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I knew it way back then and I’m absolutely convinced of it today — you’re one of a kind, @MichelleObama. Happy Birthday!

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Oh sunset colors, why don’t you stay for a little bit longer? 😍 From my recent trip to Yosemite.

Hiked the 4 mile trail from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point and back. Mother Nature never stops amaze me, sunset colors on the way down were just too amazing to not make a stop and we had to continue our hike in pitch black darkness. Read more from Yosemite on my blog pilotmaria.com ‘Yosemite My Top 5’

#yosemite#yosemitenationalpark#outdoors#hikes#sunsetlover#sonyalpha#sonya7iii

Filter

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Before we left on this trip, we did a few Stories showing exactly what we were packing. A big focus was trying to reduce our plastic consumption to the greatest extent possible, which isn't always easy when travelling long-term.

Instead of bottles of shampoo + conditioner, we took 'bars' which we carry in silver containers. Gone was the fancy shower gel as we were back to using good old soap. We've got bamboo toothbrushes (the type we've been using for the last 6 months) and toothpaste tablets, instead of the more common plastic versions and reusable fabric pads instead of traditional cotton make up removers. Emily has given the middle finger to the 'tampon tax' and is a convert to the menstrual cup and since discovering how hideously unsustainable baby wipes are, we've gone without. We've used our travel filter water bottle to amazing effect, meaning we've bought less than ten plastic water bottles in 2 months (and that's when dying of thirst at the end of a hike and simply needed to glug); it feels pretty cool to be able to fill up directly from a river, waterfall, or glacier lake. We've got old plastic 'bags for life' to wrap up our dirty hiking boots and laundry gets stored in two cloth bags. For shopping, we've always got our backpack and canvas bag with us and never put fruit and veg in plastic bags. We've said no to straws (a request that isn't always understood or agreed to!) and those ridiculous stirry-things some bar staff just love to put in cocktails.

It's not always ideal, it's not always possible, and sometimes it's an absolute pain in the arse, but it's a start. And positive change can only come from lots of people making small starts.

This post isn't about us virtue signalling or asking for praise, but rather sharing ideas so that you can also reduce the amount of plastic unnecessarily used on your travels and day-to-day (or inspire someone else to start thinking about it). We've linked to an old post in our bio about various ways to reduce your plastic usage, and some of the products we're using on this trip to support it.

Any other suggestions on how to do more are very welcome in the comments.

#TheConstantlyCurious