Monthly Archives: October 2022

Tips on Boarding Airplanes

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Since the pandemic struck, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten on an airplane to fly anywhere. In this new (almost) post-Covid context, here are some tips on boarding airplanes for your travels! This is more specific to a Canadian context, but may help other travelers as well!

Flying now is a bit more chaotic and challenging, with mad rushes to the airport where it’s understaffed as massive layoffs struck the industry to keep them afloat, financially. This is particularly true for Canadian travelers, whether it be domestic or international flights. Domestic flights, as I remembered it, were to board 45 minutes before flight. Now, airlines advise 2 hours and international flights to 2.5 hours, whereas it was previously 2.

airport, airplane, terminal

In the background, staff are working to get luggage sorted, despite their best efforts, it is still a chaos with stories of lost luggage and wrong deliveries taking up to weeks to recover your bags, if ever. This is opting for several passengers to bring carry-ons, which then crowds the fuselage overhead compartments more and more, causing backups of passengers rushing to the front of the lines to board the plane for that prime real estate above their heads.

However, not all hope is lost, as there are some positive outcomes on these changes. No longer do you have to wait in line to get your boarding passes, which in its own right can be a nightmare, there may be opportunity to even book your security screening ahead of time if you know when you’ll be there!

So some tips to share after having gone through the whole process in our new context of, almost, post-covid era of flying. Information is largely dependent on your carrier and airport, but hope there’s enough similarities across the board that could help you out.

  • Check in: to be completed online, the carrier will send an email to confirm your check in. Once completed you’ll receive your boarding passes straight away to your email, or you can download a PDF containing the QR code and other relevant information.
  • Arrive to the airport actually early. This includes working backwards on how long it’ll take to get there, with traffic and delays. This should be 2 hours domestic and 2.5 international. This will also any stresses of delays and provide ample chill out time.
  • Boarding passes: as mentioned, it could be a QR code, or you could download a PDF and print it out (but why…?).
  • Check how long security takes here at Pearson International Airport
  • Security check can be booked online ahead of time, in that, you walk up to the gate and check in. (Not do the security check online): For Pearson International Airport: https://www.torontopearson.com/en/departures/yyz-express
    • Check your carrier and airport to see if they can book security

For those looking for COVID cleanliness, be prepared yourself. Bring hand sanitizer (wipes) and masks. Sanitize even the contact points around your seat, if it makes you feel more comfortable. I have learned the airflow in the plane is pretty good and only your immediate seat area is recycled air. The masks will be more important in the airport proper where transmission is higher. However, in the washroom stalls on the planes, be sure to keep your masks on.

Admittedly, and for the sake of complication, my flight, I made sure I didn’t have a need to do any check in luggage and not able to speak to that. I had the good ol’ carry on and personal bag.

Furthermore, I traveled domestically, so vaccine passports and other requirements were not necessary. However, I would suggest other travelers to pay close attention to the country entry requirements to avoid any disappointment. Hopefully these tips on boarding airplanes will be helpful for you!

Bannock Backcountry Bread: Explorations Eats

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Another video of Exploration eats, this time focusing on Bannock backcountry bread! Why Bannock in the backcountry? Well, why not!? You get fresh hot bread that’s easy to make in the back country for your breakfast, or great additions to your meals.

I will admit straight up, I’m not a bread maker, let alone a baker. Fry bread came to me when I was travelling in the Dakotas and found a fry bread mix that I thought would work for camping, decades ago. Only recently did I more actively seek recipes to make and try out in the back country. I share this to caveat that: if I misinform, apologies – please do share with us what could be done to make it better!

I will give full credit to The Spruce Eats for this recipe, being reproduced below: https://www.thespruceeats.com/native-american-fry-bread-4045432

Recipe:

  • 3 cups vegetable oil or shortening (enough for 1-inch depth, for frying)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk (substitute with 1.5 tablespoons of Bulk Barn powdered milk.)

Instructions and Tips:

  • Quite simply, premix this all the dried ingredients that’s ready to go for the back country into a container
    • Ziploc bag is recommended for space saving as you go through the ingredients, it’ll shrink in size as you consume it, as opposed to a solid container.
  • When ready (in the field), mix in the water to the mixture and let stand for 15 minutes so the milk reconstitutes. Or just be a monster and mix and go.
    • Add more just a little bit of water or powder as necessary.
  • The consistency should be thicker than pancake powder and sticking to the spoon, but still slightly gelatinous-like
  • The consistency will make it hard to work (I think), so I use a spoon to shape it in the fry pan.
  • Pour your vegetable into the fry pan.
  • Work your bannock batter into the pan, small balls at a time and press to flatten.

The variation with the powdered milk is our adaptation, for the backcountry. For the powdered milk, if you’d like to have more insight, follow this link to other powdered milk that we have reviewed for use in the back country, specifically!

Bulk Barn states, “To reconstitute, always add milk powder to cold water. For smoothness and flavour, mix at night for use the next day. For 1 glass of milk, mix 3 tablespoons (30 g) of powder with 1 cup (250 ml) of cold water.”

Bannock comes from a complicated history of colonial rule and the creation of the reserves in Canada. Fry bread was brought over to Canada on sea-faring ships by the British (also consisting of Irish and Scottish descendants). When the Indigenous population was put into reserves, from 1830 onwards, they had learned the way to create fry bread and has since become to be recognized as a staple of Indigenous cuisine.

Hope you enjoy the Bannock backcountry bread! Video, below:

Introduction to Scuba Diving: Amateur Hour Episode 5

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Our fifth episode of Amateur Hour, where we’re not experts, but we have a little more experience than the lay person on various topics. This episode, we’re giving an introduction to scuba diving! Check out our first episode here where we introduced ourselves and various topics on back country camping.

In this episode, it is Damian who is the one that has zero diving experience and has all the questions. Rob has his Open Water and his own gear for 20 years, while Ian has been diving for 10 years and has his Advanced Open Water and his Wreck Diving. Both have their licenses through PADI.

Damian has his well founded reservations of scuba diving, especially into the unknown. The lakes in around Ontario and typically very dark, with some exceptions, are also very clear waters. What got Ian and Rob into diving is specifically that, the unknown. The flora and fauna is something everyone typically sees on land. But only few get to be up close and personal of the flora and fauna under water. All of this is so different than the life forms you’d see on land and the experience is just one of a kind.

Ian swimming through wrecks in Northern Bali

The experience is also unbelievable, to be neutrally buoyant and floating and suspended in space while observing the odd life forms from a close-ish distance, relative to the size of the organism. You get to see sharks and abundance of sea life, corals, giant kelp forests, ship wrecks and go exploring through them. Things you may not otherwise find on land!

Despite the amazing experience you could garner from diving, it is a higher barrier to entry and can be cost prohibitive. You’ll also typically need boats to reach better dive sites, dive masters/guides who’re familiar with the tidal area, and a crew to operate the boat while you’re out diving, especially in a drift dive. The cost is also higher in North America for getting trained up, though usually at resorts in the Caribbean’s and South east Asia (both regions where Rob and Ian got their licenses) are typically cheaper. However, you still need to get there, which in itself is not very cheap.

However, once there, we would suggest to do a “try – a – dive” with Padi; you’ll be with a personal dive master/guide who will walk you through everything and will not stay far away from you during your dive. This is a good way to try it out before committing a couple hundred bucks to getting your Open Water!

All this information and more, with the introduction to scuba diving episode!

If you enjoyed the introduction to scuba diving amateur hour, you may want to check out:

Introduction to Overlanding: Amateur Hour Episode 4
Winter Camping: Amateur Hour Episode 3