Image source: Travelpulse.com I recently took a few months to backpack around the world on my own. Doing something like that today is orders of magnitude easier with all of the luxuries provided by the smartphone. Really anyone pick up and go wherever, without much preparation and without a lot of stuff. All that is needed are the right tools and the right mindset. Below is a helpful list of tools & suggestions to answer some of your most pressing questions.

Just two days after the election, I followed through on what could have been construed as a much needed escape plan and flew to India. Truth be told I would have gotten on that plane even if our country didn’t elect a budding despot as our Commander in Chief. This trip, the sixth in my life, was to witness the wedding of my niece Iya and her long-time boyfriend Nikunj.

At the end of January in 2016, I quit my job. Two months later, I hit the road with nothing but a normal backpack weighing just over 16 pounds. The original plan, it should be stated, was nothing near what actually transpired. I was to take a break no longer than two months, and promptly find a new place of employment by the time Spring ushered Wintered out of its temporary throne.