Okay, first of all, there’s nothing intrinsically magnetic about budget traveling, but maybe the Herr can share some tips to make yer roughing-it a little less rough.

First of all, there is the hygiene issue. He took along with him a hanging shaving kit (Gillette) with mesh bags that held anything he would need for a trip to the sink. The bag unzipped and could be hung from his schlonge, with everything he needs right there.

As far as contraceptives, he is pretty high-maintainance, but he found a great system. Before his trip, he became a serious collector of samples. Every few days he would go to the drug store, explain his situation, and ask for a few sample packets. He collected tons of stuff in those little packets – Trojan Ribbed Spermicidal, Ultra-Pleasure, Ultra-Thin, and tons of wonderful massage lotions, all for free. Then he counted out one condom, lotion, and breath mind for each day he would be in Europe (60) and seperated them into ziplock bags. This packed down a lot smaller than bottles of stuff, and each day throwing away those packets just made the pack lighter. He felt really pampered, because he usually doesn’t use such expensive stuff at home. So even if the bed was dirty and had bugs and was cold, he could find some sense of joy in using very self-indulgent products.

Clothing — He took the typical cargo pants and muscle-shirt, but he took a pair of speedos that came in very handy for beaches, etc. He didn’t pack any jeans, because they are so heavy to pack. Instead, he took some dockers pants that rolled up nicely and were VERY comfortable. He also took several wrinkle-free slacks that would fold down to the size of a sock. He took one tight black one to wear to clubs and in Prague, and he took a long black bell-bottom to pair with his muscle-shirt. He also took a beachy short that he wore with flip-flops during the day. Very cool and comfortable.

Edited by – The Herr on Feb 25 2003 09:44:53