After nine full months of living out of a backpack, four of those months being in rural Africa, and being stranded in our homes with no cell service, I have built up a repertoire of movies, games, books, journal entries, and hours of napping. Losing service could truly be the end of the world some places and I know it would make me so mad back in the states when I drove through a "no service" zone for five minutes. This year has challenged my patience, my boredom, and my creativity. Here are my four go-to things I would do when the hope of 3g service was miles away.

Books

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This one can be difficult, mostly in my situation where I did not have the room to build up a physical library. I collected some books along the way and had to send them home when I was done. One thing I found really helpful was the books app on my phone. It did not use too much battery and I could purchase audiobooks as well. I suggest downloading some books and audiobooks before starting on your adventure. You can bookmark, highlight, and take notes. Making notes is a huge thing for me while reading any book and while it will never be hardback and in front of you, this solves the problem during your vacation.

Games

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A deck of cards or two or three. My top three games are Poker, Dutch Blitz, and Monopoly Deal. These games can keep you occupied for hours and don't take up much room in your backpack. You can even get games on your phone that can be played in a group like heads up. Games can be great for bonding and foe passing the time in areas where you cant reach anyone else. If you only have a paper and pen, looks up the rules of fishbowl. Beware, that one can get quite competitive.

Journaling

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Have you ever heard of a bullet journal? It's a very decorative journal that you can turn into a dream journal, planner, educational journal, or basically a mixture of all. Depending on how creative you are, this can be a month-long project. All you need is a journal of choice, pens, and then if you want stickers or inspiration pictures, look for those before leaving for your trip. Its super fun and easy and if you are like me and get your mind stuck on something like this, it will become everything to you until you are finished.

Movies

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Not everyone is into entertainment but for me, movies and shows are like my life saver. I download just about everything before I leave anywhere. If you have Netflix on your phone, you can download up to 100 things. You can also rent things for under $5 on I-Tunes and download them for 30 days. That is how I caught up with American entertainment while being gone for a year. Plus the options vary depending on where you live in the world so you have different things to choose from. Definitely check this out!

This list may not sound too exciting but these are things you wouldn't think about at the time and then later be like, "dang I wish I brought that". Happy adventuring!