Michael Livingston's Blog, page 3

2019 One-Bag Gear Packing Post

For many years now I’ve been a devotee of “one bag” travel. No matter where I’m traveling — or how long I’ll be there — I take just one bag.

And it’s a carry-on. 

Crazy? Maybe.

Cheaper and easier and less stressful? You bet. 

In answer to the inevitable questions about how I manage to pull this off, I figured it’s time for an updated look at what I carry and why. (You can compare this to my 2017 and 2015 kits, if you like.) I’ve added purchasing links where applicable. (And, hey, if you use the Amazon ones to make a purchase, you’ll help support me and this site.)

TRAVEL KIT 2019

Unlike previous iterations of my list, I’m gonna do this one backwards, starting with me fully packed and ready to head to the airport.

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That’s me. And that’s it. Nothing else. Got a wee satchel and my one carry-on bag. (For size comparison, I’m just over 6’ tall.)

The trip I’m packed for in this picture? Across a nearly four-week stretch this summer I will fly from Charleston to Los Angeles to England to Los Angeles to Charleston. 

In Los Angeles, I’ll be on set filming a TV show. My TV wardrobe requires jeans, boots, and a precisely trimmed beard. Then in England I’ll be an academic: I’ll give a professional talk, visit at least one archaeological dig, sit in a research archive, and traipse around multiple fields in search of medieval battlefields. Between the climates of California and England, between film sets and lecture podiums and potentially muddy fields … 

Well, one-bagging means that what I pack will need to work across a variety of duties. Multi-functional, space-efficient, and highly-durable will be recurrent themes across this list. 

Out-the-door Kit

So let’s unpack my packing, starting with this out-the-door outfit. 

Jacket … Eddie Bauer Voyager 3-in-1. One-bagging requires versatility, and this jacket is a superb place to start highlighting that requirement. It’s a fine looking warm-weather blazer, but it’s also got a water-repellent finish, which makes it a decent rain jacket. It has a great selection of pockets, including zippered security pockets for travel documents. What’s more, it has a terrific insulating vest (also DWR!) that can be snapped into the jacket or worn all by itself. Put it together and you get multiple climates, multiple weathers, multiple uses, but always looking sharp. 

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Jeans … Lee Performance Series Extreme Motion Jeans. These are very comfortable with good stretch and low weight … but truthfully I have these particular ones because they were on sale and my wife said they looked better than the other ones I tried on. Blue jeans in general are comfortable, useful, and they have a wide range of wear given the fact that they can be dressed up via a decent travel blazer. I don’t always pack jeans, because even these are a little more bulky than I’d prefer for my travel kit, but I have no choice this time: these are part of my assigned TV wardrobe. 

Boots … Thursday Boot Co. Captain Boots in Brandy. I like my boots full leather with a rich finish, goodyear welt, great traction, and a classic look that’s at ease both in the sticks and around town. These beauties are it and then some. What’s more, the company stands behind their products to the highest degree, which is awesome. I love these, and I’d be wearing them even if they weren’t also part of my TV wardrobe. 

Belt … Timberland Reversible Leather Belt. Thick, full-grain leather that switches between rich brown and sleek black depending on the outfit. Versatility!

Shirt … Just a performance t-shirt, so that I have the flexibility to shed the jacket and chill as much as possible if I get stuck on the tarmac in an AC-challenged plane. (It has happened.) This one is from Bass. 

Underwear … My traveling underwear (not pictured; you’re welcome) is a variety of styles from Uniqlo and ExOfficio. They are all anti-microbial and quick-drying, which allows me to sink-wash them while traveling. 

Socks … I’ve collected a variety of styles, but lately I’ve really been liking bamboo fiber socks. 

Satchel Kit

Satchels are tremendously under-rated. They’re more classy than a lot of sporty alternatives, and something about having good storage under a flap at my hip just feels right to me.

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This particular handmade leather beauty has been dragged all over the world, which has only added to its character. The dimension of it is just big enough to hold the stuff I might carry with me on a hike around Rome or visiting an archive or some such. 

So what’s inside it? Let’s see!

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Wallet … Slimfold soft-shell wallet. This is a minimalist marvel that still has RFID protection. Pictured here, though, is my wallet for when I’m crossing borders: the Pacsafe 150 Wallet and passport holder with RFID protection.

Water Bottle … Coleman FreeFlow with Autoseal, 24 oz. Gotta stay hydrated, and I hate toss-aside plastic. There are lots of reusable water bottles around, but I wanted one that was well insulated (drinking hot water on a hot day sucks), made of stainless steel (it’s heavier than plastic but more durable and cleans better), and affordable, too. Even more, I need it to be leak-proof. On this wee beast the spout seals automatically, plus it also has a travel locking mechanism to further ensure no leaks. This is awesome for me, since my satchel tends to get tossed and crammed every which way while I’m traveling, and this sloshing water bottle sits in my satchel beside … 

Tablet … Apple iPad Pro 10.5. Lighter and longer-lasting than a laptop, an iPad has been my primary working computer for years now. I recently transferred to an iCloud life, so all my files are with me on this beauty, and I can write books or articles on it either with my thumbs via its split-screen keyboard or using all my fingers via my …

Wireless Keyboard … Brydge Keyboard, Series II. This is a new piece of the kit, as I previously had a different keyboard + case setup made by Anker. That old keyboard lost a key, however, and it was right about that time that this Brydge went on sale. Made of aluminum, it’s heavier than a typical plastic keyboard (it about doubles the iPad weight), but it provides a durable and laptop quality clam-shell: the iPad and keyboard can be at any angle relative to each other and the world. It perfectly matches the iPad finish, has backlit keys with superb throw, and the battery goes a year (!) betwixt charges. My only complaint is that I can’t use any regular iPad cases with it and also can’t bring myself to fork over $40 for one of the ones from Brydge. 

Headphones … Linner In-ear Bluetooth NC-50 Headphones. These are the cheapest noise-reduction, travel-friendly headphones I could find, and they’ve worked pretty darn well. I’ll for sure get something better eventually, but I don’t want over-the-ear cans because they’d take up too much space in my travel kit. These pair with the iPad or …

Smartphone … Apple iPhone X 64 GB. It’s running on T-Mobile, which means that wherever I step off an airplane I have the familiar full power of my phone — no extra money or bother for talk, text, and data. As a piece of hardware, the iPhone X has such a great camera that I’ve ditched my fancy digital camera and use it exclusively. All that I needed to do was carry a few accessories to amplify its already great camera functions. The center of these accessories is … 

Smartphone Case … Moment Photo Case in Walnut Wood. In association with Nomad, Moment makes a gorgeous leather case that I would love to try out, but it was out of stock when I was needing to buy one, and I can’t justify spending $50 for a case that functions just like the one I have (even if it is prettier!). Regardless, the case is built to fit …

Wide-angle Lens … Moment 18mm M-series Wide Lens. I take pictures in castles and on battlefields and that often means I need a wider angle than my iPhone provides. Enter this lens that attaches to my Moment Photo Case with an easy half-turn. I’ve tried other add-on lenses, and none of them had decent quality or comfortable security. This one does. The lens is pricey, but it’s cheaper (and a LOT smaller) than hauling around another camera. I’m hoping to eventually try some of their other lenses on my travels. Telephoto? Anamorphic? Yes, please!

Mini-tripod … This is a knock-off of a GorillaPod tripod, and I’ll have to replace it with the real deal one day. It attaches to the phone with a spring-loaded thingamabob. I don’t even know the brand here. They came free with some purchase somewhere along the line. 

Extra Batteries … Tylt Portable PowerBank 5200 mAh. Bought this a few years back as a Hurricane was bearing down on my location: it’s a dual back-up pack, and I will take one or two of the batteries and leave the charger at home. They’ve lasted well. Tylt has some better options now, including one with a built-in wall plug called the Smart Charger 3x. That’s probably what I’d get right now. 

Stylus … AmazonBasics. I take most of my notes on an iPad app called Notability using this stylus. Yes, I would truly love to have that new Apple Pencil and the new iPad it runs on, but Apple has inexplicably taken away the split-screen keyboard on those iPads. No bueno. 

Pen … Fisher Space Pen. Because sometimes you just have to write the old fashioned way.

A Great Teacher is an Earthquake – For Dr Vardaman

A great teacher is an earthquake.

He or she enters your world suddenly, slipping a fault you might never have known existed. Just like that, in a moment of another idle afternoon, you find that the lines you’ve drawn around your mind shudder, pushed back by the glorious might of a new understanding. Your world shifts.

You carry that moment with you, your world different than it was before. Sometimes bounding, more often blundering, you move on through the wandering paths of your life seeing all things anew. That moment grows into being. Steps in even the most familiar of places become footfalls on untrodden shores.

And still it grows. Your changed life touches others. If you’re lucky, you go on to cause little earthquakes of your own: the residual aftershocks of your experience.

The impact of that moment in time, that touch of a great teacher, spreads like a seismic wave. It laps the earth, flickering meters in places that you’ve never been, among people who’ve never heard of the one who made it happen and who can never experience that moment in that idle afternoon when it all changed.

I learned today that Dr James W. Vardaman has passed away. He was a great teacher.

He was one of my earthquakes.

I was fortunate to do well enough in high school that I had a number of scholarship offers for college. Many of these were in Texas, including one from Baylor University, the largest Baptist school in the world.

It was and is a most excellent school, but I was not and am not a Baptist.

Still, when my father and I traveled to Texas for some campus visitations, Baylor happened to be a point between other destinations. On a lark, we stopped into the visitor center.

It was a Friday, early afternoon. Campus was relatively quiet. The folks who greeted us learned that I wanted to study history, to become a teacher. Phone calls were made, and they suggested I go meet with a history professor who happened to be in his office.

A fault line, though I didn’t know it, was forming.

Not long afterward, I found myself alone in the basement of the Tidwell Bible Building, home of the Department of History (among others). Blindfold me and I could walk smiling to that office door right now, though back then I approached it with nervousness in my chest. The tension before the quake, I suspect.

Grey hair was bobbing behind stacks of books and papers. Classical strings were blooming in the sanctified air. Professor Vardaman was grading.

I knocked. He looked up.

My world trembled.

The next hour comes in flashes. We talked of many things. Throughout, he treated me as a peer, as a man. He was, he later admitted, appraising me. In those minutes he found my strengths, my weaknesses, and most importantly, my potential. He knew what I needed, because this is exactly what a great teacher does.

He introduced me around. The world was a blur. He told me I belonged at Baylor. He told me he wanted me to be in his classes. He shook my hand.

I remember walking out to meet my dad, who was sitting on a bench beneath a wide and glorious tree. It was our first campus visit, but I confess to you now that I already knew exactly where I was going to go.

The experience of my Baylor education changed my life in every way possible, in ways I continue to discover today. Dr Vardaman, in a few minutes that afternoon, changed my life.

And then he did it again.

A few weeks into my sophomore year, I walked out of Dr Rust’s survey course on the modern world and found a familiar face in the hall, waiting for me. I had not yet been able to have Professor Vardaman in class, but he’d apparently been keeping tabs on me. “I want you to come to Europe,” he said.

I was, you must understand, a young man from a modest background who could count on one hand the number of times he had crossed the Mississippi. “Europe?”

His great bushy eyebrows nodded. “I run a study abroad program every spring in The Netherlands. I want you to come.”

I gawked, made my most professional “Um.”

“You need to come.”

Dollar signs were flashing in my head. Lots of them. If it wasn’t for the scholarships I couldn’t afford to be at Baylor at all. To add expenses to Europe on top of that? Well…

“I don’t think I can afford it,” I said.

The eyes beneath those eyebrows twinkled. “But if you could accord it then you would go?”

“Sure,” I said, thinking he was risking nothing.

He nodded, too, and he smiled. I didn’t know it, but a pact had been struck. He was a great teacher, and great teachers … well, they tend to have A Plan.

A week later he was waiting there again. Same time. Same spot.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“Sure,” I said.

His gaze appraised, seemed satisfied. “You’re going to come to Europe with me.”

“Dr Vardaman,” I said, trying to be gentle on the good soul, “I told you, I just don’t think we can afford it. I’ve got scholarships, but—”

He waved me off. “Oh, I took care of that. I told some people you needed to go and now you have an extra scholarship to help cover it.”

“You … what?”

“Let’s go to my office,” he said. “We’ll need to talk about the details.”

Not waiting for my reply, not waiting for me to retrieve my jaw from the floor, he turned on his heels and headed for the stairway to the basement. I followed him … to his office and then across the Atlantic to a semester spent in Maastricht that fundamentally altered my perception of the world and my place within it.

I would not be a medievalist if it wasn’t for that trip. I would not have pushed myself so hard to become a professor if I hadn’t had Dr Vardaman there from the beginning telling me to reach for something more, to strive for something bigger than my dreams. I would not, in a phrase, be me.

I could tell so many more stories of our conversations, of his lasting legacy in my life. I’ve published six books and three novels now. Each of them has been an attempt to live up to what possibility he might’ve seen in me.

My last book won the Distinguished Book Prize from the Society for Military History, and for months now I’d been planning to send a copy to him. “Look!” I wanted to tell the great man. “Remember that evening you sat me down and told me about the Battle of Crécy? Well, I wrote a book about it, and it won an award. That means you won it, too.”

I wanted to send this. I meant for him to see it. The Lord of Time had other plans, but I cling to the faith that he knew some small measure of what he had done.

As a teacher, I strive to be as he was. To be a great teacher. To cause earthquakes of my own — little ones, big ones, unexpected ones — in the hope that each little seismic impact can branch off and cause its own.

Put enough of them together, I think, and you can change the world.

And I am but one face among many, one soul of the many thousands that this great and wonderful man touched and shook and changed.

James Vardaman has died. For all of us, the earth quakes again.

DragonCon Schedule 2017

So I’m returning to DragonCon this year, with a solid round of appearances alongside some fabulous folks. Plus, as icing on the cake, I’ll be giving a major lecture Sunday morning on “The American Tolkien” … it should be a grand time.

For anyone looking to find me, here’s my schedule (barring any last-minute alterations I don’t know about):

Title: What is High Fantasy?

Description: Confused about high fantasy vs epic vs low vs heroic vs…? Let’s talk about what makes this subgenre so unique!

Time: Fri 01:00 pm Location: L401-L403 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Michael Livingston, Christopher Paolini, Sam Sykes, Susan Fichtelberg, Katherine Kurtz, Larry Dixon)

——————-

Title: Here comes the gener-AL!

Description: What makes a great general in Fantasy?

Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Myke Cole, Michael Livingston, Kacey Ezell, Jonathan P Brazee, Elizabeth Moon)

——————-

Title: World at war: Alternate history in the early 20th century

Description: The first decades of the 20th century have proven to be fertile ground for alternate historians. From German victories to Soviet domination, from the mundane to the fantastic, this panel looks at the various alternate takes on this crucial period of world history.

Time: Fri 07:00 pm Location: Augusta – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Van Allen Plexico, Kacey Ezell, Michael Livingston, Taylor Anderson)

——————-

Title: The good, the bad, the inaccurate

Description: We know liberties get taken with what could happen in fantasy, but when is it too far, and when do we let it slide?

Time: Fri 08:30 pm Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Teresa Patterson, Michael Livingston, Eric P. Spana)

——————-

Title: Worldbuilding Through Language

Description: What’s the point of building a secondary world if the characters don’t have the right words to describe it?

Time: Sat 02:30 pm Location: L401-L403 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Christopher Paolini, Michael Livingston, Mercedes Lackey)

——————-

Title: The American Tolkien

Description: Who is the true heir to Tolkien’s legacy?

Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: L401-L403 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Michael Livingston)

——————-

Title: Historical Influences in High Fantasy

Description: Authors like Tolkien and Jordan drew upon their real experiences as well as their research in writing their stories.

Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: L401-L403 – Marriott (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Valerie Hampton, Michael Livingston, Van Allen Plexico, Constance G. J. Wagner)

——————-

Title: Plausible Fantasy Armor

Description: Just Say No to Boob Armor, kids.

Time: Sun 02:30 pm Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

(Tentative Panelists: Myke Cole, Pamela A. Cole, Teresa Patterson, Michael Livingston, The Wicked Tailor)

2017 Gear Post: Packing to Travel Light

It’s been almost five years since I became a serious convert to minimalist packing. I now travel around the world using carry-on baggage only. It’s fast, easy, and less stressful than playing the luggage-lug-around.

Aside from making travel itself far less of a pain, I also continue to enjoy the pragmatic challenge of refining my travel kit. I’ve certainly learned a lot from experience about what and what not to do. (Heck, I once even weighed my underwear to get it right.)

Anyway, I’m long overdue to write a catch-all gear post discussing my current travel kit. What follows is just that: a current (summer 2017) breakdown of what I use, complete with purchasing links where applicable. (And, hey, if you use the Amazon ones to make a purchase, you’ll help support me and this site.)

I’ll explain a little bit about some of my choices as I go along, but I’m also going to try to keep the details from getting in the way of this just being useful as a list.

TRAVEL KIT 2017

All gear breaks down into categories, and for my purposes these categories are often compiled into bags that pack into bigger bags. I promise it makes sense. Read on.

Clothing Kit

When I travel I’m typically giving a speech or two, hitting some great restaurants, and probably climbing some mountains, exploring some ruins, or trudging fields looking for a battle site. Needless to say, my clothing needs to be flexible enough for a wide range of activities. It also needs to be durable and very much able to be hand-washed in a sink as I nomad around. That also means quick-drying. Oh, and I need to be comfortable in a diverse set of conditions: from days of sweltering heat to nights of bone-chilling snow. (Layers, my friends!)

The clothes that make the man.

From left to right, starting at the bottom row:

Underwear. I go with Uniqlo Airism. Not only did these beauties win my testing some years back, but they’re comfortable. I especially enjoy the front pouch design for a fella’s bits.
Socks. I’m all over the place on these, honestly. The short ones are Uniqlo (there was a sale), while I also carry a longer pair or two of either merino wool or technical bamboo socks. The ones with the yellow stripe in the middle are compression socks from Under Armour. They’ll pack in a different spot, as you’ll see.
Pants. My beloved Bluffworks chinos. If I had to wear one pair of pants for a year no matter where I was going or what I was doing, these would do perfectly.
Shorts. The ones pictured here (on top of my Bluffworks) are from Eddie Bauer. I’ve recently ordered a pair of Aviator non-stop shorts. I’m hoping they’ll better fulfill the combined need for a short that I can run, swim, and go to dinner in.
Shirts. Weather variant, but usually it’s a couple of polo shirts (here I have one Scottevest and one Columbia) and then a couple short-sleeves or long-sleeved button-ups. All wrinkle-free and typically a climate-cooling fabric. I also usually pack at least one undershirt. Again I’ve chosen Uniqlo Airism. It’s so light I didn’t notice it wasn’t visible here. Oops.

These pack into various packing cubes as seen below. On the left are the pants, shirts, and shorts. On the right are the socks and underwear. (That “packing cube” on the left, by the way, is just the zippered package that a cheap set of sheets came in. Recycling for the win!)

Compression is key!

Shoes

Because of my life, I need a shoe I can wear hiking or running or wearing to a professional lecture. I also need it to dry fast if it gets wet, stay cool if in the heat, and be light and comfortable enough for weeks at a time.

Size 12 men’s.

From left to right, starting at the bottom row:

Do-everything shoe. Mine is the La Sportiva Bushido. It’s perhaps a little flashy for the lecture side of things, but it fits the overall bill better than anything else I’ve found.
Sandals. Good to have for a change of pace, or something to wear in a communal shower or at the beach. I’ve been using these “barefoot” huaraches from Xero Shoes for years. They’re comfortable and they pack flat into near nothingness.
Change of shoes (optional, up top). About 20% of the time I will toss in these discontinued all-leather African-inspired shoes from Vivobarefoot, which pack insanely small and look tremendous.

Toiletry Kit

Toiletries ahoy!

From left to right, starting at the bottom row:

Toenail Clippers. These are holding down the fort until I splurge on some of those Henckels beauties.
Kleenex. Always nice to have a packet with you.
Sewing Kit. I’m hardly a seamstress, but I’m ready to fix the basics if needed.
Insect Repellent. Standard carry is a few DEET wipes for when the bugs get really bad. If I’m headed to swamps or the tropics, I’ll obviously pack more.
Deodorant. I use the bigger crystal stick at home, but on the road I have this wee travel size.
Sunscreen. SPF50 because I don’t like to burn or get skin cancer.
Lip Balm. Because chapped lips suck.
Compact Toothbrush. I bought my wee electronic one on clearance at a CVS in Atlanta.
Tooth Powder. Better than a gel at security checkpoints, plus it lasts longer and packs smaller than toothpaste.
Body Balm. Usually some variety of Tiger Balm. Great stuff.
Simple Razor. For years I’ve used a Schick Xtreme 3 to keep my face and head so shiny. Nothing else feels as comfortable to me.
Shaving Oil. Lasts longer and packs smaller than a can of shaving cream. Big fan of the brand here.
Body Lotion. This doubles as a general sun-blocker, too, as it’s SPF15.
Pill Box. For daily supplements and medications.
First Aid Kit. This is got the basics for stomach bugs, colds, and headaches. I’m not a portable hospital.
Drain Stopper and Laundry Soap. Packing light means hand-washing clothes on the road. A few Woolite packets like this will do for a couple of weeks. The stopper is for washing clothes or taking a bath when the drain doesn’t work.
Travel Towel. Microfiber: both soft and quick-drying. It sucks to need a towel and not have one.
Clothesline. This is awfully handy for drying the aforementioned clothes.
Hangers. These are inflatable. I take two.

You’ll see here how this all starts to bundle up:

Toiletries getting bundled up.

One is my main toiletry bag, which is a re-purposed red first aid bag that I got free with a pharmacy purchase at some point.
Another is my clear, gonna-save-me-from-bombs TSA bag — this will slip into the top of my packing bag, as you’ll see in a moment.
The third bag is a little smaller than a pencil case: this is my “toiletries for long-haul flights” bag. It’ll have toothbrush, deodorant, lip balm, and an (unpictured) selection of Vitamin C lozenges, ear plugs, an eye mask, headphones, and an airplane audio adapter. For seriously long flights (like the one I have coming up), I’ll also toss in a pair of compression socks. Basically, this little bag is intended to help me feel human when I arrive at my destination.
The other items you see here will pack into a spot in my bag.

Destination Options

Depending on when and where I’m traveling, there’s an assortment of other gear that moves in and out of my kit.

And then sometimes I need to take it all.

Water Bottle. I’ve raved about this beauty in at least one guest podcast stint. It’s a Grayl water purifier and bottle. Amazing piece of equipment that ensures I always have clean water to drink no matter where I am.
Extra Daypack. If I know I’ll be taking some day-trips, I’ll just toss this little beauty in my kit. Unfolds into a usable little bag.
Lenscope. This is enormously useful for archival work examining ancient or medieval manuscripts.
Swim Goggles. These are AquaSphere Kaiman goggles, and for travel I pack them into a pouch rather than this hard-plastic case.
Rain Jacket. Needs to pack small (sense a theme?) and do its bloody job. This one (surprise!) is from Uniqlo. As an added bonus, it’s got hidden Mickeys all over it. You gotta have fun, yo.
Puffy Jacket. This will move in and out of my kit depending on expected weather conditions. On trips when I need this kind of thing, though, I need it to be super warm while packing super small. Uniqlo wins again with an ultra-light down parka. I got mine in this bright orange-red because (a) I like it, (b) it was the color that was half-off that day, and (c) in white-out conditions it could be handy. Yes, I try to think of everything.

Electronics Kit

I’m pretty much to the point that I can’t function without electronics. Sigh.

My iPhone not pictured since I used it to take the picture.

iPhone (unpictured). I have an iPhone 5S. I’ll upgrade when it dies. As an iPhone case I use a Tech21 Impact Case, because I once visited an Apple Store and every single employee I saw was using one. It’s legit.
Watch. Some months ago I picked up an Apple Watch Series 2. It’s a remarkable piece of equipment, though whether it accompanies me in traveling is a question of my annoyance with having one more charging cord. Speaking of which …
Headlamp. Smaller than your average flashlight, it has the advantage of being a light-source that can comfortably be strapped to your head if you need both hands free. It’s small, long-lasting, and it has some great safety beacon features, too.
Universal Travel Adapter. This one from Kikkerland is the smallest one I’ve ever found. It’s brilliant.
Splitter. Turns my one travel adapter into three sources of power. Super!
iPad. My beloved iPad Air 2 has long since replaced my laptop and desktop for nearly all my needs. Yes, I write my books on this.
iPad case and keyboard. The Anker Bluetooth keyboard and folio case is purely and simply amazing. Highly recommended.
Charging cords (unpictured). These are all dual-voltage, so I don’t need a voltage converter for international travel.

The Main Bag

So now I’ve got a series of bundles: toiletry, clothes, jackets, and such.

All this now packs into my primary travel bag, the Minaal Carry-on Bag. It has some rather bothersome limitations, but I’ve not found anything that improves upon my Minaal travel bag enough to justify purchasing it. I have the 1.0 version of the Minaal, and the 2.0 version seems a decent upgrade, so go with that if you can. So let’s pack this beauty.

Stage 1: filling bag pouches.

The 1.0 version of the Minaal has two relatively flat compartments at the bottom of the bag. The one on the left houses my travel towel, clothesline, and inflatable hangers — the “extra” stuff from the toiletry kit. (It’s hard to see, but there’s a bulge to the left of this that is the Minaal’s built-in rain cover, making all this weatherproof!)

The bigger mesh pocket here has my “optional” Vivobarefoot shoes and my Xero Shoes huarache sandals layered atop one another. I have big feet, and to get two pairs of shoes into what’s an inch of space at most is amazing. The third pair, of course, is on my feet.

Stage 2: packing cubes and other items.

Atop those initial pockets comes the packing cubes. I’ve got all my clothes and my toiletry bag piled up here, and I’ve gone ahead and thrown a thick corduroy jacket on top just for good measure. Yes, all this will fit.

Stage 3: packing the tech (and flat supplies) pocket.

The main compartment of the Minaal is now zipped up. There are two smaller zippered pockets at its top (facing the camera), and into those will go my TSA liquids bag, my cords, charger, and converter, and my airplane toiletry kit. Remember: this whole thing is going to be carry-on luggage. I’ll be wearing it as a backpack, most likely, and when I get to my seat I’ll pull out the few things I need and then slide the bag comfortably into the overhead bin.

There’s a second, bag-broad pocket on the bag that you see is here unzipped. In this picture I’ve already loaded it with my iPad, my research notes, writing supplies, business cards, and all my travel documentation. Because my next trip is taking me to the battlefields of ancient Greece and it’ll be 100 degrees in the shade, you can see that I’m about to see if I can also fit in a full-size CamelBak in its own backpack holder.

It fit just fine.

After this I’ll close it all up and slap on a few external items if needed. I’ll get to what that looks like down below. First, though, let’s take a look at another wee bag I sometimes carry.

Camera Kit

The iPhone has a really solid camera, but I’m often taking pictures of ruins or landscapes that will eventually appear in print. On those kinds of trips, I need a quality camera.

O camera, my camera!

Quality Camera. This is my Sony A6000, which is small enough for travel but powerful enough for professional work. I got an open-box kit from Crutchfield that included two lenses (similar to the package linked here). Great deal on a great camera. It came with a simpler camera strap, but I replaced it with this hand-woven one from the Peru highlands. Also, be sure you load the camera with a Massive Memory Card. Running out of memory might be worse than running out of power. I’ve linked to a 64GB card. Consider that the floor.
Camera Batteries and Charger. I carry two extra batteries and small charger because nothing sucks more than running out of juice. Well, except maybe not having enough memory. On that, see above.
Camera Tripod. As ever, I want small and functional. This beauty easily bears the weight of the camera.

All this camera stuff packs into its own bag, which is a Lowepro Adventura:

Camera bag, baby.

Packing Kit

Whew! So, when it’s all said and done, I’ll be carrying something like this:

Travel-ready kit.

Minaal Bag. See above. The water bottle is now aboard.
Travel Pillow. The picture shows an Air Comfy inflatable pillow, which has done me good service. I may on my next trip try a more traditional U-shaped neck pillow that has some very un-traditional thermal capabilities.
Wallet. My everyday beauty is a Slimfold soft-shell wallet, which is a minimalist marvel that still has RFID protection. Pictured here, though, is my wallet for when I’m crossing borders: the Pacsafe 150 Wallet and passport holder with RFID protection.
Paracord Bracelet. Don’t always travel with this, but I have it a fair amount. You never know when paracord might be handy, especially in certain international, um, situations.
Camera Bag. See above.

So that’s just about it.

I’m always looking to refine my kit, so if you have suggestions (or if you’re a manufacturer who wants me to review a product for these purposes) please drop me a line!

Until then, happy travels!

Politicians Treated Badly

On May 17, in New London, Connecticut, The United States Coast Guard Academy celebrated a new class of graduates. I teach at a military institution (though I should make clear that I do not here write on behalf of one), so I always have an interest in these moments of honorable ceremony.

President Donald Trump salutes as he walks off Air Force One at Groton-New London Airport in Groton, Conn., Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Trump is giving the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Giving the graduation speech at the USCGA was none other than the 45th President of the United States. In his remarks, he said the following of himself:

No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly.

I have several different perspectives on this statement, but I’m going to keep things to a simple historical response here.

I’ve listed below just 10 (ok, 11) political figures in history who have, in my estimation, been treated far worse than Donald Trump. I likely could’ve kept writing this list all night, but I had to stop somewhere.

Also, trigger warnings for some graphic details.

Abraham Lincoln (Alexander Gardner)

1-5. Here in the United States, Abraham Lincoln (16th President), James Garfield (20th), William McKinley (25th), John F. Kennedy (35th), and Ronald Reagan (40th) were all shot while in office. Reagan alone survived. Theodore Roosevelt (26th) was shot while campaigning for a new term of office for the Bull Moose Party in 1912; he went ahead and gave a 90-minute speech while bleeding before getting medical care — mostly because he’s Teddy friggin’ Roosevelt.

6. This March, former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov, who’d fled to the Ukraine, joined a long list of political critics of Russian President Putin who have been suddenly silenced. There is, in fact, a Wikipedia category devoted to “Assassinated Russian Politicians” (to be fair, not all of these killings are attributable to Putin).

7. Not even one year ago, during the run-up to the Brexit vote, Helen Joanne “Jo” Cox, the British Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen, was shot multiple times and repeatedly stabbed by a “far-right” extremist. Her final cries were for people to get away so that he wouldn’t hurt them, too.

8. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years by the apartheid regime of South Africa. 18 of those years were spent on the notorious Robben Island, sleeping on a straw mat in an isolated 8’x7′ cell. For context, President Trump gave his statement on the 117th day of his stay in the White House.

9. In 1327, Queen Isabella of England ordered the execution of Hugh le Despenser the Younger, the former royal chamberlain and favorite of King Edward II (who himself was likely killed by being sodomized with a red-hot poker). Despenser was stripped naked and bound to the top of a high ladder. As the crowd watched, his genitals were cut off and burned in front of him before he was slowly disemboweled. His heart was cut out and cast into a fire, and his body was then drawn and quartered, with his head set upon the gates of London. That’s rougher than a Lester Holt interview, I think.

10. Valerian was an anti-Christian Emperor of Rome from 253 CE until his capture by the Shahanshah Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the battle of Edessa in 260. According to De Mortibus Persecutorum [On the Deaths of the Persecutors], a book by the Christian apologist Lactantius, Valerian was subsequently used as a stepping stool to enable Shapur to get on his horse. And then, after Valerian tried to buy his way out of captivity, Shapur either (a) flayed him alive or (b) made him swallow molten gold before having him flayed. After this, his flayed skin was stuffed with either (a) straw or (b) manure, then put on display.

Humiliation of Emperor Valerian (Hans Holbein the Younger)

And speaking of Christianity, here’s a bonus historical figure with some political leanings who the President might want to learn about:

11. Jesus.

The Battle of Crécy: A Distinguished Book and Thanks to Its Makers

The traffic coming to this site has never been heavier, and Google’s metadata reveals that it’s a wonderful reflection of my “split” life: about half the folks coming here are brought by my fiction work — mostly the Shards of Heaven novel series — while the other half are brought by my academic work — mostly my casebooks of medieval history.

That said, I realized last night that the posts on the website have, for the most part, largely highlighted happenings in my fiction life: cover reveals, book releases, appearances, and such. I think this is mostly because I tend to talk a lot about medieval things in other social media outlets: I tweet a fair amount (follow me @medievalguy!), and I also write a lot of popular audience columns for Tor.com that can get upwards of 50,000 page views … which is a great many more than I can reach through here!

Still, I was thinking about my negligence in talking medieval hereabouts because of an exchange with a colleague of mine, who only yesterday saw (in an advertising flier) the great news that I announced in social media streams but never posted about here on the website (in which case, as a subscriber to my feed, she would have seen it).

So here, belatedly, is that news:

The Battle of Crecy: A Casebook

At the most recent annual conference of the international Society for Military History (SMH), Kelly DeVries and I received the 2017 Distinguished Book Award for The Battle of Crécy: A Casebook (Liverpool University Press, 2015). This is the highest prize of a massively prestigious gathering of military historians, and to receive it was an enormous honor that left me completely speechless in the event. (I know! How often does that happen?)

What I would have said, though, and I’ll say it here, is that Kelly and I are intensely aware of how much we share such accolades with those who helped support both the Casebook itself and the career turns it took to get to it.

I think any medievalist would agree that one of the great delights of studying the Middle Ages is working with amazing colleagues across the world. In fact, I’m writing this post from an event designed to foster such connections: the International Congress on Medieval Studies, which is annually hosted by the Medieval Institute in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The swan pond bridge, which many a medievalist hath trod.

I earned my first Masters degree here, so attending Congress always has a feel of homecoming. More importantly, though, events like this can also be deeply illuminating and interesting for the opportunities they afford to exchange information and ideas with colleagues across the world. It’s a kind of laboratory for the sharing of intellectual labor, and medieval colleagues are an incredibly kind and generous lot (even when we get into arguments about the pull-weight of a longbow or the finer interpretations of Duns Scotus).

Early versions of some of the more shocking findings that Kelly and I discovered about Crécy — the battle wasn’t fought where everyone thought it was, the Black Prince was captured, etc — were presented at conferences like this one. Not only did this allow us to keep a finger on the pulse of scholarly reaction, but it also gave us helpful checks on some of the more difficult pieces of evidence we uncovered. In addition to all that, years of attending conferences like this enabled us to build the vast network of resources we needed to pull off a project as large and complicated as the Crécy Casebook.

Kelly and I have our names on the cover, you see, but there are significant contributions from other scholars within: translations from languages like Welsh and Czech that are beyond our abilities, or in-depth looks at aspects of the French or Italian sources that draw on pools of knowledge that we simply don’t have. The book is a culmination of a full team of incredible scholars coming together to carry knowledge further than any of us could have managed alone.

So thank you, contributors.

And thank you, too, my many medieval friends around the world. Your insights and investigations never cease to amaze me, and I’m honored to raise a beer (or cheap white wine down at Valley III) with you again this year.

JordanCon Schedule 2017

I’ve been attending JordanCon pretty regularly for a number of years now. It’s a really wonderful con directed by really wonderful people.

They also have exceedingly fine judgment in choosing participants, since they continue to invite me back.

Cover-up: The Realms of God

If you’ve been casually checking the Macmillan page for The Realms of God — anyone? just me? — you will have noticed something rather exciting just happened: the book’s cover has gone public.

And it is stunning:

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The Realms of God (Shards of Heaven, book 3)

So much awesome right there. As you may recall, Shards of Heaven had a battered centurion on the cover, Gates of Hell had Juba the Numidian, and now Realms of God has … well, here’s the note I sent Claire Eddy (my editor at Tor) when I was asked about the cover for book 3:

In this case, I want Cleopatra Selene. She would be wearing the traditional stola, of course. Greek skin and beautiful. If she was holding a small Roman dagger to her chest, that might give it an “edge.”

Something like this went from Claire to Irene Gallo (art director at Tor), who interpreted it into artistic terms and passed it on to Larry Rostant, the incredible artist who had executed the previous two covers. And this cover — BEHOLD ITS AWESOMENESS! — is the extraordinary result of their efforts on behalf of this book. Thank you all.

And readers: pre-order now!

Spring Appearances: Charleston, Jacksonville, Atlanta, and Kalamazoo!

With Gates of Hell on shelves and the upcoming Realms of God waiting for its time in the sun (pre-order now!) — plus the recent news of a Distinguished Book Award for the Crécy Casebook from the Society for Military History — I’ll be doing a few appearances this Spring.

It should go without saying, but I have absolutely no problem with signing or discussing Shards books at an academic event or academic books at a Shards event. It’s all good!

February 8, Charleston, SC. I’ll be giving a short (mostly Shards) lecture on the campus of The Citadel, followed by a book-signing. 6:30pm in the Museum Reading Room of the Daniel Library.
March 31, Jacksonville, FL. There will be a group book-signing for the winners of the 2017 Distinguished Book Awards given out by the Society for Military History. The event will be early evening at the Barnes and Noble.
April 21-23, Atlanta, GA. I’ll be attending JordanCon. While the schedule of events has not yet been released, you can be sure I’ll be around quite a bit!
May 11, Kalamazoo, MI. I’ll be giving a paper on the Middle English poem Richard Coeur de Lion at the International Congress for Medieval Studies. 3:30pm in Bernhardt Center, room 106.

Hope to meet folks old and new here and there!

Temples of the Ark e-Book Released!

The Temples of the Ark

This past year I wrote a short prequel to the Shards of Heaven series that takes us back to the time of Alexander the Great and one of the more mysterious events of his conquest of Egypt.

The story is “The Temples of the Ark,” and I’m very pleased to announce that it is now available as a stand-alone e-book for your Kindle, your Nook, or whatever other e-reader you love.

You can read the whole of it online for free, but if you like it I’m hoping you’ll be willing to drop $2.99 to own your personal copy of the tale and buy me a taco or two!

See the story page for links.

PS: If you like it, please do leave a review saying so wherever you purchased it! Thanks!