After almost a year of non-stop traveling, we've come to realize that some of the most useful things we carry are also the simplest and most affordable! Below is a list of items (all under $30, most under $5) that will help make your travels as smooth as dulce de leche... mmmmmm.  Enjoy!
~Mandrew

These things are by far the best investment we made in our travel gear. Not only do they keep everything bone dry, even in the wettest conditions (bags strapped on roof of bus in pouring rain, capsized canoe, etc.) they also let you make the most of your space by smushing the heck out of your bulky soft stuff.  An added bonus, too, is that they help keep your clothes safe from bedbugs (always keep your bags closed in hostels or hotels!).  Starting at about $30 for the small size, I'd highly recommend everyone get at least one of these badboys - you'll thank yourself when you've got something dry to change into after hiking in the rain for hours.  I've got a small sack for my sleeping bag, mat & bug net and a medium sack for all my clothes.  

Check them out on Amazon US or Canada.

Chelsea and I are constantly listening to podcasts & audiobooks to pass the time on long bus rides, or as an alternative to watching a movie when we feel like having a quiet night in (more often than not). This little guy lets us use two sets of headphones on the same music device - so much better than wearing just one ear bud each, especially when one of you gets nasty orange ear wax all over the place. The second-best $5 I've ever spent.  

Check it out on Amazon US or Canada.

Our next stop was to a small alternative town called San Marcos Sierra, about an hour drive north of Capilla del Monte.  It was recommended to us by some friends, Rafi and Flor, who we met in while volunteering in Jinotega, Nicaragua. 

It was pretty much what I was expecting: free-spirited happy people, artisan booths, jam sessions at night, people walking and biking around with accordions, guitars, colourful homemade clothing, delicious fresh-baked goods and fresh produce for sale.  It was awesome! 

When we checked into our hostel, which was basically a man named Hernan's house with some extra rooms, we asked for the key and Hernan looked at us in a funny way and told us that they don't lock anything in this town.  "No one has even been robbed and it's just not that kind of place. Our town is built on trust."  So, hesitantly at first, we accepted this and unpacked our stuff.

We weren't sure how long we would stay at first but it ended up to be about a week in total.  We wandered around the town on the first day and checked out one of the many honey farms, "El Arbol", which was really interesting. In their storefront they had something like a dozen different types of honey available, all of different colour, consistency, and flavour. Did you know that the honey produced depends on the type of plant that's currently in bloom? This place times their harvests so that they can isolate the properties of a given set of plants - neat-o!  We got to sample each of the flavours and bought a couple tiny jars to enjoy later.

Fred, the latest addition to our Curious Characters series, is a half-French, all German chef who for the last fifteen years has been sharing his talents all over the world.  After receiving his training at a hotel in Germany, he spent a few years working around the South of Germany and near the French border.  His passion for travel then led him to work in some of the most beautiful places in the world, including Panama, Australia, the Krabi region of Thailand, and the cities of Tulum, Mexico and Granada, Nicaragua. In addition to his chef training, his ability to speak to customers in German, French, English and Spanish make him an asset in restaurants worldwide.

We met Fred while volunteering over Christmas at Sol y Mar, a hotel & restaurant in the surf and dive town of Santa Catalina, Panama.  Part of our job there was to help in the restaurant, serving the customers and lending Fred the odd hand in the kitchen. Despite having a much smaller kitchen than he’d like, it was awesome to watch Fred work his magic, whipping up a variety of rich dishes of chicken, pork, or freshly caught corvina (sea bass) or red snapper, almost always with a side of potatoes (he is German, after all) and always presented delicately and artistically.  As his servers Fred would summon us to duty, as he put the final touches on each plate, by announcing “BRING BRING!”, a habit that no doubt was carried from his work at a professional kitchen where there was an actual bell to serve the purpose.

Working and hanging out with Fred was one of the better parts about our time in Santa Catalina, and we’re excited to see where his cooking takes him next!  Keep bein' chili, Fred!

~Mandrew

What's your favourite part about being a chef?
Always being surrounded by good food, being able to work & travel in beautiful places where others go for a holiday.

How would you describe your cooking style?
“Oma's Küche”, real cooking like our Grandmas did with influences from all over the world.

After a long bus ride from Mendoza, we spent a day and night stretching our legs and checking out Córdoba.  Seemed like a reasonable place but, once again, a fairly big city and so not our cup of tea.  Preferring to spend some time bein’ chili in some of the nearby smaller towns, we decided to head to Capilla del Monte (“Chapel of the Hill” in Spanish).  A quaint and sleepy town of just over ten thousand, Capilla del Monte is known internationally as a hotspot of UFO and other paranormal activity.  We thought maybe we’d have better luck with the ETs after coming up short in Pisco…  

After our amazing (and cold) Patagonia adventure we were ready to head north to warmer weather.  Mendoza was our next stop and where we would drink so much wine. So so much.

We arrived after two days of buses; Puerto Montt to Santiago which was overnight and expectedly boring, and then Santiago to Mendoza the next morning, which was an incredible drive up and over the steep Andes Mountains, passing by the famous Aconcaga Volcano National Park and through several tunnel sections of the mountain.