Jeremy

Jeremy founded Living the Dream in 2008 to chronicle his long-term trip around Asia. Since then he has been on two long-term trips, visited 69 countries, and is just getting started. He is now on a Lifestyle Design quest to build businesses to pursue a life of travel.

How To Fix a Hole in a Backpack in a Few Simple Steps

Not but three weeks into our year-and-a-half-long journey around the world did I realize my backpack had a hole in it.

Not just a tiny hole, one that you’d see after it was scraped against something sharp, but a big gaping hole along a seam that was only going to get bigger with each passing day.

Although my pack was almost 5 years old at the time, I was surprised that this had happened so quickly.  Not only that, it was at the bottom of the bag, one of the worst places it could have occurred.

Cue panic.

After a few minutes composing ourselves, we figured out a rather robust repair that lasted the duration of our trip.

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How Many Days Do You Need on Easter Island?

Ahu Tongariki on Easter Island

When it comes to helping others with their trips to Easter Island, we seem to get one question over and over again. 

It is simply this: how many nights do I need?

Considering Easter Island is only about 60 square miles and you can drive around it in a few hours, you may think you only need two or three night there.

But in order to truly see it all, we have determined that the magic number is five nights to visit Easter Island, and we have a very good reason for it.

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Pros and Cons of Visiting Northern Europe in the Winter

While many travelers like to visit Europe in the summer months (and oh is it busy), we’re starting to travel more and more in the winter months.

Part of this is to enjoy winter activities like seeing the northern lights or other outdoor activities (snowshoeing, skiing, etc.). But another part is because Europe in the winter is often much quieter (apart from select destinations) and gives us a chance to go slower and enjoy a different style than what we were used to in the summer months.

In a way, visiting northern Europe in the winter is like a double-sided coin. On one side, we have perks for traveling in a slower season. On the other side, there is an associated drawback because of the winter season. So while we do love visiting northern Europe in the winter, there are many pros and cons to consider!

Note: We should reiterate that this article focuses on northern Europe in particular over the Mediterranean. Some of these cases may apply further south, but we’re looking at places that are cold, dark, and, depending on the temperature, snowy here!

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Are Heated Gloves and Socks Worth it For Winter Activities?

One thing I really hate when being out in the winter is having cold hands and feet. The rest of my body can deal with cold just fine with layers, but cold appendages, particularly when I’m skiing, are the worst- so much so that I often found myself quitting for the day, not because I was tired or had my fill, but because my hands or feet were far too cold.

So I went for the overkill method of staying warm and acquired a good pair of heated gloves and heated socks to wear while skiing. But I was curious, are these really a game-changer, or are they more of a novelty that only works part of the way?

While I am over-the-moon thrilled with how effective my gloves are, the socks are a different story. Although I’m glad to have both, I want to share some thoughts on each in this one.

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