wild camping

Packing List Update, Eastern Europe backpacking tour, Summer 2022, and lighterpack.com

Hi traveling guys and gals, here’s an idea of what I’ll be bringing on my next adventure. In fact here’s a photo of my stuff so far (although some items are not pictured). I decided to keep the 45 liter bag since I’ll be bringing some new camping gear, which ill describe below.

Note a few major changes. The target weight is a base weight of 20 lbs, while wearing about 8 lbs. I’m going to add a lightweight sleeping bag (not yet pictured). I am also taking a light jacket for camping in Sweden during summer, and the winter hat too! One change that I’m making is that I’m going to take 1 less outfit than originally planned to save a little bit of weight.

One other note about the containers, I will be holding a 20 liter stuff sack during my walking that I bought from Decathlon. This bag is very durable and I’m sure it could hold a lot of weight. I’ll probably split it up 5 lbs in the stuff sack and 15 in the backpack.

The backpack is the Pacsafe VentureSafe Exp 45, which I am still satisfied with. Its very durable. The weight is 3.6 lbs. In the photo you can see that I am also carrying a laptop, the Acer Swift 3 that weighs 2.7 lbs, lightweight, but there are also other laptops out there that weigh less. I am satisfied with this one.

Categories Weight:

The total weight of a few of the categories are as follows; electronics, 5.29 lbs, backpack and containers: 5.34 lbs, this includes the drone case, backpack, 2 toiletry bags and 2 stuff sacks that you see above. Camping weight is 5.28 lbs which include the new sleeping bag; pants and shorts: 2.13 lbs; shirts and tanktops: 1.69 lbs; underwear and socks: .56 lbs, this includes lightweight polyester underwear and cotton socks; the Columbia sportswear jacket that you see above weighs 18 oz. The total base weight should be about 20.37 lbs.

On the link here, you can see the actual but not final list, enjoy: lighterpack.

June 19, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Packing and Backpack Tips 0

Planning a trip to Skopje, north Macedonia, backpacking summer of 2022

Hello traveling girls and guys! This week I plan on doing a little bit more research on the country of North Macedonia since that’s my first stop away from Albania later this summer.

Let us look at the cost. Not unlike its neighbors, North Macedonia is really cheap as compared to the USA. I see on booking.com that there is a youth hostel that has shared rooms in Skopje for only $5 US. That’s really appetizing for me as a budget traveler, and while shared rooms might not be the most comfortable place to sleep for a 40s something non-partying male the savings is good enough for me for the short term.

I walked over to the international bus station in Tirana, behind Ring Center shopping mall where ill be catching the bus when the time comes. Prices are in the range of $21 from Tirana to Skopje, really not close to the $4 local buses to places like Vlore and Durres, but still not too bad.

So, let’s take a look at a few other things, just to make sure it’s a good location. A few things I look at are geography, crime, transportation, weather, then after that the fun stuff I can do while there.

Crime in North Macedonia … Is it a safe place to visit? Let’s check North Macedonia like we did for Bulgaria. The homicide rate for North Macedonia on Wikipedia is listed at 1.2 and on Nation Master, 1.94, whereas the US is at 5. Next, we take a look at total crimes per 1000 on Nation Master, North Macedonia is at 9.55 whereas the USA is at 41.29. North Mac is lower than Bulgaria and the USA, so that’s perfectly fine, next….

Now on with the tour de North Mac, Geography, population, GDP, weather, anyone? – In terms of area Macedonia is 9900 square miles so we can assume something like 90 miles wide by 100 miles tall, basically shaped like a blob, with no coastline. Two major features are that it is landlocked and that its very mountainous. Now I’ve got to check the weather to make sure its not too cold for my summer wardrobe… the average high in Skopje in July is 90 and the average low is 71 degrees; however, some mountain peaks might be significantly colder. I’ll bring a light jacket as well as a hat (I mostly need these for Sweden) for when I hike these peaks.

The population is 2 million, so smaller than Albania, and a bit larger than its tiny neighbor, Montenegro at 620,000 people. Now the GDP of North Mac is $5,880 versus $5,215 for Albania and $7,666 for Serbia. We can make the assumption, it’s a bit of a low-income country as compared to the good ole USA. In my experience GDP per capita is roughly related to cost of living, but I like to do a bit more research just to make sure on expenses, on with this in a bit.

The fun stuff, tourist attractions in North Macedonia … I like to mix it up, so ill probably be choosing some outdoor locations first, like mountains, some historical sites like old ruins or castles, perhaps some shopping and some city life here … now here’s the list of top attractions…

Lake Ohrid – looks interesting and scenic and not within the city of Skopje. There’s a cool looking monastery nearby.
The old Bazaar, Skopje – this looks like my top city attraction in Skopje since I like to window shop and wander streets
Vodno Cable Car – this cable car is actually similar to the one near Tirana, its close to Skopje so this would be a cool place to wander to.
Kale Fortress – a fortress/castle that overseas the entire city of Skopje, another easy one to see and take some photos.
Monastery of Travesic – this looks more like some of the monasteries I saw over in Montenegro. Scenic views are nice, then we head on over to Bulgaria next.

June 12, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Future Destinations 0

Ways to Save Money on Travel part #2!

Hello traveling guys and girls! Ready to hear some more tips to save cash on your backpacking trip ahead of time?!?! Sometimes when I travel, its a constant push and pull with money. The locals know you have at least enough to take an international flight to their country and take a tour, if you aren’t working while they are, right? So sometimes they just want your money. Over in Morocco, even though its a cheap place, there were many beggars and salesman in the street who really wanted my cash. I can understand this to some extent because its a very poor country. Sorry Morocco, I’m going to give us travelers a few tips to extend our little journey, with all due respect your country’s poverty. We are a bit stingy here at SoloVagabond.

Tip #1 – take local buses in countries like Albania and the Balkans! This can be an experience. Over in Morrocco, they also have two classes of busses, one for local people which are much cheaper and ones that are considered to be tourist class buses. I’m going to separate this out into local CITY buses and local inter-city buses! two types of trips. Yesterday, i just popped over to what is called the North South bus station, over here, they have busses headed upto Shkoder, near the lake and the border with Montenegro. I wanted to make an inquiry as to the price of a bus ticket to Shkoder to see the lake. It was 400 lek, which is toughly $3.70 not much cash at all, thank you! The driver and the passengers could barely speak English! Now they also have some fancier busses around town with Wifi aboard and AC but im just fine riding with the locals. One of these would cost between $8 and $15. As long as the country isnt too dangerous im fine with riding local.

Tip #2, avoid scams! Get recommendations! If you are visiting Thailand there’s some scams over there. Although it is a beautiful country, and i witnessed this once or twice. Make sure to read reviews and recommendations for whatever tour, service, product, boat ride, elephant photos, jet ski ride, and so on! One scam that local young Thai guys pull over in Pattaya is the jet ski scam. A young guys comes up with a jet ski, i actually saw one of them riding around the bay, they then ask tourists to rent the jet ski, after the ride is over, they accuse the customer of causing damage to the ski, its usually already broken. Thats when about 10 or 20 other Thais show up in attempts to intimidate the tourists. Sometimes the police will intervene and sometimes not! Me? I road a jetski that belonged to some Irishman who i met on the beach, so lucky there! i am brought my own inflatable boat to avoid the scam! Yes so in Thailand just watch out and hopefully you’ll be fine. One of my strategies, might be a bit isolating, but if you dont want to be ripped off dont employ anyone! just enjoy a day at the beach free, tan or swim!

Tip #3, use local city buses for long trips in the city! Over in Madrid, I landed at the airport, then i went into the underground where all the subways and buses lead you into town. I asked a local Spanish guy which bus i should be taking, he directed me to 1 bus, then a subway (as we call them in NYC), then a regional rail line, a lot of transfers, oops! Now the city bus lines are way slower but they are also WAY cheaper. It was around 1.5 euros. Now what happened on my after dark ride down south to my hostel? I had to backtrack on the regional rail and that cost me a few extra euro. I actually ended up spending about 10 to 12 euro on transportation to get to my hostel, but thats ok, live and learn. The next day I took a local red line bus from my hostel about 1/2 mile near the center of town for only 1.5 euro. Now the Spanish guy probably didnt know that i was a backpacker with a really low budget, he was just trying to help, but in this case from the airport in madrid i could have taken 2 local buses 1 to city center, and one south to my hostel for 3 euro, i just happened to be at the wrong terminal to catch the red line local bus.

Google maps is a godsend in identifying which single line busses that you can take within Madrid and other Spanish cities, as well as our good friend, London’s double decker buses, now over in London you do get 1 transfer free for the same price as 1 ride on a red line Madrid bus (no free transfer there). Now one tip about the London busses, if you are getting off at Gatwick or any of the other airports, make sure to pick up an Oyster card for 5 GBP. you may get your deposit back before returning to the airport. For the transfers you must swipe into the second bus 1 hour or less time after you swipe the first. Now London red double deckers can get stuck in traffic sometimes, but its definitely a way cheaper option of transport as compared to the tube, and car services like the black car.

Tip #4 Can you ride a bicycle? This is something that might apply to a long term backpacker like me but i thought i would include it anyway. If you have a bike, you wont have to pay the above mentioned bus fare at all, right? and your leg power is free, right?

June 2, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Packing and Backpack Tips 0

How to save money while traveling

Hey traveling guys and girls! Looking for a few tips by a professional traveler on how to save money while traveling? You have come to the right travel blog! I’ve been traveling the world for 2.6 years, so I have quite a few tips. I am an American, who has traveled to about 15 countries. This blog is mostly focused on international travel for Americans. The good news here is that MOST countries that dont start with a U and end with an A are cheaper to visit and live inside of. For example, I was pleasantly surprised that England was not really very expensive and the same with Spain, and ill tell you why.

#1 Travel in a country that is technically a 3rd world country – my first tip! One of the first places that I visited was Thailand. First because its very popular and I saw some videos on Youtube about the super cheap cost of living, and this is definitely true! So avoid the developed world, because that is where people have high salaries and make a lot of money and therefore the rent and food prices are more. Even though special Thailand is a popular tourist destination, it is still firmly in the developing world, so prices are cheaper, there’s some poverty, and trash around, and the currency is still low compared to the almighty US Dollar.

There’s good things and bad here, but with regards to money its all good. You can find an apartment for $150 to $300 USD, and you can find a meal for less than $2. Over in Pattaya, Thailand i used to frequent a Thai ladies food cart that was so tasty, a full meal with rice and chicken for 40 baht which is roughly $1.20. Over in southeast Asia, most of the countries are around this price level, for example Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, with the last 3 being a bit cheaper than our friend Thailand.

Plan out your expenses, plan ahead! Tip #2.

The biggest expense for travel is going to be your housing of course, and the second might be your transportation and flight costs as well as food. One of the best ways to save on housing is to get started on looking at housing on the major travel sites like booking.com before you leave, of course. What I have noticed is that sometimes the cheapest or the best valued places get booked a few weeks in advance. If you are waiting until the last minute to book you may not be able to get the best, more affordable valued place in a particular city.

Staying in a hotel?

In my experience, hotels can be some of the worst rip-offs in terms of travel expenses. These are ok if you are looking for a quick vacation with some nice luxuries, but did I mention that I had been traveling for over 2.6 years as a backpacker? Hotels are not usually super economical, but if we go back to our southeast Asia example, sometimes I can find a hotel over in southeast Asia for a few $100 a month, an sometimes if you ask, the hotel may offer you a monthly stay for as much as 50% off the nightly rate!

More tips on housing as a long term traveler: I usually research all of the major ways of sleeping and lodging in a country, hotels, youth hostels like those listed on www.hostelworld.com, airbnb, which is a major long term apartment rental site that has been just great, couch surfing, couchers.org, and booking.com, and even Facebook.com for apartments listings. So for prices over in western Europe and the UK, you may be looking at 2 to 3 times the prices of a place in southeast Asia. Youth hostels are a good answer to this even though some of them can still be expensive.

Camping to save money… Tip #3. Don’t want to pay anything for housing?!?!?! Free housing? Yes I bought a tent and I decided to camp as a way to save money. I didn’t pay anything for 1 month straight of camping over on the Canary Islands. You can see details of what I did as a backpacker here in this blog post. if you are comfortable with sleeping outside or even in a van, you may want to consider this option instead of paying for accommodation.

Food costs. Tip #4. Find out where the locals shop for food! In each country, saving on food can be a bit different. Definitely dont go for the areas that cater strictly to tourists. After a few days inside a place I’m usually shoulder to shoulder with the locals buying my stuff at their price, to avoid what is called “the tourist price.”

Over here in Albania, there are a good selection of chain grocery stores that have sale prices like Spar and Big Market. Albania also many outdoor local food markets. Yesterday i bought potatoes and onions for only 30 cents and this is enough to create a filling meal. Over in Montenegro and Serbia you can find local fast food restaurants that sell burgers for $2, still pretty cheap as compared to the USA, and in Spain I found another local cafe that sold a burger meal for $3.5, not too bad as compared to the USAs $8.

What do you eat? Tip #5. What are you eating? Since potatoes are a cheapie food, i like to cook them about once or twice a week. Some other cheap foods are things like beans, which you can find over in the UK for about 30 to 40 pence a can. I was quite surprised to see that food is cheap compared to the USAs prices where you may find a can of whatever for 99 cents instead of 40. Another good one is pasta. Over here, i bought a big package of pasta for about 70 Lek which is a total of 60 us cents. This pasta lasted me a few nights, i put some spices on top and it was fine as a meal for one or two nights, and one night i added some cheese, although this was a bit more expensive. Find out what foods are cheapest in the country that you are visiting. Good luck.

Free tours Tip #6. What is free in your chosen city? In many cities they have what is called a free tour where you are expected to make a donation, but of course you dont have to make one. I usually make a small one of $1 or $2. Some of these tours are helpful and some are not, it really depends on the talent of the guide. Over in Belgrade i went on a cool tour with this guy who seemed to know every bit of rich history of the Belgrade, and all the wars too. Just enjoy and walk away. These tend to be much cheaper than guided tours that you pay for ahead of time. Self guided tours are also helpful if you can look on Google to find these. Happy travel. Good luck saving money while traveling!

May 30, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Packing and Backpack Tips 0

El Medano Beach …

Looking for information on El Medano Beach?!?! you have come to the right place. I am an American backpacker who spent 55 days or so staying locally near El Medano Beach, which is a small surf town on the southern end of the island Tenerife which is owned by the government of Spain.

Transportation… getting there!

Let me tell you first how to get to El Medano Beach… stay tuned. El Medano is about 800 miles south of the mainland of Spain so you will need to take a flight most likely from the mainland. I took a flight from Madrid via Ryanair that lasted about 3 hours time. The official language is Spanish and the island is very organized just like the country of Spain, so its not a wild island. In order to get to El Medano Beach, i personally flew into Tenerife North Airport, near Santa Cruz de Tenerife, but Tenerife South airport is not more than 2 miles from El Medano. You can even hike or walk from this airport to El Medano! There are also tons of flights and a very organized green Alsa bus on Tenerife that leads to El Medano beach. I personally took the bus from the north of the island south to San Isidro via 111. Then you need to take the local bus or even walk from San Isidro to El Medano.

El Medano wind surfing and beach activities..

El Medano is a windy little beach town that is just great for windsurfing, regular surfing, and para surfing! its very windy let me tell you. Its also a great place to hang around the boardwalk in some small beach facing restaurants and cafes. You can also view my walking tour of El medano on Youtube here:

Montana Roja!

The red mountain in Spanish. Montana Roja is a very distinctive volcanic rock formation that is very recognizable around Tenerife. its very easy to hike. There are several rocky trails that are great for hiking and climbing! This site is about 1 to miles south of El Medano Beach. A tourist or hiker can walk along the Sand dunes and enjoy the sites! Make sure to bring some suncreen and hat as well as hiking shoes. Enjoy! Along the coast near El Medano beach there are numerous small coves and rocky beach formations that are fun to explore and even many caves.

La Tejita Beach Nude Beach

La Tejita and the cove are near to El Medano beach. They are a clothing optional and one is a full nude cove beach. If you want to get more naturalistic, the Spanish have a more relaxed attitude towards nudity. You will find that some of the people around are wearing swimsuits while others are nude, just go with the flow. its upto you. There are also some rock hideaways for added privacy if you need some cover from prying eyes. Also just keep in mind that the wind can be pretty strong here also so you may need to seek cover near the rocks.

April 30, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Travel Locations 0

Wild Camping … on Tenerife, Canary Islands

Looking for tips on wild camping or backpacking tents??!?! You have come to the right place to see advice on camping! I am a solo vagabond/traveler who does some camping across the globe, although by no means a professional or full-time outdoorsman.

Why wild woods camping and which brands? I came up with the idea to cut down on my spending for housing on my world tour and also because i dont mind the outdoors versus a crowded hostel. Previously, I did not own a tent so this is my first time camping as an adult. A few brand choices for the tent that i considered, Big Agnes, Nemo, MSR, REI and Kelty. Some of these brands have some fantastic lightweight bikepacker and backpacker setups, but most these are hella expensive! Kelty is a brand that is a bit less expensive but also a bit too heavy for my requirement. The volume was also a consideration.

What did I choose? Instead of the high end brands, I settled on buying a Naturehike Cloud up 2 person tent from Amazon.com that weighs only 3.6 lbs and is approximately 17 inches by 6 inches in volume, priced at $120. I ordered this while I was staying at a hostel in Valencia, Spain and it arrived in 2 days. The tent is small enough to fit inside the 45L Pacsafe backpack – space is at a premium! It is also budget-oriented so the price is low enough just in case I change my mind and buy a more expensive one! See some more of my story down below…

What is included in the NatureHike 2 person tent setup kit? Tent stakes, a ground cover, the inner tent, the double shelled outer tent or rainfly, some guidelines, two small stuff sacks, and pre-attached tent poles. As I said the total weight is only 3.6 lbs so this is just perfect for a two-person tent (I am solo but needed some extra space for gear). Now the material is a bit on the thinner side, however it is waterproof and does hold upto the wind, strong enough to withstand one month’s straight camping. Setup takes around 7 to 10 minutes time and condensation is minimal. Good luck out there!

Where to camp? Wherever, but make sure its a hidden spot away from too many buildings or roads.

Tenerife seemed like a great place to start camping due to the weather and also the natural areas of the island. It is very warm there. During the month of March the nighttime temp was somewhere between 58F and 65F, so plenty warm enough – I wanted to be comfortable while sleeping outside. I also brought a coat and a hat, and bought a small blanket that weighed 11oz, and all 3 were needed. The NatureHike 2 person cloud up tent setup was just about big enough to fit myself inside of plus my backpack, shoes, and some food. They do offer free spots to do wild camping on Tenerife, but unfortunately these were still closed due to Coronavirus restrictions. Instead I found a wild spot, near to El Medano, Tenerife, Adeje and Tenerife Airport south. Some people do go up to the mountains or near to Mount Teide forest to camp but up there, it is much colder so its necessary to take some winter gear.

montana roja wild camping — Montana Roja on Tenerife near my spot

The spot I chose was hidden so it was hard for passers by to see the tent. I was a bit concerned for my safety but this is where the security features of the Pacsafe bag came into play. When i was asleep I had the Pacsafe steal cable security to my pants and my wallet and phone locked inside, but the good news here is that I didn’t have anyone bother the tent while I was asleep. The oddest thing that happened was that a woman was calling out to her dog that had wandered away, it was about 4am, and she was speaking a language besides English, so at first i didn’t know what she was saying. Other than this nobody came by the tent at night. It was perfectly safe.

A few tips for wild camping…

Over in south Tenerife, there’s a lot of wind, so I decided to use some extra rocks to weigh down the tent rainfly and straps to keep the windy conditions from blowing it away and if you need even extra wind security, you may buy some extra safety pins to secure my tent for camping. The wind can get pretty bad down there; upto 30 mph. The Naturehike is also really easy to set up and take down. Heres a pic of myself enjoying my hike and camp time near Montana Roja near El Medano, Tenerife… good luck! questions welcome.

wild camping tenerife — wild camping on tenerife

April 29, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Packing and Backpack Tips 1

Backpacker in Spain …

Looking for a backpacker who traveled to Spain? That would be me! I am US citizen who flew/bussed it/ hitchhiked and camped around Spain! it was a lot of fun! I visited the cities of Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Madrid, El Medano, Tenerife in the Canary islands and a few others on my backpacker tour of Spain…

My overview of Spain: Spain is a very safe country and very well organized. The weather is also warm and more on the moderate or temperate side, so its great for backpackers in Spain! I have a backpack, the Pacsafe EXP 45 which is a carry-on size medium backpack that i used on Ryanair. It also fits my small 2 person tent, the Naturehike Cloud up. I’ll be doing a separate post on that tent, but it is very compact and weighs only 3.6 lbs. It was small enough to carry around the country of Spain as a backpacker in Spain. See more info below about my trip.

Accommodations and Price: I started my trip by flying from a second home base in Albania to Barcelona Spain via Wizzair. The cost was very cheap with my backpack it was only $30. I then took a city but from the airport in Barcelona to central BCX where i walked to my youth hostel, The Loft Hostel in Barcelona. The Loft was a standard hostel with beds covered by curtains. The price of the hostel is moderate, about $15 to $25 usd or about $13 to $18 euro. They also have a courtyard where you can sit outside and enjoy the moderate weather and a kitchen where you can cook your own food to save money. I usually bought a potato that cost less than 1 euro and also bananas for 20 euro cents. There is a store where you can buy cheap packaged foods in Barcelona, its called Coaliment…

Sites: Barcelona is a fabulous town with a lot of panache, let me tell you. Above you can see my photo of the fantastic church, Familia Sagrada, which is a church designed by the architect Gaudi. The architecture is one of my favorite things about being a backpacker in Barcelona. The second is the parks, you can check out the most famous Parc de la Ciutadella. Make sure to check out the fountain at the center of the park.

About 2 miles away from the park you can take a city bus for a cheap price of under 2 euros to the beach! The beach is close and pretty nice. It has benches, and some buildings, playgrounds, swingsets, and plenty of sand! The temp is also pretty good for December. i even took a swim as it was around 60 to 65 F, other people were swimming in wetsuits.

Make sure to check out my packing list for backpackers in Spain in the site here!

Here’s a video on Youtube, A walking tour that filmed of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, which is something else let me tell you! Its very narrow medieval looking street and buildings with no cars, and some interesting looking boutiques! Enjoy the tour here on Youtube.

April 29, 2022 by Solo Vagabond CEO Travel Locations 0