Ultralight travel to Key West (like a Steemian Boss)

View this post on Hive: Ultralight travel to Key West (like a Steemian Boss)

---

In March 2020, many Steem users, including @dhimmel, migrated to the Hive blockchain in response to the hostile takeover of Steem. Please use the Hive link when sharing this post and comment on the Hive version to get in touch.

---

Earlier this month, I traveled from Philadelphia to Key West for a conference on the impact of genetic interactions on complex traits and outcomes. I wanted to share my story with Steem of how I traveled like a boss while maintaining an ultralight base weight (see my backpack weigh-in here).

The night before the trip, I called up my neighbor Rexy, who is my go-to emergency amateur seamstress. She helped convert a former long-sleeve button-up shirt into a short-sleeve. Her magic iron-on hemming tape produced stylish cuffs, while saving me the weight of sleeves I didn't need.

When her work was done, this cotton shirt weighed in at 173 grams (6.10 ounces). While you won't often find me packing cotton, I made an exception for this item. See my LigherPack List for my complete catalog of gear. In short, my ingenious packing allowed me to get by with only 2 pairs of underwear, 1 pair of socks, and 1 pair of pants. With all these weight savings, I was able to splurge (weight wise) on a 2.18-pound chill system containing a 174 gram frisbee and 816 grams of hammocking paraphernalia.

One item that weighed me down was my 18-gram American Express Platinum Card (referral link), which is three times the weight of a traditional plastic credit card, and many times more Steemian Boss. However, this card granted me access to the PHL Centurion Lounge — where I Steemed hard Satoshi style — with its impressive complementary cocktail offerings. The photo below shows the Centurion Lounge's cocktail menu (left) and hammocking on the roof of the Marriott Key West (right).

Overall, it was a decent trip. Along with ultralight travel comes enhanced mobility. For example, I was able to venture to the danger zone at Fort Zachary Taylor — a National Historic Landmark containing the largest cache of Civil War-era seacoast cannons in the U.S — to watch an Iguana send it like a boss: