In this era of bag fees and restrictions on carry-on bag sizes, good packing techniques are worth their weight (under 23kgs) in gold. I traveled for 2 months with just a 40-litre backpack (pretty small), a carry-on compliant roller suitcase, and a small carry-on backpack (your one piece of small cabin luggage plus one personal item quota). In them, I managed to fit two weeks’ worth of clothes, camera equipment, rain gear, suits for nights out, hiking and dress shoes, cold weather clothes, etc. In this video below, I show you how. It’s also available on our YouTube channel at The Gentleman Backpacker. Please subscribe to us there if you want more video content and free tips!
So how do you pack when you are preparing for a trip? Please share any tips or comments you have with us below.
Clockwise from top left: View of East River from WTC, Twin Towers, View of Lower Manhattan from WTC, WTC Plaza, View of Statue of Liberty from WTC, View of Eastern Manhattan from WTC, View of Lower Manhattan and WTC from Liberty Island
Today, we remember. Thousands of others have used millions of words to express their feelings better than I ever can. I distinctly remember where I was, what I was doing, and how I reacted when I learned of what happened that day, thirteen years ago. Doubtless we each have our own memories and thoughts on this day, and I feel I am in no place to offer anything new or insightful. What I offer instead are some photographs I have. I took them in March of 1998 on my first trip to New York. It was a strange spring: during our ten days there we saw everything from snow to 80 degree (F) temperatures.
A collage of images from or of the World Trade Center
The Twin Towers
Lower Manhattan as seen from the Observation Deck of the WTC
New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty as seen from the Observation Deck of the WTC
The Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges span the East River, as seen from the WTC
The World Trade Center Plaza, ca. 1998
A lot of people talk about how the Twin Towers weren’t the most beautiful of New York’s buildings; while that may be true, when looking at these photos, especially the one of the closeup of the people by the Plaza below, I still think the towers had an under appreciated, industrial elegance to them. The other photos are of various views from the observation deck, and one taken from Liberty Island hidden in one of the collages. Of course, the photo quality isn’t great as they are photos of photos, although I tried to arrange them in a meaningful way. I may scan these some day to keep better care of them.
The three below were taken tonight from the Top of the Rock. (Note: The first time around the photos were mistakenly uploaded in lower resolution. I’ve fixed that now. )
Supermoon rises over Manhattan, as seen from Chelsea, NYC
The last of 2014’s supermoons occur tonight and tomorrow. I took this photo tonight from Chelsea’s famous High Line Park, without the use of a tripod. The moon rises to the east and traffic whizzes by on the avenue below. I love the old, brick apartment buildings of Chelsea, the tree-lined side streets, and the tops of the towers of Madison just peeking over the tree-line.The Empire State Building is blue, green and yellow tonight for the US Open Finals weekend. Congratulations to Serena, and go Kei Nishikori tomorrow!
