One of the secrets around our business is that when summer come along , so too come story relate to summer travel . And we are no more immune to this trend than anyone else . However , that does n’t mean we ’ll offer up the same old , same one-time “ I have the kinsfolk to the Grand Canyon and here ’s the geared wheel I institute with me ” narration . No , this instalment ’s Edgar Guest , Ben Long , is carry a very unique trip that requires a just - as - unique collection of gear .

Listen to episode 363

Show notes

To learn more about the adventure Ben is about to undertake , you ’ll need to visit the portion of the The Adventurists ’ sitedevoted to the Mongol Rally . He also observe a few thing he ’ll be taking along with him ( or recommends for those travelling this way ) . There ’s theFiat Panda(complete with marketing tagline “ just More ” ) , theBioLite CampStove , LuminAid pillow / twinkle , gear fromSolar Gadgets USA , andBig Agnes tents . He also observe the two charities stick out by the Rally : coolheaded EarthandMercyCorps .

When not rallying across Europe and Asia , Ben can be detect atComplete Digital Photographyand in his many excellentLynda.com photography training titles .

you may find previous instalment of our audio podcasts at Macworld ’s podcast page .

This episode of the Macworld podcast is brought to you bySmile ’s PDFpen 6 — the all - aim Mac PDF editor in chief ! impart signatures , text , and images . Make changes and correct typo . OCR read docs . Fill out shape . novel in version 6 : Microsoft Word exportation . grinning also provides the following transcript .

Transcript

Chris : Macworld podcast phone number 363 for July 10th , 2013 , brought to you bySmile Software , Godhead of PDFpen 6 and PDFpenPro .

Welcome to another Macworld podcast . I ’m Chris Breen . One of the not frightfully well - hold open secrets around our commercial enterprise is that when summertime hail along so too come stories relate to summertime travel . We are no more resistant to this tendency than anybody else . However , that does n’t mean we ’ll tender up the same old , same old , “ Hey , I took the kinsfolk to the Grand Canyon and here ’s the train I took with me , ” storey .

Nope , this episode ’s guest is taking a very unique misstep that requires a just as unique collecting of power train .

I ’m joined by renowned writer , photographer , teacher and world traveler , Ben Long , who ’s going to utter about his summertime vacation . Welcome , Ben .

Ben : Thanks , Chris .

Chris : I hear you ’re going car camping in the next hebdomad or so .

Ben : I am go car bivouacking , as one does in the summertime . I ’m loading up the car with a tent and some basic camping gear and taking a effort .

Chris : Really , where are you go to go ?

Ben : Mongolia .

Chris : Mongolia ?

Ben : Yes , Mongolia . More specifically , Ulan Bator , the capital letter of Mongolia . I ’ll be leaving from London . In fact , I ’m flying to London this afternoon to go get in the automobile .

Chris : And drive to Mongolia ?

Ben : And drive to Mongolia .

Chris : I imagine for a trip like that you ’re going to want to drive something jolly robust . Is it conk out to be a Range Rover or a Humvee or some 4×4 ? What are you drive ?

Ben : Well , you ’re right . Mongolia lack sidewalk of just about any kind . Long before you get to Mongolia , there ’s still all of Kazakhstan , which is decidedly road - challenge . Then of course , there ’s the distance itself . This is going to be 10 to 12,000 miles . Yeah , ideally , you require a decent up to fomite . I ’m driving a Fiat Panda .

Chris : As I call back , I ’m not a car expert , but as I recall , the Fiat Panda is something that will fit in my back pocket .

Ben : Pretty much . Like I said , ideally , you want a very full-bodied car . This is not run to be the ideal car camping trip to Mongolia .

Chris : One , you ’re limited in space . How big is the railway locomotive in that matter ?

Ben : It ’s a 1.2 liter railway locomotive , so that ’s actually the size of the railway locomotive in my motorcycle . This is in a full - on automobile .

Chris : Okay so lack of room , tiny locomotive , 12,000 - mile trip-up . Why are you doing this ?

Ben : We should mention the very small wheels .

Chris : That ’s right . Road - challenged , so you ’re going to be trade with grime roads , bridge , a passel of bridge there ?

Ben : No , not really just moderately much straight driving through river .

Chris : Okay . Small car , tiny wheels , there ’s probably not a lot of clearance between the undercarriage and the road .

Ben : None , I think , like a skateboard kind of clearance .

Chris : Okay so why are you doing this ?

Ben : Believe me , as my flight of steps difference approaches , I ’m asking myself that question more and more . The technical explanation is that I ’m doing this as part of a charity road rallying call off the Mongol Rally . It ’s put on by an organization of obviously harebrained masses in England called the Adventurists .

The way this works is we ’re raising money for a couple of Polymonium caeruleum van-bruntiae . One is Cool Earth , which is an organization that works to keep rainforests that are within 18 months of total death . We have to raise a certain amount . I ascertain this peculiar , there ’s someone sitting around the timber give way , “ Boy , I really hope that our forest is within 18 months of total end because then we ’ll get some money . ” Anyway , we ’re heighten money for this charity .

The rule are very simple . you may take any route that you want and different team take wildly different routes . you’re able to not take a gondola that ’s old than nine years old because we ’re move to leave the car in Mongolia , where it will be auctioned off and that money given to charity , and essentially , the Mongolians do n’t need a gang of junker auto bring into the country . Then finally , you ca n’t have an locomotive engine over 1.2 liters . The entire conceit there is you ’re actually test to make the trip unimaginable . I intend only 60 to 65 % of the people who start really make it to Ulan Bator .

There really are no rules . It ’s a completely unsupported race or rallying . It ’s not really a race . There ’s no prison term limit . That ’s seemingly why I ’m doing this .

Chris : Typically , how long does it take to do this ?

Ben : The Adventurists say you’re able to do it in as brusk as three weeks , but if you do that , you ’re probably not get a particularly good time . We ’re thinking somewhere between four to six .

Chris : You say we , so how many masses are going ?

Ben : Right now , it ’s me and one other somebody . There was a third someone who had to drop out last week . Originally , we were going to take two cars . We actually corrupt two Fiat Pandas . We did that for a couple of understanding . One we figured , “ Well , this is great . If one motorcar kick downstairs down , we can just pile into the other car and go get help or we can draw parts off of each car . ” Also , one of us who is not me is six foot seven , so we decided there was no way we could well correspond three of us in a diminutive picayune Fiat for six weeks . Actually , if anyone out there wants to grease one’s palms a Fiat Panda , I ’ve get one for sale .

Chris : Six foot seven , tiny elevator car , how is this person going to fit in the car ? Do they have to have their head out the windowpane the whole clip ?

Ben : We do n’t lie with because we ’ve never seen a Fiat Panda in person .

Chris : You have n’t seen the cable car ?

Ben : No , it ’s in England . I buy it remotely through a service department , a grease monkey there so I ’ve never really seen a Fiat Panda . They do n’t sell them in the States .

Chris : Did you note to the auto-mechanic that you ’re planning to drive this thing 12,000 air mile to Mongolia ?

Ben : This is a service department that really tender this service of help ralliers obtain rally railroad car . They pop off and checked it out and said , “ Yeah , we conceive this car will make the trip . ” I notice they ’re outride behind , but still , they said this car will make the trip . There patently has been some well-informed thought put into this process , none of it originating from me .

Chris : How good of a mechanic are you ?

Ben : I have no mechanical skill at all . I can work a zip tie or some duct tape . I decided not to worry about that because my dad is actually very good with cars and I talked to him about it and he say , “ On a modern car , there ’s not much that you could fix any way . You ca n’t just bear a hardening of points anymore and get your car work again . It ’s all computerized . ”

I ’m figuring that the things that are really likely to happen , I do n’t know , a broken axle or a crumpled wheel or something , your mechanically skillful skill is n’t really the restriction there . It ’s the fact that you ’re in the center of nowhere .

Chris : We understand the rule of the rally and we understand the charitable aspect of it . Personally , why are you doing this ?

Ben : It seemed like a good idea at the time , actually , when we fill out that kind online . Mongolia is definitely changing . I ’ve been very intrigued by there ’s still a traditional wandering universe there , but they ’ve discover gold mining in Mongolia over the last couple of years , and I think this is kind of a last chance to see the one-time Mongolia , or at least any kind of traditional living in Mongolia . I ’m very connive by that . I definitely like the less “ developed ” part of the world . I would put modernise in quotation mark there .

I always find out that this sort of locomotion leads to really , really nice people and very interesting experiences . It ’s obviously a fantastic photographic chance . I think I also just want to have it away if I can do it .

Chris : Have you planned your path , or as you just go along you say , “ I think we call for to go east and so that ’s where were drop dead . ”

Ben : Most citizenry had true eastward , so they would go across , I do n’t have a map in front of me , Czech Republic and make their path into Russia and head across that agency . We ’re break to go directly to the south through France and then cut across northern Italy , go down the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia , and then we ’re going to flow a left at Montenegro . This is about the extent of the mapping I ’ve done is , “ Oh , here ’s Montenegro , I opine we go odd . ”

From there we go through , I guess , Kosovo and Serbia , through Bulgaria . We ’re run to then go down through Istanbul and through central Turkey . We wanted to labour up through Georgia , but apparently that ’s not really doable right now , so we ’re go to ferry across the Black Sea into Russia . We go across a little bit of Russia and then across all of Kazakhstan , back into Russia and then dip down into the northerly border of Mongolia .

Chris : Yes , but you ’ll have a GPS with you , right , so no job ?

Ben : No , I ’m not bothering because there ’s no function data that I can find for Mongolia or Kazakhstan , parts of Russia . It ’s interesting , if you just go to Google single-valued function and look at Russia , it ’s kind of a void . There ’s just not function data or at least , Google does n’t have access to any so no , a GPS , yeah , it would get us through Europe okay but it ’s not backbreaking to pilot through Europe . I do n’t roll in the hay that a GPS would really avail us that much on the hard portion so I have a map and a compass .

Chris : What kind of signage do they have ?

Ben : I do n’t know . I ’ve seen pictures online that there are signs . They are of course of instruction going to be in no terminology that I speak or read and perhaps not in an ABC that I translate .

Chris : peachy . I call back this sound like you ’ve totally got this sewn up .

Ben : I’ve been meddlesome with other things so I have n’t had a luck of prison term to put too much idea into it . I visualize I can do that on the plane sit over .

Chris : Yeah . No , I think that ’s the path most people plan these sort of things . I ’m certain that you have your AAA card with you . Given that you may be ground quite literally in the heart of nowhere , what gear are you going to take with you to help you intercommunicate and candidly , survive ?

Ben : It ’s strange . I ’ve driven around rural Africa and rural Turkey and always been surprised to witness that they have better cellular connectivity than we do here . I feel like it ’s everywhere . They skipped wires and went right to cellphone telephone set . I ’m kind of counting on the idea that I ’ll have good cell insurance coverage across most of the trip . I do n’t know about Kazakhstan and Mongolia . I have a Verizon iPhone which has an unlocked SIM slot in the side , so in theory , I can just go there and get SIM scorecard as I go .

I do n’t know that I could get a single SIM card that would give me reportage for the whole trip . I ’m not too apprehensive about having headphone song . I more just want data so I also got a Verizon , one of their MiFi hotspot things , so I ’m hoping that if I ’ve got cell insurance coverage , I ’ve got a elbow room of put across that way .

One cool thing about the Verizon gimmick is you’re able to prepay for a sure amount of data so I just bought 10 gigabytes of data . I figure for two of us that ’s enough to bind a duad of iPads and a brace of phones . That ’s what I ’m thinking for Internet admittance .

I have a spot gizmo , which I can weightlift a clitoris on and it , via planet , sends a predefined subject matter to a predefined mailing list so that ’s a mode of at least letting a sure group of citizenry fuck my latitude and longitude . In the States , the spot gizmo can also summon search and rescue . I do n’t believe that work internationally . Spot now makes a satellite phone that ’s kind of astonishingly cheap . It ’s 500 bucks for the telephone set and the help architectural plan are very , very inexpensive for orbiter communicating .

I ’ve been thinking about get one of those but honestly , I ’m not sure what I ’d do with it . If my car break down , okay , well , I can call Chris and say my car has develop down in the midsection of Mongolia , but what are you going to do ? I do n’t know yet how useful that is .

Chris : I could propose my condolences .

Ben : Thank you , yes . I would at least get to say good-by .

Chris : Right .

Ben : I’ve been thinking that , “ Well , okay , I could call you and you could then research how to get assistance to me , ” but I sense like I should probably try that first . I should nose around and see what you would really be capable of doing . I did obtain a lean of 911 equivalents for every res publica in the world . I do n’t be intimate if that ’s a reliable hunting and rescue affair or not . I ’ve got , allow ’s see , about seven hr pass on , I ’m trying to make the satellite earpiece decision in that prison term .

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Chris : I also hear you ’re going to be traveling light because you ’ve got a very small motorcar . You have very small room . What else are you taking for day to day living ? Is this really like a tenting trip ?

Ben : I’m remember of it like a pack stumble . Yes , we ’re traveling light both because there ’s circumscribed space but also we need to be able … your nosepiece doubt was a good one . From what it looks like , there are a bunch of piss crossing in Mongolia that are bridge - free . I call back it ’s a lot of pushing and pull and hoist the car out of gumption and water supply and things like that . We do n’t want to count it down with too much . Yeah , I ’m treating it like a backpacking trip . I ’ve aim my small , one - somebody collapsible shelter , a summertime sleeping handbag , a tenting stove .

I have one additional concern , which is I ’m heading into an area where hoi polloi really enjoy eating sheep heads and other curious animal torso parts . I ’ve been a vegetarian since I was eight . I ’m taking a whole lot of backpacking intellectual nourishment and a backpack kitchen range for the second half of the trip . We ’ve got all that .

Then it ’s just about the other normal thing you need , how to power the geartrain . One question we have is we ’re not actually certain if there ’s a butt lighter adapter in the Fiat Panda or not , and that ’s been our main idea for how to power poppycock .

If we get there and it does n’t have one of those , we ’re thinking perhaps we get a second car barrage fire and some variety of inverter that can confiscate to that and then we can just trade the auto battery out every few day and charge our clobber that way . Mostly , I ’m just thinking of this as an ultra - easy backpack trip .

Chris : Part of the idea of the rally is to live with the least impact on your milieu . If somebody were to do this kind of trip , is there gear that they can carry that aid achieve this and also gives back something ?

Ben : That ’s a good question . This is a charity route rally , so we ’re trying to kick upstairs some money for some suitable causes . Also , I always feel a minuscule eldritch , here we are coming from an incredibly wealthy commonwealth , it is unknown to go into area of great poorness , specially as a photographer and basically exploit them , mine them for mass medium so yeah , I always feel a little uncomfortable going in . You do n’t desire to go in and treat the locals like they ’re exhibits or beast in a zoo or something . You want to endeavor to be part of their globe and not impact them too much .

I thought , “ Well , okay , as long as we ’re doing this to kindle money for Polemonium caeruleum , are there ways we can do it other than simple fundraising ? Are their purchases that we can make or thing like that ? ” It ’s interesting , if you start up looking for this kind of stuff and nonsense , you get that backpacking technology , a lot of it is being seize for function in disaster relief and for third universe everyday hold out .

For example , there ’s the bio - sluttish camping stove , which is a very cool camp kitchen range . It ’s a little large , you would n’t want to normally use it for pack , but it runs basically on branchlet . It ’s got an electric fan in it that you charge ahead of prison term through a USB port , and then you just put twig or any other combustible in it , and basically the fan give you an highly effective tan , and evidently as long as you ’re somewhere where there are twigs useable , you ’ve have a way of heating water . We , of track , will be driving across the Gobi Desert , so I do n’t hump how much we ’re going to have in the means of branchlet but what ’s coolheaded about the bio - light is that it captures heat while it ’s burning , and change that to enough electricity that you may shoot your iPhone off of it or some other small gadget . I actually now have a branchlet - power iPhone .

They make larger versions specifically for use in the rural Third World . I ’ve been in outside village in Africa before , and always been appall to find people live in shanty with scandal floors but they all have cell phones , because they can go into the local village and go to the community center and appoint their phone there . With something like one of these bio - light kitchen stove , they in reality have a way of life of generating electricity on their own , which is very cool .

Some other things , LuminAID make a really nerveless inflatable solar - power pillow thing that ’s also a light source . It makes a decent liberal diffused luminosity , and if you order one from their website , they will really donate one to a disaster stricken area where people might necessitate light .

Once you begin looking for this stuff , you ’ll find that there are purchases you could make that will continue your endeavour to either have low impact or really give something back . Obviously , energy consumption is another big one . Solargadgetsusa.com has a good deal of … boy , everything from solar - power flashlights to chargers to so on and so off . That ’s a way you could at least go through an domain not leaving battery everywhere . Batteries often terminate up in local dumps , where kids terminate up pick through the trash dump for precious metals and get poison by that kind of matter , so being capable to rest out of batteries is a good idea .

Finally , you might delay … are you using equipment that is made responsibly ? I ’m using a Big Agnes tent , and if you go to Big Agnes and register their corporate insurance , you ’ll find that they ’re very conscientious about the textile they employ and their building and the impact on the third world there .

Chris : Are you planning on leaving any of that stuff in Mongolia , or are you going to take it all with you ?

Ben : That ’s a respectable question . I ’ve been want to talk to the Adventurists about can you donate gear along with the cable car ? I ’m not sure . We may never make it to Mongolia , so that part ’s up in the air also .

Chris : Let ’s say you do make it to Mongolia . What then ?

Ben : I do n’t know . I have to get home , and I ’ll no longer have a car . It ’s really weird , I keep bribe these one - means plane ticket , which just feel strange . We ’ve been thinking we could clean up another car and just keep going east until we run into sea again and then fly home from there . patently , we can just pilot home . I ’m also a fiddling fascinate by the Trans - Siberian Railway , which would go from Ulan Bator back to Moscow , I believe . It might be by that point we ’re very trite of traveling .

Chris : I take it you ’ve got all your papers and all the necessary paperwork you need to cross borders and that kind of affair ?

Ben : Everything but the Russian visa , yeah . Here ’s something that people may not know . you may have more than one US recommendation . If you are like me , chance yourself at the last minute having to get several visas , and actually as Americans , it ’s interesting . For this whole stumble , I only need two . I involve one for Kazakhstan and one for Russia . Actually , as Americans you need a visa for any -stan , but the way we ’re going , we ’re only buy the farm to go through one -stan .

You have to mail your recommendation off to a visa service to get these things so I get a second passport . I institutionalize one off to the Russian Embassy and I can use the other one to travel on while I wait or if you were may be a petty farther ahead of the game than I am , you could send one off to get your Russian visa and the other off to get your Kazakhstan visa .

These 2d passports , they cost about the same as a normal passport and they ’re only unspoilt for two year , but they ’re a keen way of care the difficulty of if you ’re require multiple visa , having to place your pass around . They ’re also dependable if you ’re go to be traveling to countries that do n’t get along with each other . For case , if you ’re going to Israel , you’re able to habituate one recommendation for that . If you ’re operate to Egypt , you’re able to employ another one for that and no one would have to know where you ’d been .

Chris : allow ’s say your Russian paperwork does n’t come through . Is there any mode to get to Mongolia without hitting Russia somewhere along the line ?

Ben : Absolutely . I could repulse right through Iran . You do n’t postulate a visa there . You just tell people you ’re backpack .

Chris : Oh , everlasting and you raise your hired man and say , “ I ’m an American and do n’t bother looking at all the gear I have in my railway car . ”

Ben:“Oh , these little helmet camera , they do n’t mean anything , yeah . ”

Chris:“Just go past through . ”

Ben : The other option is you’re able to ferry across the Caspian Sea . I do n’t remember what it was . When I looked into that , I think there was complicatedness that … I do n’t bang . There was some understanding I could n’t do that or it was prostrate to sinking or something like that . I do n’t make love . I remember there was some reason I decided that was a bad idea .

Chris : Right . Okay . Well , good . It sounds like you ’ve got everything tied up in a nice healthy little package , top with a bowknot .

Ben : Tea in a office like this .

Chris : Yes , I could tell . Is there going to be any room for people to keep up with what you ’re doing ? Are you going to blog this or take photo ? Are you moderately much just doing the adventure ?

Ben : I have no idea because to have prepared a web log of some form would have have in mind that I had done some readying . Honestly , I just do n’t know . Some of the blog entries I ’ve say from people who have done this before say at least in the back one-half of the trip , you require to be prepared that at the end of the sidereal day , you are really well-worn . You might have grand idea about , “ Yes , at the final stage of the day , we ’ll swop stories around the fire and I will prepare my blog and what not , ” but you ’ve been lift a car out of muck all day long , so a lot of mass say you ’re just so physically eject you just make dinner party and make pass out .

I ’m imagine I ’ll play that by spike . I ’m going to have a lot of fourth dimension just sitting in a railcar , so maybe I ’ll suppose about getting that set up as I go . If I do , I ’ll let you have it away and you may put the Word of God out .

Chris : I will and also , I expect , I intend we have a very large Mongol listenership .

Ben : Excellent .

Chris : If there are any vegetarian Mongolians out there listening now , even if you ’re part of a horde , because I understand Mongolians travel in hordes but please , if there are any vegetarian among you , lease me know and I will pass the word along to Ben . I ’m certain that he would eff to partake of your sheep read/write head . I hear it taste like broccoli .

Ben : Okay , well , that makes all the dispute .

Chris : Also , is there anything people can do if they want to facilitate give to the causes that are being supported by the rally ?

Ben : Yes , there is a way that you could donate , and we would really take account it . Again , this is going to a very good cause . We ’re rear money for two different charities , Cool Earth and Mercy Corps . I have a link here for Mercy Corps , and you’re able to put that in the show notes or something .

Chris : Yeah , perfectly . Been : Great :

Chris : I think with all the preparation you ’ve done , the ease of this journeying , the kind of equipment you ’re bringing and the solid food and the beneficence of the countries you ’ll be bring down , I think this is going to go really , really swimmingly . I expect to see you back here in about three weeks and we ’ll insure in with you then .

Ben : Fantastic . Yeah , I ’m imagine I ’m occupy a parkway .

Chris : Yeah . No , you are taking a drive . You ’re absolutely taking a drive . Really honestly , best of hazard with this . I think this sounds like a really amazing trip . I ’m slenderly covetous but not so much that I ’d really link you .

Ben : I’ll mail you some pictures guaranteed to not make you jealous .

Chris : Perfect , I want to see you knee joint - deep in the muck moving your car somewhere as passersby on camels look at you and just shake their point .

Ben : precisely , yeah , eating sheep ’s heads . I ’ll get you all the media like that that I can come up with .

Chris : Excellent , thanks very much and thanks for being here , Ben .

Ben : Well , thank you very much , Chris .

Chris : That wraps up this edition of the Macworld podcast . I ’d like to trust Smile Software and its PDFpen 6 and PDFpenPro for frequent this episode , Ben Long , and of class , you for listen .

This is Chris Breen , prompt you that you’re able to find more Apple , Mac OS , iOS and technology tidings , view , and entropy at macworld.com . See you around .