Off the Blueprint

Be unconventional. Be happy. Be adventurous.

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[offtheblueprint]

The Itinerary is a Strange Animal

The more I travel, the more I realize that an itinerary is just something to do during the day. It doesn’t have much to do with why I travel, or why I enjoy my travels. That doesn’t mean, however, that I’d be better off without my itinerary. It gives my trip structure and gets me up in the morning. Here’s how my itinerary works for me.

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An Interview with Allison Levine - TOM BIHN Blog: We make travel bags in Seattle, Washington

Tom Bihn interviewed me about ultralight travel.

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How to Buy Durable, Sustainable Clothing for Your Minimalist Wardrobe

I’ve recently been paring down my home wardrobe to be more like my minimalist travel wardrobe. I’ve noticed that one of the characteristics that my travel clothes all have in common is that they’re durable. Unlike my regular clothes, they still look almost-new and haven’t developed any unsightly holes. Only problem is, durability costs money.  So how do you find durable clothing, and how do you convert your wardrobe on a budget? Here’s my strategy.

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New Potential Minimalist Travel Pants Roundup

ilADORA Perfect Bike Pant - $135 Nylon/Spandex with side zipper, magnetic cuff roll, and water repellency.

Nau Affinity Pant - $100 Polyester/Cotton with DWR finish, roll-up hems that reveal reflective tape, and 3 zip pockets.

Horny Toad Farflung Pant - $82 Linen with internal drawcord.

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Tom Bihn introduced five new bags today, including this Travel Laundry Stuff Sack.  The new Daylight Backpack is all about the ultralight: your jacket becomes your padded back panel.

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Brittany and Dani pack a 28 L Deuter bag for 3 weeks in Europe.

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It’s the night before a big trip and your bedroom floor is littered not only with clothes to pack, but with the countless skin, hair, and makeup products you use on a regular basis. There’s no way everything’s going to fit in that suitcase! Before you pay to to check a bag overflowing with beauty goods, try swapping out some of your go-tos with these double duty timesavers.

Requested by a reader.

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You might want to check out Travel Fashion Girl’s How to Make a Travel-Size Makeup Palette and 5 Tips to Travel Size Toiletries.  Also this Tom Bihn thread on tiny toiletries.

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My 10 Piece Packing List for 10 Days in Paris and Rome in Summer

Check out my 10 piece packing list from my recent trip to Paris and Rome in the summer and find out what worked and what I wish I would have packed.

I really like Travel Fashion Girl's very fashionable Paris/Rome packing list.  I especially like the outfits she put together and I've been thinking about how they could work for an ultralight packing list.  For 10 days I think you could get away with just those four pieces: a merino sweater, two tops, and a skirt.  For a longer trip the tops and skirt would need to be quick-drying and you'd probably also want a pair of pants.

For shoes you could pick either one or two of the three: half-boots, flats, and sandals, depending on the weather.  

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This Week's Minimalist Vegetarian/Vegan Menu: lasagna, chili, kale chips, beet burgers, and hempseed pancakes.

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What do humanitarian workers pack?

https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/538886dde4b0938bbfa32234

Great collection of “show us your gear” posts from humanitarian workers & journalists 

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Interesting mix.

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This Week's Minimalist Menu: soba, pasta, and tacos.

Pictured: Piña KALE-ada Smoothie and Black Bean Hummus, both from Fettle Vegan

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Whenever I talk to the veg-curious, two of the most common questions are “What do you eat?” and, for the more-serious, “So, how does it work?” meaning, how do you navigate a grocery store, memorize all the non-vegan ingredients, learn how to read nutritional labels, and how do you keep it nutritionally sound? It sounds like a massive task, but once you start and are at least kind of serious about it, it shortly becomes second nature. Read on for pantry-building tips & a run-down of our own shopping list, so that you can get a better idea of how we do it!

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Terrific vegan shopping guide.

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Interesting Places to Go in Washington, D.C. by Neighborhood

No one visits Washington, D.C. for the weather. It was built on a swamp, which isn’t uncommon as far as cities go, but there’s something offensively swampy about D.C. overall. The summers are ghastly, and the entire year is prone to sudden, drenching downpours. Add in the droves of tourists that flock to the city to soak in its historic and political significance, and you’ve got an exhausting, sticky mess.

That’s how I felt after my first couple visits, anyway. I’ve since been back a few times and actually enjoyed my time there. Here are some places I’d recommend visiting.

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I froze a tub of Red Curry Soup with Rice & Purple Kale before going away last week, so I finished it up when I got back. I substituted wild rice for the brown rice (make sure the rice is mostly cooked before adding the kale and sweet potatoes). I added red lentils. I also... Read more »

Red Curry Soup with Wild Rice, Cashew Cheese, Red Lentil Thai Chili, Moroccan Yam Burgers, and yam dog treats. 

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This Week's Minimalist Menu: No Minimalist Menu

I was away for half of the week and so didn't cook much.  I decided to try No Meat Athlete's Vegetarian Travel Tips.  I stocked up at Trader Joe's and a farmer's market, and grazed on nuts.  I made Oh She Glows' Energy Bites again and noshed on those.  I also had a Primal Strip left from my train trip (I picked it up at a co-op in downtown Tucson).  They're surprisingly yummy.

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Carryology interviews Frank Brown the editor-in-chief of One Bag, One World, a website dedicated to one bag travel.   Frank has been a one-bag traveler for over 25 years and now travels the world promoting One Bag Travel.  Read more…

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Definitely a keeper, especially this quote:

The first few months will be spent traveling around the U.S. because I believe it’s important to see your own country wherever that might be. I laugh at those full-time travelers who think returning to or seeing their own country doesn’t count. It does.

I agree!  Because I just spent a few months traveling around the U.S.  It's also difficult to explain the value of a long-term domestic trip to people who only take short-term vacations.