Dedicated to Mara's travel and hiking adventure journals as well as her words of wisdom and suggested resources for hikers and travelers.

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Laundry Soap I have a lot of allergies and very sensitive skin. As such, I prefer to use my own laundry soap rather than rely on the little boxes available in the local laundramats. One good tip I got before I did my hike was to put the laundry soap in many, many layers of plastic or else all my food would taste and smell like soap. That was an excellent tip. I put a measured amount of soap in a snack sized Ziploc bag. Then, I put that bag in about four layers more of plastic. Instead of using four more bags, I just took one plastic shopping bag, put the detergent in the bottom, twisted it shut and then inverted the rest of the bag over the "ball" of detergent. I repeated this a number of times. The drawback to including my soap in my maildrops was that I couldn't start my wash until after I got my maildrop. There were a few times when I bought soap anyway and just gave away my detergent once I received it. When I was traveling with a bunch of people, we would often just pool all of our laundry together and use a front loading machine. They are easier on your clothes, use the same amount of detergent, but can hold a double or triple load of laundry. Even if there's only two of you, share a regular washer. Together you'll probably still only make a small load. Just make sure you can tell your socks (and other clothes) apart...

Tips and Tricks Body considerations Chafing Foot changes - how they grow while on long hikes Swollen hands? Hair care. Long or short? Why do hikers smell so bad? Trail management Cookless backpacking So, you want to find a thruhiking partner... Trail Documentation - how do you carry all the necessary information? Rock Piles? (aka Cairns or Ducks) GORP - Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts Hitching Bears Snakes Resupply vs. Maildrops Money, Money, Money Dogs on the trail Mailing Laundry soap Winter water management Philosophy Weird Food - or cultural biases in food appreciation Hiking cheap - or how to plan for trail expenses Priorities - or how I made my own "luck" Trail Names Peak Bagging A.T. Approach Trail - to hike it or not to hike it. AMC: Appalachian MOUNTAIN Club or Appalachian MONEY Club? Travel management Travel Documentation Solo Risk Management Getting Off the Beaten Path

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Trip Reports   Gear Lists   Mail Drops   About Me   Acknowledgements   Photos   Updates   Fun   Email Mara