Some people travel with a partner or friend. I travel with Beast – my Osprey 55L duffle backpack with zip off front (aptly named “Mini Beast”) and best travel buddy. We’ve been solo traveling around the world together since 2018. We’ve been through dozens of countries and endless adventures together, like our ferry sinking in Thailand!
Beasts’ Favorite Adventures
Beast and I have been through a lot together. There was the time, in Thailand, when our ferry boat sank. We were making our way from Ko Pha Nagn when our boat shuddered. I’m still not sure what we hit or what happened but over the course of about three hours, we were photographed by an official-looking Thai boat “guy”. We stared confused at several crying Thai mothers and children. We started to fantasize about our super-hero swimming abilities (clearly we could both make it to shore, being the Olympic-style swimmers we both are). And we waded through shin-deep water as we boarded our rescue ferry.
Bangkok or Bust…
After our daring rescue, the new ferry stayed afloat and dropped us off in port where a bus was waiting to bring us to our next destination – the airport. Unfortunately, we had already missed our flight by the time we arrived – hours later – and had to go through the process of rebooking our flight to Bangkok. It’s probably important to mention that neither Beast nor I speak Thai but we managed and what felt like minutes before it was time to board, a powerful rain/wind storm swept through the airport grounding all planes. This set us back further.
Once rain-mageddon let up, we made our way to the tarmac to board and fly back to Bangkok, which was mostly uneventful. Of course, though, being much later than originally planned (hours later!), it was a busy time when we arrived in Bangkok. After joining the line for taxi service (number 98 in the deli counter style tickets), we waited an hour for a taxi and that’s when I knew my lack of Thai was going to send this day completely off the rails.
I’ll Walk From Here
I had already booked my hotel prior to arrival and I showed the taxi driver the information on my phone and off we went, navigating our way through Bangkok traffic. When we pulled up in front of a very fancy hotel that I was completely under-dressed for I knew things had gone awry. I asked if he was really sure this was where I was supposed to be. With a nod of his head he left me there to hear from the nice check-in counter woman that I did not have a reservation (and that I was indeed underdressed).
So, back outside to another taxi to try again. By now it was about 10pm and my day had started around 8am back on Ko Pha Nagn. More Bangkok traffic and a confused taxi driver and suddenly as if the universe herself was shining a spotlight, I saw my hotel’s name on the side of a building while stopped at a traffic light headed in the wrong direction. Beast and I kindly excused ourselves, made our way across streets, up 11 floors, and to the front desk where I did have a reservation and the restaurant was still open and best of all, they did in fact have a hair dryer – which for some unknown reason was all I wanted to know at that moment.
We spent the rest of our night showering (and blow drying), eating delicious food, and planning tomorrow’s adventure in Bangkok.
Beast is the Best
There are a lot of reasons why Beast is the best travel companion. He’s quiet, he doesn’t ask for much, and he’s down for any adventure. He also doubles as a duffle bag. This type of bag is primo for traveling through various hostels and for keeping things organized. Rather than having to take everything out to reach my gear packed at the bottom of my bag, I can open up the whole pack all at once and take out what I need like a suitcase.
Beast has plenty of room for all of my packing essentials (check out my guide to packing for a multi-day solo backpack through Europe). All of my Eagle Creek packing cubes fit perfectly like a really simple jigsaw puzzle and there’s even room for my camelback and water bottles on the front.
Mini Beast is Second Best
Mini Beast is the front zip off portion of Beast. When I don’t need all of the space of the full backpack, I can zip off Mini Beast and he and I can travel around for the day. Mini Beast is great, too, because when he’s attached to the main pack I can use the storage for easy access to things I need often. Mini Beast also has a padded section for things like my laptop!
Long Walks on Cobblestones
If you’ve spent any time in Europe you are familiar with the (usually) uphill cobblestone battles that are European streets. Beast and I have had our fair share of long walks, gross blisters, and sweaty afternoons.
One such afternoon found us in Budapest meandering down narrow streets searching for the hostel I had booked. As we so often do, Beast and I made a new friend. Not so far from our hostel was one of those stores that sell “skin care” from the Dead Sea – you know the kind where they greet you with grainy hand cream and buff one fingernail to the point where you can see your reflection. Our new friend stopped us and immediately began his schpiel, lathering my fingers as he told me about the rich vitamins that melted my dead skin away.
Who Has it Worse?
At this point, I’d been backpacking across Europe for a couple of months and there was plenty of dead skin to melt away. I kept telling him that I had no money to spend on his product but he kept on lathering and buffing. He started to compare our lots – he a poor Dead Sea skin care salesman, me a wayward, wanderlust, backpacker. By the time he had finished an entire hand he had me inside his shop showing me the whole package I could purchase for a great deal – and I could crash on his couch instead of the hostel if I wanted (a real deal…).
All the while, however, Beast was still strapped to my back in September Budapest heat. Which meant that while my hands were soft and supple, my back was becoming increasingly sweaty in the Hungarian heat. Our friend moved on to my second hand, yammering away about his hard times and the benefits of the salt and how much I was going to love Budapest.
Finally, the moment of truth came… he had performed miracles on BOTH of my hands and now, of course, I would purchase the kit he had told me about over my protests of no money. Would I save him from his roommate by helping him make a sale?
No. In the end, I still had no money (I tried to warn him!) but I did have soft supple hands and a sweaty back as I hiked on down the cobblestone streets to the next adventure.
We’ve Seen it All
From sinking ferries to sweaty backs, Beast and I have seen it all. No matter where we are in the world, one thing is for sure – adventure (and sometimes new friends) is never far behind!
Who is your travel buddy and what wild things have you gotten up to around the world? Share in the comments section below!
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