Travel Tips Archives • Page 3 of 12 • Andrew Crusoe

When it comes to creating strong connections: Resonance is everything.

While common values, similar interests, or a similar sense of humor is a good sign, it still doesn’t guarantee that you’ll feel the intuitive nudge to cultivate a friendship with a particular person. And sometimes, you may meet someone by chance who you would have never imagined would resonate with you, yet they do.

Having met thousands of people during my adventures and drawn many lessons from those interactions (97% of which were positive), I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. Yet this summer I realized that this may not be enough.

I’ll explain.

Act 1: A Delightful Host?

Once upon a couch, I was hosted by a smart, passionate woman who was relatively new to Couchsurfing. She shared my love of good, organic food; and, perhaps more importantly, she instinctively knew the importance of conscious growth. She knew she could make a measurable, positive difference in the world. Overall, she was a delightful young woman.

In between some plans that I’d made, we had the chance to hang out a bit. I met some of her friends; we all went out for a couple drinks — the usual Friday night thing, right? She was perhaps slightly naïve, but she had a kind of raw enthusiasm that I enjoyed. So early on, I suspected there was some good friend potential.

And then something refreshing happened: she began opening up to me. She also began asking some more personal questions, such as my relationship status, which I didn’t mind sharing with her. She also told me about how one of her friends was moving away, and how there weren’t a lot of other people in her life that she felt she could truly talk to about personal growth anymore.

I empathized. I was once in a similar situation, and I offered my support. If she wanted someone to talk to about such things, I’d be happy to stay in touch.

On the last day, we hugged goodbye; and I was happy to have made another growth-oriented friend… or had I?

Act 2: How to Blow Someone Off

On a subsequent visit to Madison, I sent her a text message telling her that I was in town for a few days and I’d like to stop by and say “Hi.”

Later that day, I received a disappointing reply. Apparently, she was spending time with her roommates that evening (before they all moved out), but she “hoped that I had a good visit to Madison.”

Now let me ask you, dear reader, does that sound like someone who has any desire to see me? She knew quite well that I would be in town for another 2 days; but as you and I know, if you don’t actually want to see someone, there won’t be time to see them. That’s all.

Clearly, I had misjudged the situation.

Later that day, I struck up a conversation with a local entrepreneur, selling his wares on the street. And I ended up venting to him and explaining what had happened. I was surprised that, after I had told him the story, he called her a “bitch”.

I thought that was pretty harsh. She wasn’t a bitch. She was just blowing me off. It happens. (It happens even more when travelling.) I had apparently been given a false impression. But hey, that’s life. So, I let it go.

I mean, I shouldn’t expect everyone to be able to handle my free-wheeling, internet-treehouse, California-bred, hippy lifestyle, right? 😉

Act 3: Discombobulated

And then, something oddly synchronistic happened.

While cycling around and deciding on where to eat, I turned around and saw her waiting by the curb, looking at me.

Seriously, what are the odds?

The conversation began with the obligatory “Hey! Whatcha up to? Good to see you!” type of sentences. She’d been under a bit more stress lately from her job, but otherwise well. And she was glad to hear the process of self-publishing my book was going well. We talked on the sidewalk for about 15 minutes, and then bid farewell.

As I locked up my bike a few minutes later, I realized something.

Her eyes.

There had been a kind of distant look within them. I didn’t want to pretend to know what was going on in her life. I didn’t. But after I reflected on how her presence made me feel, I realized that I felt a bit discombobulated after talking to her. It was as if her energy field was chaotic. And I had to ask myself: Did I really want to cultivate a friendship with such a person?

Conclusion

Just because this happened, doesn’t mean anyone is right or wrong in this case. You can’t predict resonance. You can only test for it. I thought that, based on a common interest in personal growth, I had made a new friend, but I’ve learned that there are no guarantees. Even if someone shares a value that I hold deeply, it doesn’t mean they will be a good match for me socially. And, to be completely frank, if their energy field is discombobulated, it makes my decision even easier.

Resonance is everything. And sometimes, you may be truly surprised at who you find yourself in resonance with.

For instance, I don’t usually initiate conversations with people in high school, mostly because people tend to be rather unstable during that time in their lives. But that didn’t stop me from listening to my intuition and striking up a conversation with a decidedly rad student as I waited outside the following day. We ended up talking for over an hour. And the remarkable thing? I actually felt energized after the conversation. Think of it: A high schooler actually cultivating a good attitude and having a bright, positive energy about them? Totally.

Resonance.

I’ve come back to it again and again on my adventures, and it remains the single most important factor in predicting where a connection will go. And when you have resonance with a person, the friendship takes on a life of its own. A kind of “third mind” results from the two of you spending time together. And then the strength of the friendship is obvious.

Resonance is everything.
Trust it, and it won’t let you down.

Let’s face it, packing is a skill. And today, I’m going to show you how to upgrade it.

Have you ever stared at your backpack and wondered, “Is this really the best way to pack my stuff?” I certainly have, but what you should be asking is: “Am I packing like Chuck Norris would pack? And if not, why not?”

Over the past few years, I’ve had to face the challenge of how to pack efficiently an innumerable number of times. And like any problem I’ve faced repeatedly, I’ve upgraded and refined my solution over the years. Today, I’m sharing my technique publicly for the first time, partially due to the encouragement of an Australian that I met earlier this year who asked me to demonstrate this method to him after he saw how I packed. 🙂

Simply put, in terms of spatial efficiency, the rolling technique I’m about to show you blows away all other packing techniques. And when done correctly, it even prevents wrinkles. I’ve even included step-by-step photos, so let’s begin:

The Super-Rolling Kung Fu Method

1. Start by laying your shirts directly on top of each other. The closer in size they are, the better the pile will prevent wrinkles. (Although, I wouldn’t let a pile exceed six shirts or so, and I usually just do four.)

2. Fold the whole thing in half, matching the left sleeves with the right sleeves. (I realize that this will create creases, but any portable packing method will produce at least some. The trick is that vertical creases are more aesthetically pleasing. Truth.)

3. Fold the top sleeves inward, exposing the bottom sleeves (for the right arm).

4. Fold the remaining sleeves over the top.

5. Begin rolling the whole bundle into a tight roll. (This creates a radius bend, which the fabric can recover from with just a bit of shaking out.)

6. Finish by completing the roll so that you have a perfect cylinder. (Wow, that looks rather zen-like, doesn’t it? I wasn’t expecting that.)

7. Bask in the glory of how little space your shirts now take up. (I would recommend you place this above the pants in your backpack since shirts are smaller.) In fact, let’s cover pants while we’re at it.

How to Pack Pants Super-Efficiently (brief version)

1. Fold the pants along the zipper, as shown below. Any cargo-type pockets should be flat in this configuration.

2. Begin the roll at the waist-end. (You can also roll multiple pants in one pile, but I wouldn’t recommend more than three.)

3. Complete the roll so that you have a cylinder shape, more or less. (Pants won’t line up as well as shirts, because most pant legs get narrower toward the bottom, but this is okay.)

Final Tips

Remember, if you have heavy items such as boots (or, god-forbid, paper guidebooks), be sure to put them at the very bottom of your bag. Because if the bag is top-heavy, it won’t sit well on baggage racks and you’ll be at risk for straining yourself when you carry your pack on your back.

If you find yourself with dirty clothes that you need to pack temporarily, just use a plastic bag and then try to press as much air out of the bag as possible. It won’t be quite as compacted, but that is the nature of travelling with a dirty shirt or two.

And if you happen to have any space left over after adding in bathroom supplies bag, deodorant, etc., then fill up the remaining gaps with something light (like socks). This will prevent your contents from shifting during movement.

Conclusion

Overall, this method reduces packing volume dramatically, as well as reducing wrinkles because of the radius bend I mentioned earlier. Any wrinkles are easily shaken out; and if you find yourself bothered by any minor creases left over, you could simply hang any of the shirts in the bathroom while showering and the steam from the shower will remove help the wrinkles.

I’ve used the Super-Rolling Kung Fu Method (pictured above) for around two years now, and people are continually amazed at how much I’m able to fit into my smaller pack (which about 24 liters). In fact, by dramatically shrinking the volume of my clothes, I’ve freed myself up to take the smaller pack with me on the majority of my trips now. And for some reason, using the smaller pack is even more freeing.

It’s a great feeling. 🙂

Andrew Crusoe

Tropical Sci-Fi & True Hawaii Adventure

Category: Travel Tips