Michele on the Road: on Travel, Photography and Life

I’m a gear nut when it comes to traveling. I like to experiment with clothing, accessories, technology, etc. Thus I have an extensive array of different bits and pieces I like to bring with me when leaving for faraway places.

So one thing I’d like to do is to review the gear I try and tell you why I do/don’t bring it with me when traveling.
I’ll also couple my reviews with a 1-minute video review, because seeing is believing. Why 1 minute? because it’s less than 2 minutes! And nobody’s coming out with a 30-second review! ;)

The first review in this series is gonna be about what probably is my favourite piece of garment, so much that I decided to buy two: one for home and one for traveling.

The Etobicoke, by UK-based Finisterre, is the only jacket you’re going to need, and that is for a very simple reason: the insulating material, Primaloft, performs magnificently.
I’ve been in temperatures ranging from -10 degrees Celsius — with a very light fleece underneath — up to 20 degrees, without chilling nor sweating, and believe me, I sweat a lot, so it was a great achievement.

Moreover, the Etobicoke is water repellent, very light and thin which means it can be used as a mid-layer in even colder weather, and it packs small: when you don’t use it you can pack it in its own pocket and use it as a pillow.
As they put it: minimum weight for maximum warmth.

As much as I looked around I couldn’t find a comparable alternative and simply put, at £105, it’s a great deal.
At the moment it’s sold-out on their website, but if you send them an email — they’re all very kind gals and guys — you can pre-order one from the new collection which should ship shortly.

I might sound too enthusiastic, but I really like my Etobicokes and Finisterre is a brand I admire deeply: they make high quality garments, they innovate a lot and really take care of this planet — they donate 1% of their sales to environmental causes, use recycled materials and wool from ethically farmed sheep.
I like them so much I’ve got a whole bunch of their gear which I might review in the future.

As far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with the Etobicoke — or anything from Finisterre actually.

And what is your favourite piece of gear? what is it that you can’t leave at home when embarking on a new trip?