everyone on this forum and consulting with my travel buddy I have come to the conclusion that we can either SEE a lot or DO a lot.
We have decided to do a lot, and that our goal of this trip is wilderness immersion & isolation. This means more backpacking and less driving which means we are eliminating the Tetons and Yellowstone, spending less time in Oregon, and more time in Washington in the Cascades and time in Montana in Glacier. We will probably be backpacking Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho as well.
Doing more and seeing less= less gas and less driving which can help keep cost down as well.
I had some PM's about backpacking and people who wanted to get into it because it seems to be a frugal hobby but did not know where to start. This is what I am bringing on my 23 day trip. I am sort of a minimalist and pride myself on lightweight items. These items have been acquired over many years of backpacking and none of them are particularly cheap. I would say there is at least $1,500 worth of gear which I don't count in the cost of this trip. I have some gear passed down, some from a long time ago, and some I bought new. I do not go cheap on gear because I put my life in the "hands" of this gear. I am also a bit of a weight weeny and you pay for lightness in backpacking. My pack is going to be less than 25 lbs on most of my backpacking trips with food and water. Also, I find that buying the right thing once that will last many years is more frugal than buying crappy gear multiple times (or maybe I just like nice gear).
Here is the stuff I am taking:
http://imgur.com/a/yy37u
Clothing
- 5 pair wool socks (1 lightweight, 3 mid weight, 1 heavy)
- glove liners, mittens
- fleece hat (compliments of my brothers time in the US Army)
- 5 pairs underwear (2 exerocisio antimicrobial) 3 pairs synthetic underwear
- mamut wool bend base layer
- smart wool base layer// lightweight mid layer
- the north face mid layer
- The North Face Buff ( got it free when I went to watch my girlfriend run a 5k)
- REI Down Jacket
- Columbia light weight sun shirt (got it from my friend cause it doesn't fit him anymore)
- 3 hiking wool blend tee shirts.
- polartec long johns
- 2 pairs hiking pants (1 Columbia convertible to shorts, 1 LL bean pant- only)
- 2 pairs hiking shorts (1 rugged LL bean hiking shorts with many pockets, 1 ultralight & comfy)
- Rain gear (hand me down from my dad back when he was skinny)
- Saloman trail shoes
- Bedrock Cairn sandals
- “True blue” patagonia hat--This is the baseball cap I always wear on all my trips. Things seen countless miles.
- rain hat
Gear
-Enlightened equipment 20 degree down quilt
-Hyperlite mountain gear pack organizers, 1 doubles as a pillow that you put your clothes in, 1 food bag w/ roll top, 1 super small one for toiletries, 1 for first aid quit and gear.
- hyperlite mountain gear pack
- sleeping bag liner that I use to cover my sleeping pad
-sleeping pad (sea to summit ultralight)
- daypack (Gregory)
- neck pillow for driving and the flight (found in a closet in my house)
- travel wallet (actually my brothers army badge holder thing...works great as a travel wallet tho)
- REI black diamond headlamp
- multi tool
- compass (Still have the first one my dad bought me back from the boy scouting days)
- camp stove/ pot & pan (ultralight titanium evernew)
- Journal
- GPS (It is actually my travel buddies, I just had it in my house for some reason)
- Toiletry bag (toothpaste, biodegradable soap, TP)
- First aid kit/ survival pack (bandaids, alcohol, glide anti-chafing, string, Waterproof matches, moleskin, ibuprofen, cortisone, Neosporin, gauze, tape, that stuff you put on babies for diaper rash)
- mosquito net for my face
- brush and dust pan for tent
Food
- 2 Good to Go dinners (Indian Korma, Herbed mushroom risotto)
- 2 mountain house dinners (chili Mac, Beef Stroganoff)
- 2 breakfast meals (granola packets)
- 1 backpacker’s pantry Katmandu Curry Dinner
- 4 Clif Bars
- 2 Gu packets
- 2 energy block chews
- 2 snickers
- 2 coffees
- 16 chamomile tea bags
I had this food from a trip to the white mountains that I had to bail on due to blizzard like conditions--I'm not counting this already purchased food I had sitting in my drawer as cost of this trip which I guess counts as cheating but in my mind it makes sense.
For those of you who didn't read the original thread of this road trip it can be found here: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/spending-1500-on-a-vacation-before-starting-med-school/
Upon the advice of everyone on this forum and consulting with my travel buddy I have come to the conclusion that we can either SEE a lot or DO a lot.
We have decided to do a lot, and that our goal of this trip is wilderness immersion & isolation. This means more backpacking and less driving which means we are eliminating the Tetons and Yellowstone, spending less time in Oregon, and more time in Washington in the Cascades and time in Montana in Glacier. We will probably be backpacking Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho as well.
Doing more and seeing less= less gas and less driving which can help keep cost down as well.
I had some PM's about backpacking and people who wanted to get into it because it seems to be a frugal hobby but did not know where to start. This is what I am bringing on my 23 day trip. I am sort of a minimalist and pride myself on lightweight items. These items have been acquired over many years of backpacking and none of them are particularly cheap. I would say there is at least $1,500 worth of gear which I don't count in the cost of this trip. I have some gear passed down, some from a long time ago, and some I bought new. I do not go cheap on gear because I put my life in the "hands" of this gear. I am also a bit of a weight weeny and you pay for lightness in backpacking. My pack is going to be less than 25 lbs on most of my backpacking trips with food and water. Also, I find that buying the right thing once that will last many years is more frugal than buying crappy gear multiple times (or maybe I just like nice gear).
Here is the stuff I am taking:
http://imgur.com/a/yy37u
Clothing
- 5 pair wool socks (1 lightweight, 3 mid weight, 1 heavy)
- glove liners, mittens
- fleece hat (compliments of my brothers time in the US Army)
- 5 pairs underwear (2 exerocisio antimicrobial) 3 pairs synthetic underwear
- mamut wool bend base layer
- smart wool base layer// lightweight mid layer
- the north face mid layer
- The North Face Buff ( got it free when I went to watch my girlfriend run a 5k)
- REI Down Jacket
- Columbia light weight sun shirt (got it from my friend cause it doesn't fit him anymore)
- 3 hiking wool blend tee shirts.
- polartec long johns
- 2 pairs hiking pants (1 Columbia convertible to shorts, 1 LL bean pant- only)
- 2 pairs hiking shorts (1 rugged LL bean hiking shorts with many pockets, 1 ultralight & comfy)
- Rain gear (hand me down from my dad back when he was skinny)
- Saloman trail shoes
- Bedrock Cairn sandals
- “True blue” patagonia hat--This is the baseball cap I always wear on all my trips. Things seen countless miles.
- rain hat
Gear
-Enlightened equipment 20 degree down quilt
-Hyperlite mountain gear pack organizers, 1 doubles as a pillow that you put your clothes in, 1 food bag w/ roll top, 1 super small one for toiletries, 1 for first aid quit and gear.
- hyperlite mountain gear pack
- sleeping bag liner that I use to cover my sleeping pad
-sleeping pad (sea to summit ultralight)
- daypack (Gregory)
- neck pillow for driving and the flight (found in a closet in my house)
- travel wallet (actually my brothers army badge holder thing...works great as a travel wallet tho)
- REI black diamond headlamp
- multi tool
- compass (Still have the first one my dad bought me back from the boy scouting days)
- camp stove/ pot & pan (ultralight titanium evernew)
- Journal
- GPS (It is actually my travel buddies, I just had it in my house for some reason)
- Toiletry bag (toothpaste, biodegradable soap, TP)
- First aid kit/ survival pack (bandaids, alcohol, glide anti-chafing, string, Waterproof matches, moleskin, ibuprofen, cortisone, Neosporin, gauze, tape, that stuff you put on babies for diaper rash)
- mosquito net for my face
- brush and dust pan for tent
Food
- 2 Good to Go dinners (Indian Korma, Herbed mushroom risotto)
- 2 mountain house dinners (chili Mac, Beef Stroganoff)
- 2 breakfast meals (granola packets)
- 1 backpacker’s pantry Katmandu Curry Dinner
- 4 Clif Bars
- 2 Gu packets
- 2 energy block chews
- 2 snickers
- 2 coffees
- 16 chamomile tea bags
I had this food from a trip to the white mountains that I had to bail on due to blizzard like conditions--I'm not counting this already purchased food I had sitting in my drawer as cost of this trip which I guess counts as cheating but in my mind it makes sense.
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