Behind The Candelabra

The Taste Test Issue 051

Oh hi, it’s us! The two people who circumvented the globe with a Gumby figurine for fun.

Part of our Taste Test wrap up was always going to be, for us, a look at everything it took to keep this adventure going— from the obvious to the whimsical. With Kyle having done similar trip almost 10 years ago, he had a more solidified version of what to expect while on the road in terms of gear, while Stan opted for making sure a bit of home went with us wherever we went. (Stan Sidebar: I was essentially in charge of the vibes. More on that later.) Our collection of things at the year mark was an amalgamation of everything. Some things made it all the way from San Diego to our new landing spot in Berlin, while other things got lost or left along the way. (Kyle sidebar: I hope that someone is getting great use of those swim shorts in Naxos!)

So this week, we wanted to document as much as we could while it was fresh and share a bit behind the scenes of what exactly went into a year like this, what we picked up along the way and what we found to be the most sanity-saving items we had in our backpacks at every stop.

The Souvenirs

It starts small: a coaster here, a matchbox there. The next thing you know you’re sifting through a pile of odds, ends and trinkets that you’ve accumulated over the course of a full year across 14 countries. Since we were perpetually working with ultra-limited luggage space (particularly on the last 5 months or so when we only had carry on bags) our souvenir procurement had to be small and intentional. We’d keep our eyes open for the smallest bits that brought us the most joy— from a cassette tape in Bogotá to a shoe keychain in Kyoto and two polar opposite necklaces (one via the Buddhist temple and one via our big-gay-week in Provincetown.)

Things We Couldn’t Live Without

Caffeine, Spice and Music! Some things we couldn’t have done without, or rather, the items that really did a heavy, heavy lift. We spent the last couple of years thinking that our beloved travel speaker (perfect for beach or park trips) had been lost for good, only to find it deeply tucked underneath a seat it as we were cleaning out and packing up our Toyota Scion XA, affectionately named Winston. As you can imagine, we used it every single day— from soundtracking a quiet morning to turning it up while we were cooking a meal in our accommodations that week. It was a bit of a lifesaver with a lowercase L: it helped keep wherever we were musical and gave us the ability to control a bit of how we were experiencing the newest locale. That and it helped drown out a lot of outside noise when it needed to. (Looking at you, Vietnam!)

The silicon drip coffee filter was a later addition— we found it in Vietnam and Stan’s morning coffee addiction was able to finally be at ease. (Stan sidebar: each stop was the same. We’d hit the ground and have to find Kyle bread and find me coffee for the next morning. Sometimes instant, sometimes ground— this little silicon system allowed me to travel with some simple cone paper filters and a package of whatever local ground coffee I could find. Heaven.)

And lastly, as we were desperately trying to cook wherever and whatever we could, these silly chili flakes we got in the Isle of Skye, of all places, became a mainstay for the last half of the trip. After a few stops that seemingly just did not believe in spicing their food nor allowing others to purchase the means to do so themselves, we thought traveling with some spice would help keep our dishes interesting. Finding chili flakes at Colombia supermarkets was impossible! Never again would be without a little zing in the kitchen. On the surface it might be silly to travel with chili flakes but they ultimately came in handy upon each stop— we’d be cooking with confidence knowing we could at the very least give our simple meals a kick, should it need it. We’ll confess: we attempted to throw it away on multiple occasions over the last few months and simply couldn’t bring ourselves to do so, having become emotionally attached to a plastic bin of pepper flakes… a bit sad we know. But! It had been through too much with us and so now it’s quietly spicing dishes in Berlin.

Our Companion Pieces

Our belongings ended up being a mix of necessity and morale-boosters— with us learning very quickly which items fit in which category. Clothes that felt redundant were donated or left behind, small personal items got sent home or stored away across Europe. In October we rented a storage locker an hour north of Berlin’s city center. What was left in the end was the right mix of what we needed: lightweight, heavyweight, colorful, neutral and seasonally appropriate. While Stan traveled with a small collection of his childhood toys (see above), Kyle made sure to travel with the appropriate art supplies to tackle a small project on a whim. The sketchbook pictured features a handful of drawings from each of our stops that we can’t wait to share with you someday soon. And that yellow shirt was worn in practically every country we went to, save for Scotland as it was freezing.

Magnets & Photos

Once again, with limited space in our luggage, we had to get fairly creative with how we commemorated each stop and magnets felt like the obvious choice for us— we’d collected them already as we traveled + it gave us the opportunity to give each apartment or lodging a bit of flair that felt distinctly ourselves. Each new city would prompt a new search for the perfect magnet to sum up our time there: in Saigon, we found that fabulous art of mid-century Vietnamese women and for Tokyo, that bright green bug magnet from a photo exhibit we absolutely loved.

Stan’s favorite: that circular, medium face magnet in the middle. That’s from Vietnam and brings me endless joy every time I see it. It’s like looking in a mirror. A close second is the woman smoking, which is a self-portrait of Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson— the creator of Moomins— from an exhibit we saw in Nagano.

Kyle’s favorite: I splurged at a Shinkansen souvenir shop in Tokyo and bought many train themed magnets. My other favorite is the Xe Om magnet with a man napping on the back of his motorbike. Scenes exactly like that were common on the streets of Vietnam. It brings me joy to think about those chaotic and vibrant streetscapes.

If we could have brought you all with us, we would have. The second best thing was to at least bring a few pictures of you all! This is sampling of what we had with us, but on each stop, we’d haul out the magnets and the photos and decorate the fridge. It made missing our people hurt just a little less and getting to see them every day. It also made our new and very temporary accommodation feel more like home.

The strip on the right was from our stop in Berlin in the fall, which ended up being used to make our annual holiday card last year.

The Gear That Made It All Work

If these shoes could talk. They’ve seen mountainsides, fancy sushi restaurants and pretty much everything else in between. Muddy washed out roads in Sapa, and sandy Greek beaches. Perhaps the biggest challenge of the trip was making sure we had the proper footwear with limited space. While this pile might seem like more than enough, our Asia leg of the trip asked us to pack lighter, so we each just had one shoe and one sandal. Kyle’s Nike Air Force One’s got cleaned a few times to keep up at least a shade of white, while Stan’s Adidas Sambas were at one point caked in mud from a lengthy walk to a pub in Jersey. While we can share many things as a couple (clothes, fears) we couldn’t share shoes— so each item had to be vetted and worth being carried around on our backs. The shoes were such a critical part to everyday with all the walking we did. A pair of plastic Birkenstocks was impressive for how adaptive and lightweight they were. For Kyle’s birthday, Stan bought a pair of suede slip-ons. Thank you to these shoes for keeping our feet together!

A small round of applause for the pile of toiletries that had our backs. From lotion dispensers, shavers, fancy Japanese medicine and sketchy Colombian pills — we tried to keep these items to a minimum where we could, while still trying to be prepared for anything. (We were, until recently, traveling around with two rounds of malaria medication— just in case!) We haven’t shared too much about the little ailments that have bothered us along the route. It’s comical the amount of random pharmacy supplies we accumulated. Namely ointments for skin infections, ear drops, foot cream, flu medicine, Greek alcohol wipes, probably twelve different kinds of sunscreen, bio gut aid, vitamin C packets, and bug spray. Powdered hair product and dehydrated shampoo and conditioner for the win! And don’t even think about leaving the house without a Tide pen.

A portable clothesline and accompanying 50 or so detergent strips did a heavy lift from beginning to end; our clothes having air dried everywhere, from Turkey to Thailand.

Our cameras were something we protected as we traveled, even though they outwardly appear to be slight pieces of junk. We picked up the 80s Fujifilm camera in Saigon and it has taken some of our favorite, most memorable photos from then on. We wished we’d had it the whole time. And the disposable we’ve had since Colombia and it’s getting developed as we type this— there’s a lot of the trip on that little camera and we can’t wait to see how it turns out.

And lastly, those cross body bags were our “around town” bags that kept our shoulders and backs a little at ease, while carrying all our necessary nonsense: wallets, hand sanitizer, headphones, Tums— you name it. (Kyle sidebar: the black leather fanny pack belonged to my mom’s mom from at least the late 80s and it’s having one hell of a second life.)

What It Really Looked Like 90% Of The Time

The bags, in the end, weighed nearly 30 pounds each . We’d left a whole suitcase with our friends in Lyon at the start of the trip— leaving behind some redundancies and some extra items that seemed silly once we got there. We rented a storage space in Berlin, since our Asia leg of the trip asked for much less in terms of gear and clothes, and knew we’d be back in the Spring for it all. By the end, the bags were cutting into our shoulders and we’d try to unload as much as we could, whenever we could. It was heavy and un-glamorous, and still we’d do it all over again — back pain be damned!

Twice Around The World

This passport carrying case, a travel towel, a red pair of swim trunks and a water bottle needed a special shout out. These items have traveled around the globe with Kyle twice and at this point have been to almost 40 countries. It’s even funnier because the water bottle isn’t even his. Nina and Kyle volunteered together at a bike event in San Diego back in 2016 and each got a bottle. After not more than a few weeks, Kyle had lost his. At the time, he’d probably gone through a hand full of water bottles, keys and sunglasses that year. So Nina reluctantly offered Kyle her water bottle for his extended travel in 2017 making a big to-do about him losing things. (I showed Nina and myself that I can keep track of things! Nina also gifted me the magenta quick-drying travel towel.) These things are surprisingly well traveled. Makes us wonder what will go around with us the next time.

More Collected Treasures

We wanted this post to be a part of our reflections and insights into our travel, being a bit of a “Behind the Scenes Look” at the Taste Test. Stan needed half a reason to create a photo shoot (mood board inspiration included). Pictures hardly do it all justice— each little item that made it this far has a small story attached to it, so we wanted to tell just a few of those stories if we could. It’s an odd thing to unpack this whole year, having seen and tasted so many things, we are finding it a little challenging to sum it all up. Maybe we never will, fully.

We hope you enjoyed seeing some of the silly and thoughtful details that went into making our travel possible. We’re grateful for the supplies that kept us going, and also we are especially grateful to put down our bags and unpack for a bit.

Next week, we’ll continue the reflections.

We miss you + chat soon

Travel Tip 051: Make sure to take your second set of keys out from the other side of German locks, or you might get locked out while wearing a dumpy outfit on a Sunday when everything is closed.