reccomend me some kit for working away

Kevhog1988

ok guys,

Working away for a month at a time at the moment. staying in a travelodge.
Any tips for:

• Cooking (one of the guys is using a camping stove) food is extorionate in london.
• Cleaning clothes can use bath etc to hand wash
• occupying myself... good books etc to read?.

Stovepipe

Get a Kindle or an iPod and fill it with books. Check local libraries to see if they have a download service......surely you can find discount bulk stuff in the supermarkets; cereals, fruit, ready meals. If there's a minibar, get the hotel to clear it out and let you use it for cold storage. For laundry, get one of those plastic carousels for drying small items of clothing. Very handy and will fit in a bag. Also, get to know the staff, especially the cleaners as they will have invaluable local knowledge, especially about economic places to buy stuff.

Tabnabs

USB battery pack. For when you're on the move and need to boost your phone or electronic device.

Always useful to have a good paper map of the area you're staying in.

Website details for alternative transport for getting home (I had this issue with the Icelandic volcano when all flights were stopped).

You'd pick up a basic camping stove and gas cylinders locally (Argos for example) for cooking.

Mind your safety and security in London, it's a large place with big differences in areas. You can walk out of a tube station and it's like being in a different country suddenly.

Gone West

Airbnb ... same price as a cheap hotel, but potentially miles better.
Not much of a life tbh travelling over and back, but fair play to you, you do what you need to do.

Pat Mustard

theemigrant wrote: »

• Cleaning clothes can use bath etc to hand wash

When on the move, you can make certain decisions about the clothes that you wear, which can impact upon the amount of gear that you will need. The fabric is important.

If you have clothes that dry overnight, you can pack less clothing. Also, if you have versatile clothing and equipment that can perform two or more functions, you can bring less clothing and equipment. For instance, if you have one jacket that you use for everything, work, leisure etc.

Try to avoid cotton because it takes longer to dry out than other fabrics. Wool dries very quickly. Clothes with high wool contents tend to be quick drying.

Smartwool is sold by outdoor stores but it is not cheap. Certain hardware stores sell work socks with high wool content that may be more reasonably priced. I am not talking about wool of the scratchy variety, which may be uncomfortable.

With regard to shirts, depending on the type of work, you may have to wear more formal shirts or less formal ones. If you have to wear more formal shirts, you will be more restricted in what you can buy. However, M&S sells good quality non-iron shirts for about €40. Perhaps unfortunately, they are made of cotton, but that's just the way it is. In any case, after washing these shirts, hang them up to dry and they will be ready to wear in the morning. No ironing required, just as it says on the packaging.

If you are not restricted to formal shirts, there are plenty of shirts which are not made of cotton which will require very little ironing. You can pretty much wash them, hang them up and they should be ready to wear in hours. This sort of idea maybe.

See these pegless clothes lines. You could hang up all of your washing and allow it to dry overnight.



There are people with websites and blogs dedicated to travelling with as little clutter as possible.
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-pounds-or-less-plus-how-to-negotiate-convertibles-and-luxury-treehouses/
http://www.onebag.com/
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart

Kevhog1988

Quick update: Ive made some progress

Cooking: I bought a george foreman mini grill for £15. Have figured out how to open the window (supposed to be sealed) so am now cooking using this every night. Bought a big thermos too and fill with coffee every morning. MAking a packed lunch every night which goes in a small back pack id carry in the car. Most of the guys are over here and trying to save so nobody really drinks etc. As im the p.m i would often get a free lunch when meeting clients which is always handy

Cleaning clothes: Just did a hand wash tonight. am using the bath and then hanging them up to dry with towels underneath to collect water.

Occupying myself: Boss is paying for the wifi so i am watching youtube videos etc etc. Smashed my ipad so cant use kindle app

Kevhog1988

Tabnabs wrote: »

USB battery pack. For when you're on the move and need to boost your phone or electronic device.

Always useful to have a good paper map of the area you're staying in.

Website details for alternative transport for getting home (I had this issue with the Icelandic volcano when all flights were stopped).

You'd pick up a basic camping stove and gas cylinders locally (Argos for example) for cooking.

Mind your safety and security in London, it's a large place with big differences in areas. You can walk out of a tube station and it's like being in a different country suddenly.

i keep an oyster card on me at all times (public transport). im good with london.. ive run a lot of work down here but was when i was living the dream and not saving lol.
i have an app called movit actually which combines the buses, trains and walking for the fastest route.

Kevhog1988

The Mustard wrote: »

When on the move, you can make certain decisions about the clothes that you wear, which can impact upon the amount of gear that you will need. The fabric is important.

If you have clothes that dry overnight, you can pack less clothing. Also, if you have versatile clothing and equipment that can perform two or more functions, you can bring less clothing and equipment. For instance, if you have one jacket that you use for everything, work, leisure etc.

Try to avoid cotton because it takes longer to dry out than other fabrics. Wool dries very quickly. Clothes with high wool contents tend to be quick drying.

Smartwool is sold by outdoor stores but it is not cheap. Certain hardware stores sell work socks with high wool content that may be more reasonably priced. I am not talking about wool of the scratchy variety, which may be uncomfortable.

With regard to shirts, depending on the type of work, you may have to wear more formal shirts or less formal ones. If you have to wear more formal shirts, you will be more restricted in what you can buy. However, M&S sells good quality non-iron shirts for about €40. Perhaps unfortunately, they are made of cotton, but that's just the way it is. In any case, after washing these shirts, hang them up to dry and they will be ready to wear in the morning. No ironing required, just as it says on the packaging.

If you are not restricted to formal shirts, there are plenty of shirts which are not made of cotton which will require very little ironing. You can pretty much wash them, hang them up and they should be ready to wear in hours. This sort of idea maybe.

See these pegless clothes lines. You could hang up all of your washing and allow it to dry overnight.



There are people with websites and blogs dedicated to travelling with as little clutter as possible.
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2007/07/11/how-to-travel-the-world-with-10-pounds-or-less-plus-how-to-negotiate-convertibles-and-luxury-treehouses/
http://www.onebag.com/
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart

Brilliant post mate.

my3cents

For cooking, how about a slow cooker?

Edit> Another thought along the same lines you could plug one into a timer so it will switch off just in case you are late home.

Kevhog1988

Had the weekend off so got myself properly organised.

Have the following.

Kettle
Flask
George Foreman Grill
Set of camping pots & pans
a large plastic storage box that the lot fits in.
Various cooking items, spray frying oil, tin foil etc.
Printer,laptop etc.

Brought various books from home. one on hunting & gamekeeping that im reading at the moment.

Still need:

the portable washing line.
mini fridge for milk etc.

my3cents

One small techie item I'd consider is this small WiFi multi purpose device http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AQUMZRA/

Stovepipe

I bought two black T-shirts in a pack for a tenner, marked as Industrial wear, branded as "WorkWear", in Lidl. Can't leave them there for that price. They are tough, 100% cotton, fit me just fine and I expect to get a year out of them. I've also got navy tees from work, made by Dickies and they are indestructable.