BBP bags may look like an ordinary messenger bag you find anywhere, but they are a bit different. The bak2pak carrying system they’ve trademarked is designed so that you can carry it over one shoulder like standard messenger bags, or backpack style over two shoulders. From the pictures on their site, it looks like the backpack way is worn low to me. If you are interested in more, they h ave a video and animation showing exactly how to make the switch from one shoulder to two shoulder.

I thought I would continue the water bottle article with a slight offshoot just briefly mentioned. Flavor Packets. Flavor Packets are the newest additions to my pack while traveling. Drinking water saves a lot of money, and when you get tired of plain old water, it helps to have a low cost alternative available wherever you go. In addition to cost, it’s never a bad idea to lay off the soft drinks and chug the agua. That’s where these flavor packets come in handy.

The typical flavor packet can be used for about 12-20 ounces of water, depending on how strong you want it. A few different companies make these flavor packets and the number of flavors has dramatically increased.

Crystal Light is kind of leading the way with marketing, and at last check they had 12 flavors available. Great Value also makes a cheaper alternative. Kool-Aid and Lipton are also just entering the market as well. Lipton seems to be pushing their green tea, which I have yet to try. Kool-aid obviously has kid friendly flavors such as tropical punch, cherry, grape, and orange. Actually, when you think about it, Kool-Aid has been doing this for years, now, they just put it in a smaller packet and call them singles. Airborne is a new provider as well, trying to corner the immune conscience consumer, and marketing it as a dietary supplement.

I added these to the packing list because they almost force me to drink more water, which saves money, and they are so small and can pack anywhere with no problem or worry about additional weight. The downside I suppose would be the cost, I just know that buying things in smaller quantities is never a good value. So, for the extreme shoe-string budget traveler, think about buying a larger supply, or see what’s available in your kitchen, and instead of individual packets, dump the powder in a 35mm film case. Those hard plastic, well sealed containers are small and sturdy and can probably hold the equivalent of 3-5 flavor individual flavor packets.

Besides having one of the greatest logos for peace organizations, OmniPeace makes some great T-Shirts to end poverty and raise awareness in violent Sub-Saharan Africa. The company donates half the proceeds from a $25-$30 shirt to the non profit Millenium Promise. You’ve probably seen these shirts on the t.v. lately, as hollywood stars are draping themselves in these. I won’t question their motives in this one case.

I figure I better include this one before people start to question me. HostelWorld.com is the site to go to for booking hostels. I’d venture a guess that most their business comes from the European backpacker hostels…although I could be wrong. Past their booking engine, they offer a simple backpacker network, where users can create an account and rate hostels, create a map where they’ve been, talk to other travelers, share tips, yada yada yada. It’s probably not as elaborate or widely used as some other travel boards, but it’s not bad.

You’ll probably here find a lot of these companies in the future, but this one is the pop one right now. Soundwalk provides walking audio tours of cities (mainly different parts of New York) for your mp3 device. By the way mp3 device just sounds so funny now post iPod age. The best thing about this company is that they are the most professional when it comes to providing a good walking tour. They don’t just sell you a link to download, they provide you with a city map of the area the tour is about. The downside…the cost – $19.95 from amazon seems high.

Folding cups, bowls, and complete dinner sets from a company that apparently loves to travel. Actually, the guys who developed the Orikaso product line are more utah outdoorsmen. But as a traveler, I appreciate this kind of product. If you can’t tell by the picture, they are designed to pack down flat, so you aren’t taking up precious backpack cc’s. They fold into cups, bowls or dinner plates so you can take them anywhere and have a meal just about anywhere. Plus, the company is just plain eco-sweet.