Before our trip to Peru this year, we wandered around REI for awhile seeing what shiny new things we could purchase. As I was browsing, I came across something that looked like a cross between a scarf and a headband; having no idea what it was, I picked it up and started reading about the Tubular Original Buff [futher referred to as the Buff] headwear. It went on to explain how it’s wind resistant, controls odor, breathable, quick-drying, and can be worn 12 different ways.
Being that we were about to embark on a trip that involved the humid Amazon Rainforest, hiking to the peaks of mountains and exploring the cities in between, this seemed like a product that could handle it all and still allow me to be somewhat fashionable. So I picked out the ‘Motion’ color, paid the measly $20 and hoped for the best (but also didn’t expect much).
This product is like an angel from heaven; I’ve neverbeenso happy to have bought this last minute item. We packed as light as we could and the Buff took up 0% space. It is super tiny; I just kept it in my purse while flying or in the top compartment of my pack while exploring. I’ll get into the major details of our trip in a later post, but I wore the Buff everywhere.
The Amazon Rainforest is hot and humid and pretty gross, BUT beautiful. We did hikes in 100 degree weather in bright sunlight; the Buff kept my head cool and wicked away sweat pretty quickly.
Let’s just say spending four days in the Amazon Rainforest, sleeping and showering in huts does not leave you smelling your greatest. Once we returned to civilization in Cusco, we had to do a load of laundry; as we were deciding which items would be the ones we washed (since laundry is uber expensive), I picked up the Buff and to my surprise, it smelled fine! Which meant I didn’t have to go without it for the day and could wear it as we hiked to the peak of Huayna Picchu.
Getting to the peak of Huayna Picchu was NOT a walk in the park. It was hard. But that’s for another post. My point here is that it’s almost 9,000 feet above sea level so it was COLD and WINDY! But I wore the Buff and I was warm! Instead of focusing on the temperature, I was able to focus on not falling off the side of a mountain!
We also did some light leisure activity such as feeding llamas and alpacas!! It was a little chilly but I wanted to keep my hair down, so I treated the Buff as an infinity scarf of sorts. It wasn’t too heavy and kept my neck nice and warm!
There are so many other ways to wear the Buff – and it comes in a ton of different colors, I’ll be picking up one or two more so I can wear them interchangeably! Definitely a travel must-have!
neverbeenso 