Shaving in the Tropics
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Hot water is an amenity that budget travelers often do without, especially in tropical climates, but a few simple items in your pack can offer some relief from a cold razor against your skin.
One of the most overlooked items to bring with you on your travels is drain stopper. Buy a large, universal, cover that will plug the variety of drains you will encounter.
Once you've got the water (in a bucket or sink will do), you'll need to warm it up. An immersion heater does nicely, and is typically sold as a single coffee cup warmer (for about $14 USD). For flexibility, make sure yours is dual voltage.
Often times there won't be an electric outlet in your (bath)room. The solution to this problem is called a current tap. This device sits in between a regular incandescent light bulb and the wall/lamp receptacle, giving you two outlets to plug your powerables into.
Lastly, a small extension cord is always useful to have. I made the short one I carry from simple items found at any hardware store.
With any luck, you won't need all of these items to fashion a sink full of warm water, but they're so handy, small, and light that I wouldn't travel without them.
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Tom Heimburger
January 17th, 2006
Glad to see that extension cord we fabbed in Portland has come in handy!…Dad
Katie
January 17th, 2006
Good lord! That seems like a lot of work and ingenuity–I think I'd probably just rock the hairy chick look
erik@arizonaguy.com
January 20th, 2006
Rock on. Drainstoppers are a necessity. Impossible to do your own laundry in many places without it. Though I tend to make do with piece of thick cloth which usually holds long enough.
Just one question for ya - how are you adding photos from the camera? Using cafes or using your own laptop plus wifi?
Craig | travelvice.com
January 20th, 2006
Hey Erik –
I've stripped almost all technology out of my backpack, save for a digicam and a CD player… I'm using simple Internet cafes to push my pictures to the site via FTP (when I can)!
Miss Emily
January 20th, 2006
Those devices pictured above look like torture devices… ]:)
Anonymous
December 18th, 2006
Say what? You worry about shaving? You probably have shampoo and ugh, conditioner too! Leave all the crap behind - cut it short and just let it grow, see a barber every month or two.
Craig | travelvice.com
December 19th, 2006
I need to shave, my beard isn't fantastic.
Yeah, I've got (and need) shampoo, no conditioner though. Shaved my hair off about a year ago, but haven't had a haircut in over six months… hehe
Neil Skywalker
November 26th, 2011
Or you can just Man up and shave with cold water. Which is never really cold in the tropics.
Love the site and the tips but this one is a bit over the top.
Greets Neil
2.5 years on the road and counting.