heirloom / one bagging

Hello friends! I'm headed off to Vietnam/Thailand/Hong Kong/Seoul (24 hours) in about a day, and I thought I'd show my blog a bit of love before I take off. I've loved traveling since I was a kid, but with my love for traveling also comes a love for...packing. I'm weird, I know. My mom has let me pack my own bags since I was super young, which I've appreciated as a way for me to learn how to plan for trips. I remember the first time she let me do that, I forgot to pack any underwear and had to hunt for tiny children's underwear in Vancouver. I've come a lot further since then (hopefully). For the last few years, I've become pretty obsessed with the idea of traveling only with a backpack, and recently realized there was an entire online community dedicated to "one-bagging". For me, packing only a small backpack forces me to think critically about every object that I bring, and also forces me to do research about the places I'm going and to think about potential situations I will have to deal with. I have really sensitive shoulders, so it also greatly reduces the weight I have to carry, and therefore makes traveling significantly more enjoyable. It's definitely a mindfulness exercise, and the overall process of choosing exactly what to bring is incredibly enjoyable to me. Below is (mostly) what I'm bringing on my 4 week trip, all packed in a 19 liter backpack (for size comparison, the standard Jansport backpack is 25 liters...this bag barely fits a 13 inch laptop!).

The packing cube contains all of my clothes, and I didn't include my toiletries in this picture.

Here's a complete list of what I'm packing:

• 2x Uniqlo Drape Pants

• 1x Board Shorts

• 1x Running Shorts

• 2x Tank Tops

• 4x Underwear

• 2x T shirts

• 2x Ibex Bras

• 1x Patagonia Houdini

• 1x Linen Cap

• 1x Swimsuit

• Skinners (they're like socks with protective bottom...nice for flights!)

• Shamma Sandals Jerusalem Cruisers

• Fuji X100T + charger + 2 batteries + various SD cards

• Moto G4

• Jelly Comb keyboard

• Kindle

• Audiotechnica Earbuds

• Gorilla Pod Tripod

• Anker Charger

• Toothbrush

• Toothpaste

• After Bite

• Soap

• Shampoo Bar

• ACV Powder (conditioner)

• Nail clippers

• Tweezers

• Menstrual Cup

• Hand sanitizer

• Baking soda/cornstarch mix (deodorant/dry shampoo)

• First aid kit (Advil, antihistamine, band aids, wipes etc.)

• Mesh bag (for dirty clothes)

• Dry bag (doubles as a laundry container, pillow when filled with air, camera protector in the rain etc.)

• Silk travel liner (can also serve as a blanket on cold flights)

• Grayl filtration bottle

• Muji pocket notebook

• Zebra SL-F1

• Linen towel

• Money, passports!

Hopefully this is all enough to keep me healthily thriving for about four weeks. It might not seem like a lot, but I actually couldn't think of anything else that I would want to bring - in other words, doing this isn't a sacrifice to me at all. I'll probably have to do laundry a bit more than a normal traveler, but it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. I opted for phone/keyboard instead of laptop for this trip - photo editing will be done on Snapseed and keyboard will help for writing journal entries or any extensive editing. The Kindle and the 30+ books I want to read should keep me completely occupied on any long flights.

Happy July! :)

Snap from a short hike to Red Rock Canyon in Lake Forest, CA this week.

devil like me / banff

In the past two weeks, I graduated, went home, and then spent a week camping in the Canadian Rockies. I bought tickets to Calgary in April, on a bit of a whim, to meet up with a friend I met on Tumblr in 2010, but had never met in person before. Stranger danger (s/o to Angel if you ever read my blog). It proved to be quite a memorable experience, because 1) I'd never camped for an extended amount of time before 2) My friend is in way better shape than I am 3) It's really cold in the mountains in June 4) It was one of the most unreal places I've ever been to and 5) It's interesting how the internet can bring together similar people who never would've otherwise met in real life. I spent the plane rides there reading and finishing Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, which set the stage quite well for a perspective shift on humanity and a desire to be cut off from most of the world for a few days. 

We spent the first 1.5 days at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park at the Elkwood Campground. It was super cold and pretty wet. First day consisted of a hike to Rawson Lake, which was still frozen. The surrounding area was still covered in snow, but we tried to make a loop around it anyway (unsuccessful). We did another shorter hike afterwards but I honestly don't remember what it was called at all. The high elevation was pretty rough on my lungs.

Rawson Lake

After Peter Lougheed, we made our way over to Banff, and did a short hike to Grassi Lakes, where I witnessed some legit rockclimbers and felt bad about my upper body strength (and leg strength, too, I guess...) I played disc golf for the first time and sucked.  Afterwards, we drove around a bit and took some pictures of lakes near the Tunnel Mountain campground. 

Grassi Lakes

The next day, we woke up early to check out Moraine Lake, and then did the hike to Eiffel Lake. Saw some cute marmots on the open mountainside. We stopped by Vermillion Lakes in the evening because my legs were too broken to do anything else.

Moraine Lake

Eiffel Lake

Vermillion Lakes

The longest day consisted of a drive to Emerald Lake, attempting to see some waterfalls, Peyto Lake, a muddy hike to Chephren Lake, Johnston Canyon, and staying up for some astrophotography. 

Emerald Lake

Random waterfalls

Chephren Lake

Peyto Lake

Johnston Canyon

Standing outside in the cold trying to keep my hands steady enough to not ruin the photos with my Gorillapod anchored on the car

I'm back at home for the next few weeks before embarking on the segment of my summer in southeast Asia! Currently taking book recommendations :) 

a thousand miles

I just came back from a 7 day road trip to Toronto and Montreal with some friends I'm lucky to have known for the past four years here. The trip was possibly one of my most photographically uninspired trips in a long time, but I still had a lot of fun. 

The first day, we drove from Boston to Buffalo, NY. I haven't eaten that much unhealthy food (and no vegetables) in a very, very long time, and felt pretty gross afterwards. I might've liked poutine better in a different situation.

We got to Niagara Falls on the second day. The weather was pretty bad, but getting drenched isn't so bad when you're expecting it.

Vegan chicken and waffles from Hogtown Vegan in Toronto. A+.

Happy Victoria Day!

Kensington Market in Toronto had some cool vibes - everything was either vegan or weed related.

View of Montreal from...Mont Royal!

Biodome in Montreal

Honestly all I've been talking about after I got back was how awesome this vegan sushi was. Sushi Momo in Montreal - even if you're not vegan GO. I don't even really get obsessive about food but this was just too good. It's definitely my favorite vegan restaurant ever, and I've been vegan for quite a long time.