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The Case of the $145 Water Bottle
Water bottles have a bit of panache to them. After all, trendy water bottles such as Hydraflask with its chug-ability, the Stanley with its unbeatable flip straw, and Yeti’s personalizable Rambler all encourage their buyers to pony up over $40 to carry water.
Like people’s affection for their cars and the personality-matching algorithm that drivers follow to pick the right wheels (Barbie could never drive a Chevy, for example), water bottles now demand character attraction, too. Be seen with the wrong water bottle and your entire career might crash.
So you’d wonder why I would own a $145 water bottle, especially as someone who lives a minimal life, packs light, and is brand allergic (expect for Patagonia.) The truth is, the bottle originally cost me $45, and it included a great belt to hold it. Thus, the bottle alone probably valued at around $10.
But in my Nomad Life, I ditched the belt and skinnied down to just the bottle. It’s an amazing bottle. It holds a liter of water, and its curvy shape snugs up next to my fanny in the back pocket of my shorts. I can carry the water bottle all day hands-free. It’s PERFECT.
My Water Bottle Lives My Life
When I lost my water bottle, I had a melt-down. Not only was it one of the things I’d owned the longest in my new Nomad Life, but this water bottle had sentimental value. It’d traveled around the world twice, hiked up and down the Rocky Mountains, crossed the Atlantic on three repositioning cruises, floated down the Amazon and through the Andes, and stayed with me through dozens of border crossings and immigration stare downs.
I didn’t realize I’d left it behind at a darling coffee shop recommended by Ten Degrees Warmer on the Camino in a rural Spanish town until I was 15 miles away. Which I had walked. The only way to get the bottle back was to rewalk the 30 miles.
Or so I thought.
Then I remembered that my Nomad friend Lisa was a mere 4 days behind me on the trail. She’d be walking right past the cafe, and if I could get ahold of her, perhaps she’d get it to me.
I sent her a message on Facebook, and she replied back. We hatched a plan. She’d collect the water bottle if it were still at the cafe, and she’d mail it from the next little town. I’d venmo Lisa the postage amount. But where could she mail it to?
The Hatched Botched Plan
When we had started our own hike along the Camino in Spain, we had paid a portaging company to move our luggage to Santiago where we’d pick it up when we finished hiking. They charged us a one-time, pre-paid fee; it paid to move the bags and to store them as long as necessary while we hiked. I figured that Lisa could mail the water bottle to the storage facility, they could add it to my bag already in storage, and I could pick both up when I hiked into Santiago.
It was a perfect plan.
Until it wasn’t.
I arrived to Santiago a few weeks later to pick up my bag. I mentioned to the clerk that I actually had two items, my bag, and a small box. She grabbed both.
$100 please, she said in her nice Spanish (but in Euros.)
Apparently, this storage facility didn’t see my second little box as an add-on item. They wanted to collect for it, too, based on the rates it charged for other items they stored. Regardless of size of item or length of stay, it cost $100.
So I paid it. Afterall, my water bottle deserved saving, didn’t it?
Our Nomad Recommendations
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It costs you nothing, but it means the world to us when you use our links.
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Looking for medical insurance for your full-time travel? We use Genki and claims have been flawless.
Want the best shoes for nomad life? We recommend the Hoka Hopara 2. Read our review!
My Monthly Read
Each month, I reviewed the book I’m reading. If I love it, I recommend it.
In this great travel writing piece, I just wanted them to get there. But then I rmembered that the destination is about the journey, and this story is certainly about the journey. I loved the breadth of characters; young to old, White and Black, educated to skilled. And spoiler alert, they get there! Grab your copy of Towles, The Lincoln Highway.
My Monthly Eats
Each month, I always offer up a vegan recipe. After all, this is EAT, Walk, Learn. The recipe often resonates from my month’s travels. Since I was hiking the Fisherman’s Way a majority of the month, I couldn’t pass up offering a recipe for Portugal’s famous pastry, Pasteis de Nata.
My Monthly Nomad Travel Tip
Each month, invariably, I realize I’ve got a tip that’s occurred during day in my Nomad Life. Here’s this month’s tip.
Where Are We?
October was a crazy busy month. We finished up with our family visits in the US, then we hiked Portugal’s Fisherman’s Way, then joyfully watched our youngest graduate from Trinity College in Dublin then we hopped the pond again to Maine to help her move into her new apartment, then we hopped the pond again to Athens to start the next step in our Greek Golden Visa process see our video about getting our One Year Greek Visa.) We’re looking forward to a month on the island of Poros doing NOTHING (haha.)
One Nomad Treat This Month
People ask us all the time which microphones we use for our youtube channel. We love this set.
We’ll be kicking back in Poros, Greece, until Feb 1. Coming our way? Reach out.
Oh dear! But I get it!