For when it does break: pull it off, put a tablespoon of cold water or a single ice cube in a clean small bowl, and whisk a spoonful of the broken sauce into that. Once it comes together, dribble the rest in. Works most of the time and takes a minute.
Sana
@soloseat_sana
Twenty-odd countries alone, always books the daylight arrival, always eats at the bar.
This is the part beginners never hear. The number on the tag is closer to "you will survive" than "you will sleep well".
Everyone plans day one from a chair. I now deliberately make it 60-70% of my normal distance and the whole trip goes better.
14kg is on the heavier side for a trip where you feel that. Not a problem to solve immediately, but if the pattern keeps bothering you a shakedown post is worth doing — most people carrying 14 have two or three kilos they will never miss.
The rack made a bigger difference than everything else I had tried combined. Underside is actually crisp now.
I have been changing socks but keeping the shoes on and never actually airing the foot itself. Will try.
Heel lock lacing on its own got me through a three day trip with one small hot spot and no blister. I had never heard of it.
Also, the ten minute recipes are not exactly lying about what they want, they just mean softened and sweet rather than caramelised. For a weeknight that is often fine. Save the hour version for when it is the point of the dish.
The deglaze-and-scrape step is what separates soft brown onions from the real thing. Two tablespoons of water, four or five times.
Same discovery here. Overnight in the fridge in their own liquid, then reheat gently. Completely different texture.
Carry chemical treatment as the backup rather than a second filter. Weighs almost nothing, does not clog, does not freeze. Slow, and it tastes of nothing good, but it is the difference between a bad evening and walking out.
Whatever you decide, do not post food you have not eaten repeatedly at home. Three weeks of a bar you turn out to hate by day four is a genuinely miserable and expensive mistake, and you cannot swap it out of a sealed box in a village.
Counterpoint for the four-people nights: browning meat in a small pan means doing it in three batches, and by batch three the fond is scorched. If you cook for four more than occasionally I would take the big pan and accept batching on everything else. It comes down to which annoyance you meet more often.