Which forest is new? You decide.

Every Fall, a local nonprofit called the Five Rivers Conservation Trust hosts a short hike in Concord, NH, to highlight the great trails and opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy some of the wonderful, free outdoor spaces we have right in our backyard.

The hike is free, though a $5 donation is gratefully accepted. Our friendly hosts hand out tart, crisp apples at the start (along with the okay to toss the biodegradable cores into the woods once we finish them), and lead us along a pre-chosen tour. About halfway through the hike, we meet up with an educational interpreter who shares some great information about the natural space surrounding us.

Last year, we met a fire fighter who talked about the effects, both good and bad, of forest fires. This year, we learned that age is relative, because what constitutes a "new" forest vs and "old" one is very different from what might be new or old in human years.

The weather mostly cooperated. It was a bit drizzly and cool, but still quite pleasant. I always enjoy getting out in the woods, and the guided hikes are a great way to get to know some local hiking trails as a novice. Hiking can be a great activity, but it's important to be prepared and know where you are going, as getting lost in the woods is no joke.

Our interpreter on the left, explaining the differences between a new forest and an old forest. 

New forest. (Note lack of abundant green)

Old forest. (note established greenery)

Enjoying the scenery!

Traveling safely

I am always in search of the perfect travel bag. I finally found what I thought might be as close to perfect as I could get: the Tumi Calais backpack. It's pricey, but ticked a lot of the boxes:

The Tumi bag

• It's a backpack - this is important because I walk as much as possible in airports and carrying everything on one shoulder with a messenger or cross-body style bag becomes uncomfortable quickly. 
• It has a trolley strap on the back - this is great so that I have the option of sliding the back over the pull bar of my suitcase and wheeling the whole deal through the airport, thus saving my back.
• It has a padded interior laptop pocket that is separate from the rest of the bag and designed to fit a laptop up to 13 inches. Bonus points here because the compartment not only fits my laptop, it fits my laptop in the extra neoprene case that I have for it, adding extra peace of mind for me. 
• It has enough space to fit my travel essentials - snack(s), magazines/kindle, scarf, headphones - without being too big.
• It has enough additional pockets to help keep me organized without making me crazy with all of the pockets. 

The pack is missing one crucial detail, which is a place to put a water bottle. I tried putting a water bottle inside the main compartment once, and will never do that again. You can probably guess what happened. (Here's a hint: it leaked) Instead, I suck it up and improvise by clipping a reusable water bottle to the outside of the bag with a carabiner. I can then attach the bottle to the magazine holder in the seat in front of me for easy access during the flight. It's a little clunky, but it works. 

I happily used this backpack on several domestic trips but, honestly, was a bit concerned about pickpockets on an upcoming trip to Europe. I was in France last year and while I felt safe overall, I saw notable pickpocket activity in several big tourist areas, and I'm really not interested in being robbed while I travel, because who is? 

Riut 15 - Note the lack of
zippers on the front

My sister found a great new backpack that addresses this very issue. It's from a startup company called Riut (pronounced "Riot") and was designed specifically to foil pickpockets. It is has an interior laptop pocket, a few extra pockets for odds and ends, and - huge bonus - a space for a water bottle. It also is designed so that all of the zippers are on the back of the bag, underneath the straps and against your back. This means I have to take the bag off and reach through the straps to unzip it. Anyone coming up behind me while I wear it would be foiled. 

This proved to be quite handy when I was walking to/from the train station in bustling Florence and in Venice where the tourism level is off the charts. That place is crowded and there is no respite from the crush of people. 

The bag isn't quite perfect - you lose the water bottle space when you fill up the interior of the bag, but the founder of the company, Sarah Giblin, is active on Twitter and recently reached out to Riut bag customers to get ideas on how to solve that challenge with her next round of designs. 

Giblin knows that commuter/travel bags need to be as unobtrusive as possible so they don't stand out, so she only sells them in black or blue. I learned on a trip to Iceland that she is right. My friend and I each had a small purse that we used for our passports, money, etc. Mine was a khaki color. Hers was

Me in Iceland. That bag is like a beacon.

black. In all of our pictures, my bag stood out as if it had a spotlight shining on it. Hers was invisible. Ever since, I am only interested in travel day bags that are black or maybe blue. 

I bought the Riut bag in the 15 liter size. It was just right, though maybe a bit small, for the usual carry-on travel items plus a packing cube with a change of clothes and a small bag of toiletries. This was so that I could freshen up on my four-hour layover in Paris on my recent trip. The bag did the job, though, and in my sleep-deprived, jet-lagged state, I did not need to worry that anyone in the airport would be able to get into my bag and at my passport or credit card as I walked through the crowded spaces. 

As Sarah recently blogged about, she was robbed on a recent trip when she let her guard down and a thief grabbed her entire bag and ran. This experience reminded her that the best bag in the world isn't going to fully protect you from thievery; being vigilant is also key. 

The zippers are on the inside,
under the straps. Hard to see?
That's the point. 

This is something else I experienced firsthand while in Venice. My friend and I had boarded the train
back to Florence after two days in the tourist-crazy city, sick and tired of being jostled around. We took our seats on the train, and a loud, possibly drunk, definitely annoying man approached us, asking questions about where we were going, were we American, etc. Then, without warning and not subtly at all, he reached over my friend to her bag that was on the seat in between us and started to try to open in. Stunned, I grabbed his arm and shoved him as hard as I could. He started yelling all sorts of rude things to us and we shouted back to go away. He finally went to another car while we looked for a conductor or police officer. We couldn't find the authorities, so we kept an eye on him. He jumped off the train just before the doors closed. I'm guessing he spends his days wandering on and off trains trying to steal whatever he can. 

Of course, the type of bag wouldn't have mattered if he had simply grabbed the entire bag and ran, but the experience helped to remind me that, like Sarah has pointed out, vigilance matters, and while I should not allow a more secure bag to make me complacent, I am happy to have the extra security features all the same.