COMMUNITY

The Great Wall, China

By Lucy Mart and Sarah Streeter

On 3 October 2009 we headed off from London to China for a 100km Great Wall trek to raise money for a Meningitis Research Foundation trust fund set up in memory Sarah's brother Daniel who tragically died from the disease when he was 18. With a £10,000 target it was a big task and one we had spent a year fundraising and preparing for.

We were fortunate enough to each have an IInfinit Solar Charging Bag to use for our trek. We were keen to keep family and friends updated with our progress during the week and knew that there wouldn't be a reliable power supply available to us. Having a bag that was able to charge our mobile phones and Blackberry devices whilst we walked was going to be a huge benefit.

Once we got our solar bags we soon realised that charging devices wasn't the only benefit. The solar panel and packs used for charging are all hidden neatly away in the front pocket of the bag which leaves the main body of the bag empty. As such we were able to pack all our essential items in our bags and use them as hand luggage on the flight out to china. There is also a mesh pouch on either side of the bag which were the perfect size to hold the each of the litre water bottles we needed to consume on each day of the walk.

12 hours later and when we arrived at Beijing airport our trek group (and airport customs) were all intrigued by the bags we had on our back. "Is that a fridge?" "Is there a device to count your steps?" "Does your bag record things?" were all questions asked! When we explained that the solar panel on the bag would enable us to charge our mobile phones, iPods and cameras during the trip everyone was pretty impressed. Sarah actually gave everyone a demonstration on the coach when we were transferring from a lodge to one section of the wall one morning.

We don't consider ourselves to be professional walkers and this was our first proper trek so we weren’t surprised when Sarah told our English guide Tom that her neck and back was aching – too much trekking we thought! Tom looked at our bags and said that it was because we weren't using the waist straps. What waist straps?? They had been tucked inside the bag the whole time. So we pulled them out and fixed them around our waist. Wow!! What a difference. Advice to anyone who owns an Infinit Solar Bag, make sure you pull out all of the waist straps - they are a life saver and great for comfort.

The Great Wall is actually some 5,000km in length, however most parts of the wall have broken down to such an extent that they are too dangerous to walk on. Therefore some mornings we actually ended up jumping on a coach from our lodge to get to the next section of wall were we would continue our trek. As well as giving us the opportunity to sit down this also provided the chance to catch up on emails and reply to text messages. The good thing about the solar panel is that it doesn't need to be in bright streaming sunshine in order to charge. Even on a cloudy day when we were sitting on the bus I was able to plug in and charge my Blackberry.

Whilst our luggage was taken on to our overnight lodge each day, our Infinit bags joined us along every climb, ascent and step of our Great Wall trek with great views along the way.

The bags held our all important water bottles, vital first aid kit, packed lunch and energy bars as well as our waterproofs and spare clothes. We also soon realised that the side pockets on the bags provided a great place to store our walking poles when we weren't using them! This did prove tricky when at one point Lucy's sticks got tangled up in the trees and Sarah had to untangle her. By that point the group in front had gone out of sight so Lucy carried on leading the rest of group the way she thought was right - it wasn't and we had to turn back and retrace our steps.

Despite carrying all of our daily essentials the Infinit bags were still incredibly light. At the end of the third day of trekking there was the opportunity to zip slide down from the wall to our lodge. Most people were told to take their bags off for the zip slide but were were able to slide down with our bags on our backs – water bottles on the side and all!

By and large the weather during our trip was sunny and dry, except for the morning of day 4 when the heavens decided to open. Luckily, the Infinit bag comes with its very own waterproof. So when we got out our own all-weather gear on, the bag also stayed dry.

At then end of a long week of trekking we travelled the three hours back to Beijing. Thanks to our Infinit Solar Charging Bags we were the only ones who still had ipods with battery power and were able to relax and unwind, listening to our music the whole way there!

Our trek was an amazing experience and the Great Wall proved to be a fantastic challenge physically and mentally. Thanks to our Infinit bags we were able to stay in touch with friends and family who supported us every step of the way! To date we have raised £10,680 for the Meningitis Research Foundation in Daniel’s memory. If you would like to find out more about our challenge please visit
www.justgiving.com/sarahandlucydothegreatwall

Giza, Egypt

Laurent Mahe recently went away on holiday with his wife to Giza on the West Bank of the Nile, Egypt. Laurent and took his Infinit Solar Charging Bag with him and he knew he may not have access to a power source on a daily basis.

Site-seeing was high on his agenda with often quite a few hours of travel involved. Laurent's solar bag was there to support him and keep his iPod and digital camera fully juiced so he could capture one of the most stunning views in the world.

Laurent said "My Solar Bag was great. It charged when I needed it and that meant I was self-sufficient. A big problem when you go to great places is that sometimes you forget to charge your gagdets because you just want to make sure you remember to take them. I work for GPS company in France and will be using it to charge those devices too".

Bangkok. Thailand

Matt and Jen went travelling to Koh Tao in the South of Thailand in March 2010. Both are gadget fanatics and practically live on their iPhones.

Their Infinit Bag was purchased by Jen as a present to Matt before they went away was enough to power both their devices whilst travelling.

Matt comments: "The bag acts as a great universal charger because you only need to take the small adaptors with you and not a load of cables that you can't plug in anywhere. The Sun does it's job and there was more than enough power for one of us. Fortuntely, I bought an additional travel battery for the bag so we could both charge at the same time if we wanted to. I managed to get 2 full iPhone charges from one battery. Very impressed."

Jen adds:"I knew we would both have a need for this type of bag. Cool gadgets, like iPhones are no good if you don't have the power to run them. The Infinit solar bag really got us out of some sticky situations because we had to make alot of calls when booking tickets. We were watching films and listening to music alot whilst traveling and you can never be sure how long your batteries will last. The bag offered convenience and removed the stress."

Boracay, Philippines

Best friends Steven Cook and Darren Hall recently went to Boracay in the Philppines for a friends wedding. They used their Infinit Bag on a daily basis to take to the beach and they managed a full charge in just under 5 hours.

Whilst on the beach they met a guy from Hungary, called Zolle, who had lost his luggage on the way out there. All he had was one set of clothes, a small shoulder bag, his passport and a dead iPhone. Steve was able to offer a lifeline and charge Zolle's iPhone for him so he could make some calls home to ensure his belongings and luggage were returned to him safely.

"It's always nice to help somebody in need and the Infinit Solar Bag meant that I could do this. It charged like a dream on the beach and Zolle went away happy. From the start of my trip to the finish I had people asking me about the solar panel and what it did. Certainly one of my best investments." Said Steve.