Travel with Musical instruments

Hi all,

I play a few instruments, and I am very interested in orchestral music. So I have always wondered how do musicians with large instruments do to travel?
Also, I own a saxophone and I am going to be traveling with him. I know from a friend you can bring this bag into the cabin. He did so with his guitar and bass. But he had to pay probably over 200 USD to do so. I don't want to have to pay this much. I also heard that it is not recommendable to send your instrument to the luggage compartment since the airlines do not take care of it, besides, the heat might affect the instrument. So, what are your recommendations concerning travel with instruments.

Thank you.

Light weight thermometer for Nepal

Hi guys,

I am after a small but accurate thermometer that I can use for temperatures below minus 20C whilst trekking in Nepal. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Hoofer

Cooking for yourself (and carrying food) while traveling

I know that for many, sampling the local cuisine is part of the travel adventure (and is often cheaper than cooking for yourself). There are, however, some destinations where eating out all the time is just too expensive (especially if you are planning a long trip) and cooking for yourself in hostel kitchens is much more economical. On a recent 6-month trip to New Zealand, I only ate out a handful of times.

My questions are:

• Given a long trip, what countries do you find are more economical to go the cook-your-own route?
• When you do feed yourself, what foods do you buy (this is probably locale-specific too) and what meals do you make with it?
• How much food (in litres) would you find yourself carrying between hostels and how would you carry it?

How much does your backpack weigh?

Hello everyone! This question is just for fun and I am curious of other travelers answers....

How much does/did your backpack weigh on average? How long was your trip? What is your liter capacity? What is your heaviest item? What was the item you ended up tossing first?

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I am getting ready to head off for a very long trip through India Nepal then over to South East Asia and then beyond. Perhaps close to two years. I leave in two weeks and I am all packed. My backpack weighs 14.5 lb (about 6.6 kg) - I anticipate my bag weighing close to 18 lbs (about 8.2 kg) once I get some clothes in India and I imagine I will be carrying a liter of water on me most of my time...

My heaviest item is a Canon underwater housing case for my G12, weighing in at 13.1 ounces according to amazon.com. My liter capacity is actually unknown. I use a GoLite Pinnacle and it can go anywhere from ... more »

Camping RTW

Has anyone every tried bringing camping essentials such as a tent, sleeping bag, and stove RTW? I'm probably not going to do this because of the weight, but I thought I'd throw this out there and see if anyone's ever tried it and how successful they were.

On a related note, how easy is it to rent camping gear in different countries? Are the prices usually reasonable? Is the quality of the gear good?

And finally (and most importantly), what are the best countries to camp in?

Thanks!

• Alice

Carry on... washbag?

Hi all,
Been scouring the web and the forums for some thoughts on this but had no joy (might have been searching for the wrong thing), but basically I'm after a good wash bag to go with my carry on luggage. I've got a north face surce backpack (33l) and obviously will need somewhere to store toiletries and all the medical stuff like repellents etc.

I've seen this: http://www.penrithsurvival.com/buy/eagle-creek-pack-it-wallaby-toiletries-travel-bag-with-detachable-pack-it-sac_7.htm but I'm thinking it's possibly too big.

Anyone got any recommendations or reviews for the above?

Cheers

FAVORITE STOPOVER DESTINATION?

Hi there!
I am currently writing a blog about best airline stopovers. They are a great way to visit a city without having to invest money in accommodation and additional flights.
What are your favorite stopover destinations? I would like to hear about airport facilities, distance to the city, etc.

If you are interested in visiting my blog you can read about the best stopover destinations that I have found so far. No. 1 is Singapore, no. 2 is Dubai and no. 3 is Seoul.

Let me know what you think!