Denmark: The Conclusion

By Katy Scrogin
My delay in reporting may have had you wondering if I’d wandered straight off the map—an event which did, in fact, happen on my last full day in Copenhagen. On Saturday morning, a friend and I set out for a stroll around the Nørrebro neighborhood. We were out and about too early to take advantage of the funky shops and smorgasborg of cultures that are said to populate the place, but we did see some great murals, and soon found our way to the Assistens Cemetery. It was great to walk around in the quiet greenery, and we found the graves of Søren Kierkegaard, Niels Bohr, and Hans Christian Andersen. I wanted to leave poor Søren a cookie, but such forms of tribute weren’t in vogue in this cemetery, so I kept my offering to myself. The spot seemed to be popular with walkers and bikers as well, and for good reason: the garden-like feel of the place is a nice way to escape city noise and traffic.

A mural near Assistens Cemetery

Maybe it was all of that bustle after the calm that disoriented me; when my friend and I split off after our visit, I headed towards what I thought would be Fredericksberg, what was described to me as a very posh and green neighborhood. What I was experiencing though, was something increasingly opposed to that description; when missionaries began approaching me outside of secondhand electronics stores, I decided I’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. Noticing that the cross streets I was on were nowhere on the map, and now completely disoriented, I did the only thing I could think of, and headed back to the cemetery. Once there, I realized I had been on the right street—only I’d been going in the wrong direction. Too tired now, though, to trudge back towards Fredericksberg and wash up before my afternoon conference activities, I decided to go back to the hostel. On the way, I picked up a chickpea salad at ChiliMili on Rådhusplads. After a quick lunch, shower, and a micro-nap, I went back to the university for a few panels.
The evening was spent with great new people I met at the conference, hanging out at Riz-Raz until I realized I hadn’t packed yet, and that my 4:45 a.m. wake-up time the next morning was going to be pretty painful. Unwillingly leaving the group behind, I went back to the hostel, packed, and was in bed by 1:00.
Although I wasn’t up before sunrise, the morning still came too soon. Thankfully, though, it was no problem to catch the train back to the airport, and this time, I had change to buy the 36-kroner ticket from the machine. A good thing, too, as the travel office in the station was still closed.

An owl on Niels Bohr's gravestone

The airport was already a madhouse upon our arrival, and my friend and I went off to find our respective gates. When I got to my own terminal, I was so tired that I didn’t even realize I’d walked into the men’s room until I was filling my water bottle up at the sink. I thought it was strange that there were urinals against the wall, but the guy who walked into a stall and gave me a puzzled look set me straight.  As I slunk out into the hall, I looked up at the sign above the bathroom; I chalked up my gaffe to the fact that, in addition to the little male figure above the door, there was also the picture of a baby on a changing station. Unused to seeing the two symbols combined, I think my exhausted eyes added a skirt to the would-be indicator of gender.
As for the plane ride, I was again consigned to the nightmare that is a transatlantic journey in a small aircraft, specifically, I think, a Boeing 757. Part of the reason that my flight to Denmark wasn’t so bad was that it took place in an Airbus, and we all had room to move around. With only one aisle between the two rows of three seats each, though, we were all squashed in for the duration this time. Before I make another long flight, I’m checking which type of aircraft is making the journey, and not settling for anything less than a plane with at least two aisles.
Prepared for an ungodly eight-hour layover in Newark, I took my time going through customs and changing my money. The boarding pass I’d been issued in Copenhagen, though, had me on a different flight and a different route than originally planned, and so I headed over to Continental’s service desk to make sure everything was in order. All was OK—but the angel of mercy behind the counter offered to put me on a flight that took off five hours earlier, and even though it was a middle seat, I thanked her profusely and accepted her offer. With an hour to spare, I made the unbelievable purchase of a macrobiotic vegan dinner to take along, thanks to Balducci’s right near terminal C’s security checkpoint.
Stocked up and ready to fly, I got on the plane, made it home long before I’d expected to, and was in bed by 7:15. Although I got a good amount of sleep last night, I’m still discombobulated, and as soon as the laundry’s done, I’m heading back to bed, where all lingering questions about time zone and sleep schedules will hopefully be answered to my body’s satisfaction. Until then, I’m functioning as a zombie.
All in all, then, an excellent trip, with great sights and even more fantastic new friends. In general, I’ll leave you with a few bullet points. Enjoy your own travels!
-       Copenhagen is expensive. I’d budget $20-$50 more per day for this city than I would on other travels.
-       The place is easy to get around on foot: I had no problem orienting myself (save for my last day), and the locals seemed friendly and willing to help turned-around strangers.
-       The Danhostel is adequate at best. If you value quiet and some sort of order, I’d recommend getting a private room with friends. The front counter, right off the always-busy and techno-blasting lobby, is continually busy, and you’ll probably need to wait a while in line before getting questions answered. All transactions, down to vending machines and washer and dryer, are done by adding money to your room card—so if you get there before check-in and want a snack, you’ll need to go somewhere else. The main draw of the place is that it’s more affordable than other hotels in the city center—but if you want a bit of luxury, I’d go elsewhere.
-       I didn’t mind the long hours of sunshine—from before 4 a.m. to after 10 p.m.—but if the light bothers your sleep, you might not want to visit during the summer—or should at least find a room with thick curtains.
-       Make sure that you have a PIN number if you want to use a credit card.

Copenhagen from the Rundetårn

Caching and stashing (think: traveling without packing)

I saw a tweet a few days ago from Tim Ferris (of The 4-Hour Workweek fame), praising Sean Bonner’s recent post on Practical Urban Caching.  The idea is that when you travel regularly to certain destinations, you shouldn’t have to pack.  If you are heading repeatedly to a certain location, the key is to find a way to store what you need there on the ground, instead of carrying it with you from wherever you are and then back home again.
For example, my wife and I make several trips a year to visit her parents and relatives near Pittsburgh.  This last Thanksgiving I made the trip with my rucksack and the small carry-all I now use.  Even with this light load, however, I was itching.  I wanted to go lighter.  Bonner’s caching concept fits the bill perfectly, and the next time Kira and I head north I will have packed a bag specifically to be left behind at her folk’s house when we return to Memphis.
A few months back, REI had a clearance sale and I stocked up on duplicates of some of the pants and shirts that I like, so I already have some extras I could use as a basic wardrobe to build on.  Most of the trips we make are 2 – 4 days, so a couple extra shirts and one extra pair of pants on-site should do the trick.  I’ll need to stock a couple extra pairs of underwear and undershirts, and get the toiletries and such figured out.  What this means, ultimately, is that I will be able to get on the plane without a bag, and not feel the pinch one bit.  Heaven.
Bonner does raise an important issue, however: What about cities and locales where one doesn’t have the benefit of parents or friends to stash the cache between trips?  An interesting solution came in the comments to the post.  A reader named Marc Nathan wrote about a company he had worked with as a startup called SpareFoot.com.  The company is designed to help broker arrangements between folks who have storage space (of all types and sizes – from large warehouses to the corner of an attic) and folks who need storage space.  Nathan suggested that, though the service had not been specifically designed for urban caching applications, that this was a perfect use of SpareFoot.  (Addendum: it looks like another reader has taken this idea and parleyed it into a potential business venture.)
The downside to such an approach, of course, is that it could get expensive rather quickly.
I’ve been thinking this through for the past couple days, and the more I think about it, the more it calls for a radical approach to one’s travel ethics.  Let’s call it “relational travel” – the idea being that, if I am going to travel to a location enough times to want to cache something there, then I better darn well be meeting people and building relationships on the ground such that someone would let me stash a bag at their place for retrieval on my next visit.
This means traveling less like a tourist and more like a human being.  It’s a style of travel I have long seen work well for some of my good friends (one in particular has spent major portions of the past few years exploring Korea and Thailand, moving slowly and living cheaply, and building networks of friends and acquaintances along the way.  I have been with him when he has struck up conversations with perfect strangers on the street or in a restaurant.  Not in a creepy way, either.  Just human and friendly.  I am convinced that, through practice, he has learned the art of being able to talk to anybody).
Caching is a practical reason, therefore, for the type of “experiential travel” practices preached by folks like Greg Sullivan and Joe Diaz over at AFAR magazine.  Think about it this way: the stronger a connection you make with people over time, the lighter your load when you travel.
Now that’s a goal worth working toward.

The art and science of staying dry

The one place you don’t want to be making decisions about how to keep the rain off you is when the first drops are falling from the sky.  I can’t tell you, though, how many times I was in exactly this position before I finally started taking steps to keep dry.  Beating the rain is all in the planning, and it starts with what you choose to wear even when there’s not a cloud in the sky.  Staying dry means thinking about your wardrobe from the ground up.
I used to be an “all cotton” kind of guy.  Cotton t-shirts, overshirts, socks, blue jeans and underwear.  This was comfortable when I spent a lot of my time indoors, but it meant, without fail, that I was absolutely miserable in the rain.  Cotton is a great fabric, but it absorbs water and holds on to it, locking it into the weave.  Whether this moisture is rain or sweat, cotton will not let it go and will not dry out for hours.  If this weren’t bad enough, once cotton soaks through, it also fails to hold warmth.  What this means is that wet cotton clothes will keep you both wet and cold, neither of which is ideal.  On top of this is the clincher, because wet cotton also binds and chafes.  This means that long-term walking in cotton underwear is a recipe for disaster, in sunshine and especially in the rain.  Rethinking my rain clothing involved rethinking the fabrics I wear on a regular basis.
Here are some qualities you should look for in good rain clothing.  First off, let’s get some some terminology in place.
Moisture wicking: These fabrics pull wetness away from the skin and transport it through to the outer layer.  These types of fabrics are excellent to use in base layers (those closest to the body).  However, read the labels carefully.  Some articles of clothing are labeled as moisture wicking but contain cotton and other slow-drying fibers.  Therefore, you need to match moisture wicking with clothes that are
Quick drying: As the label says, these fabrics shed moisture very quickly.  A variety of blends have this quality, including some containing cotton.  Some achieve the quick-drying quality through chemical treatments, others through a specific weave, or a combination of the two.
The secret to good clothing is to match and layer fabrics with an eye to transporting moisture away from the body comfortably and getting it to the surface of the clothing where it will evaporate quickly.  On dry days this allows you to stay active and comfortable with maximum movement and minimum discomfort or chafing.
Start with a good core.  For example, I switched out my cotton boxers and undershirts for a set of underwear made of synthetic materials that wicks moisture much more effectively.  For a while I was using Champion C9 boxer-briefs in combination with C9 all-polyester t-shirts.  The briefs were quick drying, but were not really well-designed for comfort.  The t-shirts, however, worked great and are still part of my wardrobe.
An enthusiastic salesperson at REI told me about ExOfficio Boxer Briefs.  I bought a pair, thinking that I would use them mainly during travel.  However, after trying them on a few trips, I liked them so much I ended up replacing my regular day-to-day cotton underwear with them.  The final touch was to start wearing thin, moisture wicking socks underneath my regular socks.  So this combination is my basic layer for day-to-day wear.  On cold days, I’ll add some thermal leggings as well.
Once the base layer is established, the key is to build on it according to the conditions.  I have a variety of shirts and pants that each do a good job of drying quickly and keeping me warm.  The key is that, day to day, as I am active and move and sweat, the combination keeps me dry and comfortable.  The clothing is so good, in fact, that a few weeks I was caught in a full-on torrential downpour, and managed to get through the day without too much discomfort.  I was damp, but I wasn’t soaked.
The final key to staying dry is planning an outer layer that can be put on over your daytime clothing.  For me, I have been very pleased with a combination coat and pant set from Helly Hansen.  While this rain gear wouldn’t do for all-day wear (if you’re looking for that sort of thing, you’ll want to try some Gore-Tex products), they are the best I have found for keeping the rain absolutely repelled.
Even if your strategy differs from mine, it all comes down to good planning.  The closer you come to your rain wear being a part of your every day wear, the more effective it will be.

OTTO Restaurant, Montreal

The view from my table at OTTO

I decided to arrive a day early for my conference in Montreal so I would have a chance to see the city.  I wanted to have all Friday to explore, so my plane landed in the late afternoon on Thursday.  After getting settled in to the hotel, I decided to take myself out for a good meal.
I consulted my Frommer’s Montreal Day by Day guidebook, and was interested in trying out a restaurant nearby named OTTO.  OTTO is housed in the W Hotel, near Square Victoria and just a few blocks from Old Montreal.  The Frommer’s guide said, in addition to the swanky atmosphere, that OTTO has “the best seafood in the city.”  I figured that was worth checking out.
Though the guidebook mentioned that reservations might be necessary, I found the dining room not crowded at all, with just a few other tables being served.  The primary language of the city is French, of course, but it being my first night there I didn’t yet trust my rusty skills enough to navigate a whole meal, so I asked for the English version.  Without a blink, the hostess switched into perfect English and handed me the translated version.
The room is gorgeous, to say the least.  It is decorated in a very modern style, with clean lines and just a hint of 1970′s kitsch (enough to keep the room from being an austere Bauhaus ripoff, but not so much that its goofy).  There is a good use of colored light, with low sexy reds mixing with the cool blues of the bar.  I found the decor very pleasing.
The service was very professional.  The server was willing to make recommendations, and because the restaurant was not very busy, was also willing to answer some of my questions about Montreal and her life in the city.  When I mentioned that I had read in the guide that they had the best seafood in the city, she suggested I try the Merluzzo Nero in Crosta di Porcini con Caponata Siciliana (Black cod encrusted with shiitake, Sicilian caponata, aspiration brocoli, aged balsamic and pistacchio sauce).
Even better, she was willing to suggest a white wine to pair with the meal.  So I found myself drinking a perfectly dry San Vincenzo Anselmi 2006, and eating some exquisitely prepared black cod.
The presentation was beautiful.  The preparation of the fish was a little rich for my tastes, with an almost sweet butteriness that at points overwhelmed the other flavors, but it was nonetheless delicious.   I was also not overwhelmed by the pistachio sauce, but that’s not really the fault of the chef (I simply don’t like pistachios. The fact that I found it palatable at all is actually a pretty high compliment).  The combination of flavors was very pleasing, overall (even with the pistachios).
Walking home, I was quite pleased with my experience.  The food was sumptuous, the wine was perfect, and the staff made me feel very welcome in this new city.  It was, as one would expect, a tad pricey.  Even if you’re traveling on a budget, however, OTTO is worth the splurge.  It is a definite must if you are spending a few days near Old Montreal.

Daily self-care through stretching

As I’ve gotten older, I have begun to lose a bit of my flexibility.  I also suffer from a bad case of plantar fasciitis that has been pretty chronic for the past few years.  Both of these factors have reduced my ability to walk long distances, so I have been aggressively combating the degeneration of my feet and legs through an active regimen of stretching. 

The first stretch I learned from the physical therapists who helped me with the plantar fasciitis.  When you wake up in the morning, take a towel and wrap it around your foot, keeping a hold of both ends in your hands.  Then, with your leg straight, pull toward you and and hold the pull for about ten seconds.  Repeat this several times, alternating with your knee bent and then with the knee straight.  If you’re doing it right, you will feel it not only in the foot, but on up into the hips as well.

The next set of stretches I do on the floor by the side of the bed.  I take the towel I was just using for the first stretch and lay it on the floor, and sit on it, spreading my legs into a wide V.  I then try to touch my forehead to my knee, alternating sides.  Then I also try to touch my forehead to the floor in front of me.  This usually takes a series of repeated efforts, as my hamstrings and hips tighten considerably during the night.  After a few efforts, however, things start to loosen up and my legs and hips begin to return to normal.

Then, standing up, I do a series of slow hip rotations – clockwise and then counter-clockwise.  The motions are similar to those I would use if I was spinning a hula hoop.   These stretches help to further loosen the hips and pelvis, which in turn reduced the stress on the tendons down through the legs.  This helps the plantar fasciitis indirectly.

This combination of stretches is not the only set that one could do, of course.  These are simply the ones that, so far, have worked for me.  The principle I am working on is that the tendons and ligaments are all interconnected.  By working on my hips and pelvis, I help maintain a good balance in my lower legs as well.  This indirect approach has, over time, worked better for my plantar fasciitis flareups than concentrating solely on my feet, so I recommend it.
These sorts of regular stretching exercises are essential when you are traveling, and probably doing a lot of walking every day.  The short, repetitive movements of walking cause the muscles and ligaments to tighten throughout the day, so if you aren’t stretching regularly, you are basically ratcheting your connective tissue tighter and tighter (which is what I had been doing to myself for several months before I started this stretching regimen).
The key is to develop a regimen that works for you, and that you will stick to consistently enough to do some good.  The reason I have picked this series of exercises is not necessarily for their excellence, but because they are effective and I can do the combination of them in about five to ten minutes first thing in the morning.  Finding the balance that works for you is the key.  If you find something that works, leave us a comment and let us know.

Packing for a 5 day trip to Montreal

All the items I carried to Montreal

The first weekend in November I took a five day trip to Montreal.  This was for a professional conference, and I had some interviews and meetings lined up.  In the past I would have brought a lot of clothing, probably in my Samsonite Silhouette 11 Spinner Garment Bag.  The Silhouette was the bag I used for last year’s conference in San Diego, and it allowed me to pack two full suits, several pairs of shoes, and walking-around clothes for about four days, as well as more clothing for a second leg my wife and I took to visit her family for a few days.  The Silhouette worked great, but its a big bag.  Though it rolls easily, it’s not the kind of bag you want to be pulling around a city all day.
In addition to this, I’ve also been very influenced lately by the philosophy espoused by Doug Dyment on his excellent site, OneBag.com.  Dyment challenges his readers to really think through what they bring on trips, and to try to keep these items as limited and light as possible.  With this in mind, I decided to accept the challenge and see how light I could go and still remain presentable for the interviews and the meetings.
In the place of the Silhouette, I chose two packs, one for my back and one light enough to carry in my hands or on my shoulder.  The back pack was a RedOxx Roadster Mini-Ruck rucksack, and the carry-all was an Eddie Bauer 20″ Northlake Duffel Bag.  These Northlake duffels are hard to find these days (I should do a separate post on how I chose this particular one over other – inferior – Eddie Bauer bags currently available.  I’m going to keep using the Northlake until it gives out – probably a good while from now – then I’ll likely switch to a RedOxx Beanos bag), but I’ve been super pleased with how well is keeps things organized and how well it holds up for this kind of travel.
The OneBag site suggests you make a list of things before you pack, to minimize the temptation to over-pack.  So I did, thinking through both what would go in the bags as well as what I would wear or carry on the plane itself.  I figured a good first post for this site would be a run-down of those lists, with some commentary on how the packing went, how it worked, and what I would do differently next time.
What I’ll do is give the packing list for each bag.  What I ended up not using I’ll include as a strike-through item on the list.
RedOxx Roadster Ruck:

• Rain gear (an REI mesh bag with Helly Hanson Voss jacket and Voss pants) strapped on the bottom of the ruck
• Extra pocket-sized Moleskine notebook
• Charger for cell phone
• Two books (The Enduring Nature of the Catholic University and Structuralism and Post-Structuralism for Beginners)
• Two magazines
• Camera
• Charger for camera battery
• Tablet of writing paper
• USB 2.0 Flash Memory Card Reader
• Two Creative Zen V MP3 players (one for music, one for podcasts)
• iPod shuffle
• Earbuds and case
• Catholic prayer book
• Al-Anon One Day at a Time
• MacBook and charger cords
• Logitech Trackman for the Mac
• Frommer’s Montreal Day by Day
• Knopf MapGuide: Montreal
• REI Fleece Vest
• Notecards for the book I’m working on
• Large Moleskine Soft Cover Notebook
• 4 extra black ink pens
• 2 highlighter pens
• Windbreaker (rolled up and stored with the rain gear for the trip)
• TravelSmith security guide bag

Northlake Duffel Bag:

• Pair of tennis shoes
• REI Slickrock pants
• Linen dress slacks
• 2 Champion C-9 moisture wicking undershirts (1 black, 1 white)
• Royal Robbins Josh Stripe travel shirt
• Toiletries bag (I’ll do a separate post about this)
• Inflatable Travel & Laundry Hangers
• Travel Laundry Clothesline – Flexoline
• Vitamins
• Hand sanitizer
• 2 pair REI CoolMax liner socks
• Black dress shirt
• 1 pair SmartWool socks
• 1 pair oversocks
• 2 pair Ex Officio travel underwear
• Fleece beanie cap
• 2 pair winter gloves
• 1 pair elastic arch supports
• 1 extra pair thermal leggings
• Spare pair of eyeglasses
• Wool/linen blend sweater
• 1 pair jogging shorts
• 2 large Shamwows
• 2 small Shamwows
• Package of earplugs
• Small hand towel (not just because I like Douglas Adams, but because a towel really and truly is the handiest thing to pack for a trip)
• Small pill containers with Nuprin, Melatonin, and Ranitidine

In addition to this, I wore the following on the trip there and back:

• REI Sahara Tech long sleeve shirt
• Ex Officio travel underwear
• REI Mojave convertible travel pants
• Champion C-9 moisture wicking undershirt
• REI CoolMax liner socks
• 1 pair SmartWool socks
• Vasque hiking boots (because there was a chance of snow in the forecast, and they would pass for dress shoes for the interview)
• Wool scarf
• 1 pair thermal leggings
• Wool blazer
• Tilley Airflow Hat

While I was in Montreal I used some small packs of Woolite soap to do laundry in the hotel sink.  I used the ShamWows to wick out the excess moisture, and hung the clothes to dry in the closet and on the flexoline.  This allowed me to pack half the clothing I otherwise would have had to.
When I arrived in Montreal, I had packed the fleece vest, gloves and fleece cap so that they were quickly accessible.  This allowed me to transition to the colder weather almost as soon as I got on the ground (which was good, since the shuttle bus dropped us a couple kilometers from my hotel.  I was able to navigate the surface streets with little discomfort due to this planning).
The bulk of the trip was all about managing the temperature (which fluctuated from the high 40′s to the low 70′s) both inside and outside, as well as trying to keep each day’s load as light as possible to save wear and tear on my feet.  The TravelSmith day bag was a bit bulky to pack, but paid dividends on the ground for light packing day-to-day at the conference.
All things considered, I managed to pack pretty light, but it still seems like I could have packed lighter.  That gives me something to work towards for the next trip.  Thanks for reading, and your suggestions or tips are welcome!

We're testing things out here.

If you are reading this, then you are likely (hopefully) one of the handful of people I have let know about this blog before it goes live.  I am doing some testing and fiddling behind the scenes over the weekend, and things should get a bit more interesting here by Monday, November 16th.  I’ll have some Montreal reportage, some product performance reports, and other fun things (maybe even Twitter – who knows?) by then.

The altar at Basilique de Notre Dame in Old Montreal