The Laughing Wolf

For a number of reasons, I usually travel with a portable chef’s kit. I have my professional chef’s kit (Messermeister) with all my pro knives and a few other things that come in handy. However, I really don’t don’t like to put that into checked luggage at the best of times, and especially in a backpack that may or may not be secure.

So, I decided to get the above kit, had it on my Amazon Wish List (thanks!). Three decent knives, cutting board, sheaths/covers for the knives, and even a sharpener. Semi-hard case protects nicely. Price was such that while more than I would like, I won’t cry (too hard) if something happens to it.

However, it was lacking a few things and the ‘lightweight’ cutting board was anything but in my opinion. Total kit weighed in at 3.08 pounds. So, pulled the bamboo cutting board, bought some inexpensive plastic mats, and cut them down with the landlord’s jig saw (with his permission) and now have three cutting boards at need at a fraction of the weight. In fact, it dropped the weight down to 1.74 pounds.

However, like I said, some things missing. So, a folding camp spatula has been added, a can opener (yes, could have saved even more weight with a military opener, but I wanted something easier to use), a proper corkscrew/bottle opener, a kfork, two sizes of kspoons, a scrub pad/sponge, and a tea towel are now resident in the kit. Total weight, 2.78 pounds. Not ideal, but better than a sharp stick in the eye.

NOTE: the kspoon, etc. thing comes from an experience a former cigar buddy had. He had an employee who was not the sharpest spoon in the drawer, and among other things referred to knives as ‘kah-nif-ees’ which led to jokes about kah-spoons, kah-forks, etc. It still makes me smile a bit. As does his thinking Rhodes Scholars were ‘Road Scholars’ because they could read maps and find their way any where and everywhere…

Like to have something like this as I can not only use it to cook at the apartment, but it is ideal to have on any long train trips as I can pick up sausages, cheese, and other delights and have food and drink without the need to get off the train. If I do that, will share. Reminds me, need to see if I can include my titanium cup in the luggage to have for that as well. Paper napkin for a plate and you are good to go. Also, if I have to camp or semi-camp while out and about, again, covered for food prep and such.

More soon.

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

If you would like to help me with this trip, seminary courses, and more, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. I’ve added Cash App ($CliffPow7) and Venmo (@Clifford-Powers-5). There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. Getting hit by lightning is not fun! It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

No, not talking about passports and visas (you should have already done such). Instead, talking about wills, power of attorney, and other paperwork you need to have in place before traveling, especially if you do any ‘adventure’ traveling. This isn’t adventure per se, thought it will be a good adventure Lord willing, but if anything goes wrong I want people to have what they need to help me and to know what I want done.

So, I’m having a new will done. I did the last one online; but, for reasons I’m not going to discuss in public, I am having a lawyer do the documents this time. That way they should be air-tight, and such that governments nor anyone else can stick an oar into.

In addition, I’m also updating my Power of Attorney for Healthcare and taking care of a few other documents so that if anything happens to me, especially while I am overseas, the people here will have access to anything and everything needed to take care of me, or to bury me. My only caveat is that I be given an Orthodox Christian funeral. If I were to die on the pilgrimage, I have left instructions to bury me there. I don’t see the need to bring me back here, even if the travel insurance covers it. By the way, this is the second formal written public notice of my intentions in that regard.

Depending on your circumstances, you need to have things worked out in all regards — health, estate, guardianships, etc. — before you head out. Especially if you are married and have children, you need the I’s crossed and the T’s dotted.

I will admit, the costs of such services has gone up a LOT since I last used a lawyer, but it is worth it to have things air tight. That said, feel free to hit the tip jar as that was a major and unbudgeted expense.

UPDATE: Not thrilled with the legal beasts, as they did not have it done last week as promised; there were too many difficulties with meeting this week which they assured me they could do; and, they insisted on all sorts of extra boilerplate instead of keeping it simple. So, a three page will became 22 pages, etc. I think I walked out with six separate documents when I wanted three; and, one copy of all documents was app. 3/4 inches thick. BTW, fair warning: never ask me for an honest opinion unless you really want it, as at one point when reviewing documents earlier this week when asked what I thought I responded that ‘it looks like the explosive release of a year’s worth of legal constipation.’ No joke, I actually did say that to them. At least it is done. Remember: whatever you plan for never happens, so plan for the worst, pray for the best, and accept what comes.

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

This post by Ian over at the Bugscuffle Gazette is a good read for anyone planning to travel, particularly by air. When I was doing a lot of travel years back, I did my best to keep things separate, especially after I pinged for nitrates one time (still not sure why).

But let me suggest you take it a step further, and be sure your personal electronics are as clear as you can make them. When you travel abroad, keep in mind that various countries and unions claim the right to inspect those electronics — and that the U.S. can and does do warrantless searches ‘at their discretion’ when you return. On top of that, people don’t just try to scan your credit cards and passports (or anything else with a chip) for nefarious reasons, they can and will go after your computer and phone as well. In fact, in one country years back it was so bad I refused to take a laptop there.

I’m already in the process of preparing my electronics. My suggestions are as follows:

First, back up every device. In fact, if you are sharp you should follow the rule of three. One backup at your house or place of business, one secured across town at a trusted secure site, and one across the country at a trusted secure site. If there is a fire or flood at your place, get the one from across town and reload and rebuild. If something more catastrophic happens, that’s why you have one in a separate geographical region.

Second, offload as much as you can onto backup discs. For me, I’m going to dump taxes, financial, and other items that I’m not going to need on the trip both to free up space and to ensure that those files are not there to be stolen. It is like physical items: if you don’t need it, don’t take it. This is not just for computers, but also for mobiles as many these days use them as a computer. Clean those platforms, and not only are you safer you may find them working a bit better.

Third, do install and run security/antivirus software; and, then, do a secure erase of unused space. Both government officials and ill-intentioned types can and do try to find out what you’ve erased recently and might have had on there. For the ill-intentioned, they are looking for financial and other data (sometimes blackmail too). The governmental types can also be looking for political and other memes, as few places have a first amendment and protection for same. I strongly recommend dumping memes and other political things before going overseas.

You want to treat your electronics as you do your luggage: only carry what you need. If it’s not on there, it can’t be stolen. If it’s not there, it can’t be rooted through like your dirty laundry. Personally, I’ve not had any problems with this over the years, but there is always a first time. Travel lite, travel secure, and be safe — and remember that preparedness always pays.

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

The vest and coat are both set up as “personal area networks” with ways to physically and otherwise link your personal electronics. This is all well and good, and I may explore that more while on the trip, but for me the real reason to get them is as follows.

First, they have multiple pockets that are zippered and otherwise secured. In fact, a rather critical pocket for wallets and such has a zipper and then an interior, RF-shielded pocket that is also secured. Both are designed to thwart pick-pockets and similar people of ill-intent. It also can make getting through security a bit easier as rather than carrying a lot of stuff myself, I can have it in the vest or jacket and send them and the contents easily through the X-ray machine.

As I mentioned, the vest comes with an shielded pocket to thwart the growing problem of people trying to scan your credit cards, passport, etc. and steal the information. The cards are a big problem in that they can then clone and spend most of what you have in the bank before you are even out of the airport. Having the shielded pocket cuts down on the risk. Now, me being me, I have an RF-shielded wallet, my cards and passport are in special sleeves for shielding, and I have a jammer that is exposed as soon as I open my wallet to further complicate the life of anyone trying to scan me. Thank you all who have bought stuff off the list!

I’ve been using the vest a bit and like it. The only issue I’ve had so far is with the zipper getting undone. It really isn’t the fault of the zipper or the vest as much as it is the way I am built. In my prime, I had a 34″-36″ waist, with a 50 inch chest, and shoulders that took about a size 50-52 suit. The waist is a little bit larger these days (working on it), but it is not a build that most off-the-rack is designed to handle. Really glad I went a size larger (I usually get XL) as it would be a bit too snug if I hadn’t. If I do have to zip up, being careful in my movements seems to do the trick, and I haven’t really had problems just zipping up far enough to block someone being able to get at a zippered interior pocket.

Other than that, the largest problem has been remembering what I put in which pocket. Still working out optimum placements, but figure a lot of that will shake out during the trip.

No issues with the jacket so far, and it is water repellent so I plan to use it as my rain coat. Given that my fedora is waterproof, and I can get an umbrella there at need, think I’m set on rain gear. Oh, the jacket has a retractable hood as well, so good up top. Not too worried about the pants, some of the pants are water and stain resistant.

More on the vest and coat later, as this trip will be a good test of them. So far, really like them. Again, thank you all for your time and help!

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

One of the many ducks nibbling me to death right now is adding some apps to my new phone to help with things while I’m on the pilgrimage. This will be a work in progress in that I may be adding another app or two, and I will report as I go on how well things work. Right now, I’ve added Revolut, CashApp, Venmo, Moovit, and iTranslate.

Revolut was recommended, highly, by the priest at the Romanian Orthodox Church, who just got back from a sabbatical in Romania. It is one of the most used, if not the most used financial app in Romania and Bulgaria by all accounts. I’ve played with it a little, but not a lot so far. More as things move along.

CashApp (ping me at awolf 57 boilerplate here you know how protonmail and here is the dot and then comes the com if you want to send a gift that way) is one everyone knows. Doing it more as a precaution as there appear to be a few places that use it overseas so being prepared.

Venmo (again, ping me at the above if you want to send a gift that way) is primarily so I can pay my rent while I am on pilgrimage. My landlord has it, it is the one he uses most, so on it went. It has also been the most “fun” in getting set up in some respects. The “Add Funds” button wasn’t showing so Raju in customer service had me delete and reload the app, only for the second agent I chatted with to tell me it won’t show up until I’ve used it an unspecified number of times. So, will use it as I can, and so long as I can pay rent life is good.

Moovit is a public transit app with extensive coverage in Europe. It covers Sofia very nicely and was highly recommended by people on the ground. Given that Sofia has subway, trams, trolleys, and busses, I need the help with navigating and it is reported to have excellent step-by-step guidance up to telling you to “get off here” and more. I’m really looking forward to trying it out.

iTranslate is a very highly rated app, again recommended by people on the ground. It can handle text, voice, images, and more. For all that Bulgarian is similar to Russian, it is NOT Russian and there are some interesting differences. I’ve already detected some Italian/Latin influences. I’m working on learning some basic phrases, as I’ve found it is always very helpful to be able to say please, thank you, and such in the native language. The fact that you try goes a long way to getting help (and tasty things). Again, more as I use it.

More soon, and if anyone has any suggestions for good apps, do let me know. Three of the above were highly rated by local sources, and I will let you know how all do. Meantime, hope most or all of the initial set-up and such is done so I can now focus on other things.

Also, items off the Amazon Gift List have arrived, and are very much appreciated. Have dropped a line of thanks to someone who added a message with an e-mail addy so I knew who to thank. I couldn’t do this pilgrimage without your help! Thank you!

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

To say things have changed in terms of travel power since I went on my first flight in the mid 1960s is an understatement. Things have changed period, since I remember having to dress up in my Sunday best to get on the airplane. Even when I traveled for NASA and such not too many years ago, I tended to wear a sport coat and nice (but rugged) slacks.

Dress has changed and so has the need for power. Back then, people took electric razors, hair dryers, blow dryers (later), and much more that required some serious power. You had to have bulky and heavy transformers along with appropriate adapter plugs for your trip. I remember well having to pack those items back in the early 1970s, and while the size dropped a bit over the years, you still needed the big, bulky and slightly heavy transformers. May still have one in storage I suspect as I carried two or more per trip for decades.

Today, it is less about the big items. Hotels have blow dryers and the like provided (my apartment has one provided), and electric razors are not quite the thing they were. I’ve only owned one in my life, and I think it was a gift. I prefer a razor for several reasons, no electricity being required being one of them. The thing now is your personal electronics.

Today, most computers, cell phones, and the like have transformers that can handle most power sources in the world, particularly Europe. If you didn’t know, that’s what that square you plug into the wall outlet and your USB cord into is: a transformer. It used to be that some were made just for use in the U.S. and they couldn’t handle power elsewhere. Today, it’s a lot cheaper (because of scale) to build them to handle multiple power-types and just change the plug you put on them since personal electronics is a global market.

Which is wonderful for myself and most other travelers. The adapter plugs are still a little bulky, but as you can see above, the transformers have shrunk. In fact, if this one didn’t have all the different USB ports it would be quite small. It should handle all my needs, but one area where I will have redundancy is power. The transformer above, with the adapters that fit it, cost $14. So, I will have two for redundancy and in case I decide to charge one item in one room and one in another. I will also have two wall plugs for the phone and two for the laptop so I have redundant redundancy. I’ve been paranoid ever since the power supply for my laptop died on the first day of my first embed to Iraq…

Funny thing is, even with two of them together, and all the adapters, it still takes up less space than the small transformer I used to carry two (or three) of on trips overseas. The only thing I might buy when I get to Sofia is an extension cord, just if I need it for convenience. Everything else I might need is provided and already rated for the local power. I could probably even pick up local chargers for my phone and laptop at need.

Oh, I will be splitting things evenly between checked luggage and carry on. Something happens to one, I still have the other. Both come through okay, I’m golden. Why, yes, I have had luggage delayed before and there is little more fun than trying to get clothing in gajin sizes in Tokyo. It used to be a lot harder in terms of electronic power sources, but now not-so-much. Still and all, better to be prepared on this front than not, as I do hope to share photos and more daily (or as close thereto) as possible.

Just remember to check what type plug you need for any given country. It’s why the little transformer above came with three plug adapters that should get you by in most of the world. Everywhere I am likely to go and need power have either Type F or Type G plugs, which honestly are pretty much interchangeable in terms of the plugs. I have both, so should be good to go.

So, look at what you are taking that may need power, check the plug type for all the places you are headed, and plan accordingly. A little redundancy never hurts, and with the small sizes available today, it takes up less room that the not-really-that-old brick transformers. Just a few thoughts, and I will share how these products work as the pilgrimage progresses.

If you’ve not been here before, take a moment to scroll up or down, and check out some of my other content. It ranges from my upcoming religious pilgrimage to practical preparedness. Hope you will check it out.

Please check out my Winter 26 Bleg!

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.