Lightweight Travel Tips

written by Adam Trahan

It has been some years now since I’ve learned about tenkara, an efficient form of mountain stream fishing. Through my experiences using this simple, old style of fishing, I have found that I can apply principles of minimalism to nearly everything I do. I’ve learned about efficiency and different ways of looking at everyday challenges. In applying these concepts, I have come up with a formula that works for me. It can be summed up with the following quote from Yvon Chouinard.

The more you know, the less you need.

I promote an efficient travel kit from this concept.

I have realized that nothing is better than experience to realize just what you need. Packing for a trip shouldn’t be difficult. There is some homework involved if you are new to traveling light but as you reduce the contents of your pack, you will realize that each component of your travel kit becomes more important on its own and as an integrated system.

Key to the concept is to check the weather where you are going and make a pack list for up to a week. If you can get through a week with your packing list, you can easily live for two weeks or a month or longer. Packing for one week, I have a comfortable pack size and I am able to be prepared for just about any activity. Hiking, fishing, going out to dinner, hot springs or lounging with friends or distant family. At the end of the week, I’m going to do some laundry whether it be washing my clothes in washer or in the shower, bucket or near a stream and hanging them to dry but I’m ready for another week.

In 2013 I packed for a two week fishing and sightseeing trip to Japan. I took two backpacks, a 46 liter travel pack and a daypack to carry all of my gear. I carried my clothes, shoes, fishing boots and gear, computer, cords and toiletries. My packs were loaded tight and looking back on that trip, I was grossly over packed. I brought a lot of stuff I didn’t use.

Traveling light is a work in progress.

I took notes while I was on my trip. What I used over and over, what I didn’t use and more importantly, what I wanted to have along the next time.

In 2016 I packed for another two week trip to Japan, an adventure that included my multi-use backpack for a hiking and camping trip far up a river valley. I packed much more efficiently this time but again, it took two backpacks, the same 46 liter travel pack that doubled as a camping backpack and another duffle bag/backpack. Looking back on that trip, I carried just a little more than I needed but for what I did, carrying a sleeping bag and a camping list, rain jacket and specialized boots and clothes, I did pack well.

Often I travel for a week out of one small pack. I carry fishing gear and all that I need for travel. I move about comfortably and at no time do I feel that I am running out of clothes or in need of something. At the end of a seven night stay, I look back at what I use and what I didn’t. I note I was uncomfortable in a cotton shirt. I realized that I would have been more comfortable in shirts made of different materials, the cotton shirts that I took did not wear well in the slight humidity and I felt that I could not wear them more than one day.

Taking note of what works and what doesn't helps me to build my travel kit.

I often travel to the Hawaiian Islands and to the eastern portion of the USA. I have amassed a lot of good experiences while moving through airports, staying at hotels, hiking and camping. I used the gear that I took with me and I’m learning to leave things home that I don’t use. Through my experiences, I will detail the process that I use to create a pack list for travel where you are staying in a home, hotel or inn with daily outdoor activities.

Check the temperature, layering is key.

I've learned about performance layering from the Yvon Chouinard and his different business in creating clothing for mountaineering. Chouinard's company, Patagonia has introduced many new types of cloths, innovative crafting of clothing and base layers that are cool when it's hot and warm when its cold. Patagonia clothing is recognized around the world by mountaineers and has revolutionized the outdoor clothing industry. Patagonia catalogs contain great information on how to efficiently layer for a wide range of temperatures and weather. Much of my knowledge was sparked by content in these catalogs and quite a bit of my kit contains clothing by Patagonia. If you are new to lightweight travel, I suggest a look into a Patagonia catalog or their web site.

The layer next to your skin is important to consider. I’ve learned over the years that wicking fabrics or, a fabric that will pick up perspiration and vapor from your skin and “move” it outward towards the outer layer of the fabric is best. I’ve been using base layers by Patagonia for 20 years. It’s a fabric that is cool when it’s warm, warm when its cool and comfortable for exertion. Polyester type fabrics are extremely versatile and adaptable to many different environments and exertion levels, perfect for variable temperatures and minimal pack lists.

As it gets colder, a mid-layer or outer shell can be added. Thicker versions of the same fabric can be utilized for layering or as a warmer base layer in combination with a thin outer shell. The thicker base layer is typically for cooler temperatures but still can be worn as outerwear. The wide temperature range of each layer can be combined for cooler expected temperatures.

For outerwear, I use a light windbreaker that can be stuffed very small. This simple yet lightweight jacket can extend the temperature range of a thin base layer or serve as a light rain jacket. These jackets are so lightweight, they can be compacted into a small pocket of a daypack or in purse or clipped to a belt loop they are so small.

The lightweight insulated “puffy” jackets can be brought along for temperatures cooler temperatures down to below freezing. Utilizing the layering system, base, mid, puffy jacket and thin outer shell, you can regulate the comfort you want moving the sweat and moisture outward to evaporate for all temperatures found from the desert to the high mountain cold environments.

The pants that I choose are super important. Again, I use a couple of different thickness and both are made of basically the same type of polyester material that insulates yet breathes to move sweat away from my body. Again, this type of clothing is easy to compress, wears well and is easily adaptable to a wide range of temperatures. I can wet wade in the morning and by lunch time, I am completely dry and by dinner, I still look (and smell) presentable.

A favorite hat and gloves of performance fabrics is invaluable in colder climates. Worthy of the space in your pack, these items are typically very personal and taking them on the road from wearing them at home is comforting during travel.

Utilizing a layering system that is configurable for a wide range of climates is how I choose my packing list. Packing just one thin and thick base layer as well as a compactable puffy jacket and a thin windbreaker style jacket can give you a range of temperatures all the way down to freezing temps and all the way up to triple digit temperatures. Using the thin base layer can serve as sun protection and is comfortable even in the hot temperatures of the desert. This layering technique combined with the type of fabric chosen, all packs small yet provides a wide range of comfort.

Accessories for travel

There are a few accessories I carry that have really found their way into my pack list for being so valuable to my experience. Because these accessories have evolved to be made of compact and compressible materials, even if they are not utilized, it is a non-event to not use them but if they are utilized, their worth becomes evident.

Inside my travel pack, I carry a compact day pack. I use this for travel from my hotel, tent or couch wherever I am staying. I do not want to carry my 25lb carry on with all my stuff as it is full but I do want to carry the few things I will need for day trips. This small sailcloth daypack is comfortable using every single day of my travel. Able to carry a layer of clothes, a water bottle, jacket, lunch, fishing gear or anything else that I want to carry with me.

I choose a compact umbrella. My umbrella packs down to about the size of a large candy bar and is swallowed by the long pocket in my carry on pack. When I get to my destination, depending on my travel, I may transfer it to a compact daypack or just keep it out in my car or within reach during my excursions. An umbrella is worthy of travel even if it is sunny as I have often opened mine when waiting on transportation and or walking from one area to another to shield myself from the sun or rain.

I have found that a travel pillow is worth its weight and size. Mine is an inflatable that compacts down to a size of cards. Multiple hours of travel on a plane or in a car, I always take a nap. The travel pillow makes this needed rest possible and comfortable. With the travel pillow I carry a sleep mask too. It is so small and lightweight, it disappears in my bag. If I am on a long flight, I like to wear the mask when I sleep, it really helps to relax during the downtime of travel.

I also carry an inflatable sit pad. This item has literally saved my butt from long trips on a train and on a day hike. I put it in my daypack to pad the contents of my pack against the thin layer of cloth next to my back.

A light compact spread is something I have found that works in many situations. The one I use is aluminized on one side for heat retention or reflection. It’s soft and comfortable to use as a spread on grass, sand or snow or in the cabin of a plane or train. I have also used mine to keep warm on a long plane trip and in the car. It fits in a small stuff sack and disappears in my day pack or travel bag until I need it.

I often swim or take in a hot spring so I carry a small micro-fiber towel. This is a multi-use item that can make cleaning and drying yourself comfortable. If you are at an inn and the towels or laundry is questionable, you have your own. You can use it to sit on or dry yourself off. In a pinch, it can be used to clean up a spill.

For day to day cleaning, I use a small zippered case for my toothbrush, medicines and a minor first aid kit.

Invaluable when washing your clothes, I have a small dedicated clothes line. It was designed for this purpose and does not need clothes pins to fix drying clothes on it. You can clean your clothes in the shower or from the stream and hang them to dry.

Worthy of it’s weight and size is a tiny 500 lumen flashlight. Travelling to areas that are new to me, I often find myself in dark places devoid of any light. There are many small but powerful flashlights that will light up a very large area, you will be able to see very quickly, dark places become friendly with knowing what you are getting yourself into. These flashlights also power down to last a long time on one battery.

Smartphone as a multi use device.

The more I travel, the less I am carrying my laptop. My smart phone has a “talk to text” function that works very well for taking notes and writing. My phone also contains a great camera so a dedicated camera is not needed. I load movies and media on my phone so it’s important to remember headphones, a long charge cord and plug in adapter. For convenience, I carry a 6’ extension cord. I have also learned that I need a backup battery to charge my phone when power is not available. For international travel, I use a “wi-fi device” that takes the place of having a phone plan. All the communication functions that I need are Internet based and a phone plan just isn’t needed. I use Google maps and select the mode of transportation tab and it will bring up the data I need that is near by. 

For navigating, I use a GPS application that I can research and plan on my laptop at home and transfer the research notes, maps and routes to my phone. I've used this GPS application many times in the jungle, in the forest and it really helps me to keep my kit to a minimum.

Tenkara fishing equipment

My tenkara method is quite simple. I depend on what I know more than carrying variety of equipment. I have trimmed my kit quite small. I’ve made some changes to what I carry over the years but my kit can still be described as, “rod, line and fly.” If I’m on a trip to Japan, I carry dedicated wading gear. Specialized boots, wading spats, a net and my fishing bag as well as a couple of travel rods inside of my bag. I’m still looking for shoes that can double for wading and street wear. So I still carry my boots with me and at the end of the trip, when I’m ready to fly home, I will wrap them in plastic and stuff them in my bag. Typically, if I am carrying wading gear, I bring two bags, one a personal bag and one carry on, both fit easily into the overhead bin.

Bullet points for lightweight travel

1. Research the climate where you are going.
2. Pack for a week
3. Take notes for your next trip

My packing list

Clothes
Hat, Buff and sun gloves
Polarized Sunglasses
Lightweight long sleeve top (base layer)
Mid weight long sleeve top (mid layer)
Long sleeve button up shirt x 2
Boxers x 4
Performance fabric T-shirt
Performance lightweight stuffable wind jacket
OPTIONAL – Packable puffy vest or jacket
OPTIONAL – Rain shell
Performance fabric convertible pants
Track pants
Lightweight amphibious shorts
Performance Socks x 3
Shoes
Cheap Flip Flops

Accessories for travel
Sleeping mask and foam ear plugs
Inflatable travel pillow
Lightweight travel sheet
Compact umbrella
Lightweight stuffable day pack
Inflatable sit pad
Micro fiber towel
Travel clothes line
Small lightweight zippered toiletry case
Small travel size baby wipes

Electronics
Smart phone
Cigarette USB charger
Plug in charger
Long USB charging cord
6’ extension cord
An extra USB battery back up
A small 500 lumen flashlight

Other miscellaneous tips for travel include using a wi-fi device for travel. Often you need the internet and wi-fi is available but it is not free. Using a wi-fi device and plan for accessing the wi-fi is invaluable. It is much cheaper and more efficient than using a cell phone sim card. I found that using the sim card, I used a lot of data and there were times where cell coverage was not available or dropped and wi-fi was available. I highly suggest a wi-fi device coverage for traveling.

Google Maps is also excellent for travel. Pull up the app and select the tab for the type of travel you are doing. If you are walking, select the pedestrian tab and it will take you by foot, the transit tab will show you where the nearest train station is and when the next train arrives and where it is going. The bus tab does the same. The Google Maps app is the #1 used smartphone application that I use besides using the Airline app that I am traveling on for having your boarding documents inside your phone.

There are a couple of other resources available, one is the internet for help in designing a packing list. I find the one below a great help. I also use books and have used a lot of good information from the following book.

I find the below sites helpful for ideas, information and equipment for ultralight travel.

Osprey

Patagonia

Prana

Mountain Hardware

Sea to Summit

snarkynomad.com

Gaia GPS application

Tenkara USA

I hope you find the article useful. It is basically what I use when I travel. How I look at the destination and what I use while I am traveling. Travel is a highly personal adventure that is filled with choices in how comfortable you want to be. What you want to travel with and what you are willing to do without. The equipment here is what I personally choose. There is a world of choices out there for you to decide what works for you. The point of this article is not to sell you anything, it's about my experiences and how they may help you.

Cheers and take care.

* This article was originally written for Tenkara USA on November 17, 2017

Tenkara USA Hane

From the Tenkara USA site

The Hane (pronounced like "huh - nay") is a super compact all-around tenkara rod that will quickly become your favorite adventure rod. Measuring just under 15 inches when collapsed, but extending to 10ft 10in (330cm), the Hane fits nicely inside a small day pack, making this a superb tenkara rod for backpacking, bikefishing and other adventures. Whether you are targeting trout or bass, the Hane was designed to work well in your mountain streams as well as your urban fishing outings. It's a rod that can tag along in a variety of conditions without compromising durability. 

We decided to make this rod white, a unique color among our lineup. Part of the reason for that is the idea of having a rod that will blend in well with open skies above. Whereas a black rod does a good job blending in with canopy, its movement tends to stand out when fishing ponds and open meadow streams. The tip of the rod is black. 

Weight: 3.5 oz (100 g);
Closed length: 15" (38cm) 
Open lengths: 10'10" (330cm)*
Handle length:8" (20.5cm) 
Segments: 12

Tenkara USA Hane

I use a Hane as a back-up rod. It it stuffed in a backpack or my luggage, carry on, somewhere when I am on an adventure. 

I took mine to Kauai and caught the trout that were planted there in 1920.

Kauai Trout

Kauai Trout

The Hawaiian islands are a great destination for adventure! You can do anything from a lazy day at a pristine beach to a crazy night in a busy international city. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to have visited the islands many times over my lifetime. I lived there for three years and created many adventures on land, sea and in the air but I’ll keep this on the ground, toned down and target just one single fishing opportunity.

Mountain stream trout fishing in the headwaters of Waimea Canyon

For those of you that have not been to Hawaii, I will review the islands and give a little history of the trout there and what to expect.

The research for this adventure and my story was created using the tools of a modern traveling trout fisherman, the Internet, local knowledge, guide books and satellite mapping. I wrote the research and preparation on my iPad before the trip and kept a written diary during my experience and edited the story in the evenings after it happened.

The Hawaiian islands were originally inhabited by Polynesian sailors and voyagers in 300 to 800 A.D. the islands were later visited by the British explorer Capt. James Cook in 1778. In 1893, a group of American sugar cane planters overthrew the ruling Hawaiian monarchy. Soon after, the US marines came to protect the plantations from retaliation. The Hawaiian Islands became the 50th state in the United States of America in 1959.

The state of Hawaii is comprised of 8 islands that make up the group collectively known as Hawaii. There is the big island of Hawaii which is aptly named because of its size, Maui, O’ahu, which is where the famous North Shore of surfing is and Honolulu on the South shore which is the capital of Hawaii , Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Kauai and Nihau together make up the state.

The islands of Hawaii are the most remote islands in the world. Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 2,390 miles from California and 3,850 miles from Japan, the Hawaiian islands are the furthest from any landmass. Consequently, the Hawaiian chain of islands are 1,523 miles long making them the longest chain of islands. Kauai, the subject island of this story is among the rainiest places on the earth with more than 450 inches annually each year for the last 100 years. The highest point is on the big island of Hawaii, Mauna Kea at 13,796’ with the lowest point being at sea level along the coast lines. 

The trout of Hawaii

Trout are not native to Hawaii. They have been introduced. There are trout on at least four of the islands, O’ahu, Maui, Kauai and the big island. The original stocking of the streams in Kauai are well documented and were studied over a hundred years ago. At this time, there are at least three streams on Kauai that contain trout. The trout in these streams are “wild” trout naturally reproducing from the original stocking in 1920. At that time, 50,000 rainbow trout eggs that originated from Montana and Utah arrived in Honolulu harbor on a ship that carried them from California. The eggs were then transported to Kauai were they were taken to a hatchery to hatch the trout fry for introduction into the headwater streams of Waimea Canyon.

There is a commercial rainbow trout farm on Maui and a fisheries hatchery on Oahu that serves for stocking Hawaii’s public fishing lakes. I have heard from local fly fishers that there is a wild trout stream on the big island that takes a couple of hours hike to get to. Perhaps a target for later trips but for now, we will stay on track with the wild trout on Kauai.

This trip was a year in the making and I have had help from fishermen that wrote about their experiences in Kauai online. Three had been there and have caught wild trout. One of those people have been instrumental in the logistics of my trip and the other two have simply helped with their experience. Another angler passed on maps and notes about hiking in the area. If you are serious about catching the wild trout in Kauai, you will run upon at least a couple of people who have previously written about their own adventures. Out of the few angler/authors that I contacted, most have been enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge. I will join them and add to the knowledge base however, you will have to put the pieces together to build your own picture of adventure.

Tenkara fishing

As with all of my travel, I put together a minimal pack list for fishing the mountain streams. I am a tenkara fisher that enjoys the effective minimalism in tenkara. The equipment of this simple method of Japanese fly fishing can be succinctly described as “rod, line and fly.” Japanese tenkara is a form of fixed line mountain stream fishing for trout and what I’ll be doing in Kauai fits the description perfectly. I have quite a bit of travel experience using a tenkara fishing kit that is easy to pack inside of a small backpack. The rod is telescoping and the line is fixed to the end of the rod and it is lightweight yet easy to pin point cast. Tenkara is perfect for travel and I have pared down my kit from experience and use a tiny fishing bag that holds a little fly box, three card spools of different lines and a nipper as well as a Derf needle driver (forcep) for removing deeply swallowed flys.

The logistics of my equipment and travel to Kauai

My flight is direct into Lihue from Phoenix and I will be renting a economy car to get to the area where there is trout. I found a beach hostel in Lihue for about $30 per night. I only need a shower and facilities in the morning before I drive to fishing and back in the evening to clean up so this cheap and efficient alternative was a welcome find.

My fishing trip is before our family vacation so I have two full days to drive the hour and a half to the trail head and hike a couple of miles to get to my target. Having spent lots of time in the jungles of the islands, I know what to expect. I create a pack list and follow it closely. I will be catching up with my family on the big island after the Kauai leg of my vacation so there is more to my pack list than pure mountain stream fishing.

The freshwater fishing regulations for Kauai require a license. This can be purchased online and if you are camping in the area at one of the few remote campsites, you will need a permit. I could have just camped but the logistics of my vacation did not support taking my camping kit. The cheap economy rental car will get me close enough to the streams and I can park and hike the rest of the way. If I am successful in catching the trout on day one, I can use day two for exploring the island. I’m equipped for hiking and snorkeling too and there is a lot to do in Kauai.

I enjoy the “plan your work and work your plan” method for my adventures. This helps me stay focused on my goal with room to make dynamic decisions based on the conditions of travel. The target area is rainy so I chose a lightweight rain jacket and a rain skirt for my kit. I also use a compact daypack and keep my things in a dry bag. The area of trout is epic for hiking and photography so it is my intent to catch a few trout in a couple of the streams and move on. I want to sample fishing in the streams, enjoy Kauai, and move on to the family portion of our vacation.

The trip

I flew straight into Lihue. Its a six hour direct flight from Phoenix. I arrived at the airport, shuttled to the rental car, found the hostel and then a place to get a refreshment. There is a Kauai location of my favorite restaurant close by, I’m having a drink in paradise before I turn in. I’ve gone from extremely hot and dry climate to nice and misty rain, it’s time to relax and unwind, I’m on vacation and it’s just getting started.

I set the alarm early, 5a. Sunrise is 6 and it took about an hour and a half to get to the area up the canyon. I stopped at a lookout for a photo and finished out the drive. It was clear, sun out and clouds in the canyons on the lee sides. My notes were impeccable but I still made a major mistake. The TOPO did not distinguish a power line trail from a road and ten minutes into my 2+ mile hike and I’m in dense jungle and soaked from mist and dew. Mother Hawaii is making me work for it. I persevered and drop into the dirt and mud road that I was supposed to be driving on.

Nothing was going to stop me (except me)

I had my GPS on the phone and it took me an hour plus to get to my destination. The pack comes off, I rig and rest. The stream is choked with a thorn berry plant, sticky sharp wiry vine type tanglefoot and slick mud slopes, volcanic rocks here and there but I can see the trout in the coffee colored stained water. I thread a cast and drift a half second and STRIKE! On my first cast! But I miss him, and several others. I know I’m going to catch fish but when? I try to move along the stream but I’m tired and tense. I finally catch one, then two, falling into the rhythm of a tenkara angler.. I catch about a half dozen trout in this section.

It is pretty straight forward catching trout in Kauai. The guidance is there, clues here and there but you won’t get the cake from me.

You have to cook it up yourself from your own recipe. The people that helped me will help you just like I am helping you here.

I’m back on the beach now, finally on vacation. Research, make a plan and execute it. See what you have but be careful, you could make a huge problem for yourself just bushwhacking in the jungle. Make sure you know what you are doing and more importantly, draw limits for yourself and stay within them.

List of useful links

https://freshwater.ehawaii.gov/freshwater/

https://camping.ehawaii.gov/camping/welcome.html

http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dar/fishing/freshwater-fishing/

http://www.thegardenisland.com/2018/02/25/lifestyles/the-introduction-of-rainbow-trout-into-kauai/

http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/kokee.pdf

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1013331525088

https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/1905/v53n3-242-251.pdf?sequence=1

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Waialeale

https://www.to-hawaii.com/geography.php

Good luck and mahalo.

—————

My Kauai Trout pack list

Travel Documents

Flight reservation info (to Lihue)

Rental car reservation info (Lihue)

Beach hostel reservation info

Fishing license (printed)

Camping permit (printed)

—————

Pack List

Travel Duffle/Pack

Tote

Sling Bag

Stuffable backpack

20L stuff sack

Travel pillow

Travel blanket

Umbrella

Hat

Buff

Sunglasses

Aloha Shirt x 1

Rainjacket

Rain Skirt

Hoody Rashguard

Travel pants x 1

LS t-shirts x 3 (camouflage - raglan)

Track pants x 1

Lounge shorts

Shorts x 2

Surf trunks x 2

Travel underwear x 4

Hiking boots & socks

Flip flops

Sleeping Mask

Bathroom kit

Medicine

Sunscreen

iPhone + case, charger/cord

MacBook + charger/cord

iPad + case, pencil, charger/cord

AirPods

Nikon waterproof camera kit

—————

Tenkara list

Tenkara USA Hane rod

Micro Pack

lines x 3 ea

forceps

5x tippet

Kebari

Fishing license

Stuffable backpack

13L Dry Bag

Interview with Jeremy Shellhorn

Most of the time when I am interviewing or having a written conversation with a person, I ask them for a couple of paragraphs to tell me who they are. I meet Jeremy at the 2017 Tenkara USA Summit and he and his wife are super nice, like all the people that I have meet in Tenkara USA. I knew he was an artist and a family man but beyond that, I did not know much about him. So I asked him if he would pen a brief “about me” so that I could develop a deeper understanding of his interests to develop our Interview.

What caught my attention in his response was not the things that I thought I needed, it was an actual fishing moment describing resting a pool. He brought me there with his words.

I’m excited to have a chance to share a conversation with Jeremy with you as he is an interesting and aesthetic loving individual.

Adam: I’m not sure I discussed the process of these Interviews with you Jeremy so I will do it here. I write the thing in one single whack and send it to you. You fill it out and send it back. When I create the document, I think about the subject and then bring out his or her interests and hopefully get them to build a picture, a interesting inner view of who they are.

Your answer to my request about fishing, spooking a pool and then sitting down and drawing, waiting for the pool to resume it’s peace struck a cord with me. I was taken to one of my own streams, I have been fishing it for 50 or so years. There are distinct pools that always have dinks flitting about chasing flys on the surface. If you approach too quickly, they scatter for the undercut or the log. But if you sit down, have a drink, check your fly, lay back and relax for about 10 minutes or so, the trout slowly come back to their feeding and playfulness.

“You have obviously been fishing for a while so let me thank you for taking this interview and sharing with us a little bit about you.”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Thanks for interviewing me. Yes, I guess I have been fishing for most of my life. I am glad my Dad took me when I was young. My family has always encouraged me to pursue the things I love to do…fishing and design. I am very very fortunate.

Adam: You write very well, it is obvious to me that you are educated and practiced in word composition. You are an artist as well. I’ve had many discussion with artist who prefer to be called “skilled craftsmen” and still, to this day, my opinion is that a craftsman that is skilled creates art. A bamboo fly rod for example can be a thing of beauty, a work of art. I’ve been strongly told that it’s a craft and nothing more (I don’t think it is only a craft) and that’s it.

“Do you see your work as a craft or is it art?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Hmmm. To me that doesn’t really matter much. I am trained as a graphic designer, so I tend to look at most of what I do as design, but to me there is a craftsmanship to it for sure. The materiality, the way elements work together, the spaces, the moments, the details, the colors…I look at those relationships as crafted and I make sure each one is considered much like a bamboo fly rod maker would…the taper, the finish, the wraps etc. they all add up to a whole.

Hopefully that whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Kinda like tenkara….I just read this passage from The Tea Ceremony by Sen’o Tanaka. In the foreward Edwin Reischauer writes about the tea ceremony much like some might write about tenkara: 

Neither of us studied how to make or serve the tea, but we did learn how to play our role as participants in what became increasingly a deeply felt aesthetic and spiritual experience. In a sense we moved into a different world in time and space. There was no schedule. Everything moved at a slow pace quite detached from the rest of our lives. Our attention focused down to just a few objects of beauty, again quite removed from the world of overflowing abundance outside. There was a sense of sinking deep within one’s self, of being at harmony with nature, of finding all in very little.

Wow, I guess I just want to make something that conjures that feeling…design or craft or art.

As far as whether my work is art or not, well that is a lot about context and what the audience thinks. (Up to you!) Some things I make to express something coming from myself and my experiences…I guess that could be art, but most of what I make there is a specific communication goal in mind, a desired effect or change in mind, a specific audience and a specific place that audience will experience the work….to me I think of that as more design. But it doesn’t really matter. To me each thing I make asks a question. “What if?”

Adam: In my line of work, I meet all kinds of people. I test everyone from the poor to high profile sports personalities, lawyers, police, firemen, housewives and because I was born and grew up in the area where I work, I test my friends. It’s a great job, a little stressful but I meet a wonderful and varied public in my line of work.

I remember testing a prominant NBA basketball player, established, very good at what he does and I often ask people, “what do you do besides what you do?” The answer came back from this young man, “I collect art.” NBA players make a lot of money and I know this guy is paid well so I was thinking to myself, I wonder what artists he likes. So I just went through the art that I enjoy. I’m almost 60, I was a young man in the 80’s so I like street art from New York, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

So I told him that.

“You like Jean-Michel?”

Yes, I do.

“We must talk.”

We walked outside and had a beautiful discussion about his art collection for about 20 minutes. I am so oposite of this young milionaire popular sports personality. But for 20 minutes, we were together, talking, entertaining each other with our common love of this artist.

Jeremy, I love art and especially Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work.

“Can you tell us a story about sharing your love of art?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: I have taught design for about 15 years so I have had the privilege to share my love of art and design a lot to amazing students. It’s pretty amazing to introduce a student to an artist or designer’s work and have them get excited and inspired to do good work. But probably my favorite stories of sharing art are the times when folks have shared art with me or we have seen things together. I saw an Andrew Wyeth retrospective when I was in high school at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. My parents took me and to see someone like Wyeth pursue his art for so long, in such detail and for it to have such a clear distinct visual language that is so clearly theirs. You definitely know a Wyeth from the paint, the light and shadows to the subject to the color palette. An amazing drawer. Also something so bittersweet about the work…kinda like the midwest/plains in the fall or early spring.

Another important art sharing moment was when my wife took me to see the Charles and Ray Eames Retrospective in St. Louis for my birthday one year. I was inspired to be a design educator that day or at least go back to school and get my masters degree. They looked at design with a capital D, they designed everything (furniture, films, exhibits, graphics, houses) and that exhibit made me realize that design is a powerful process not just a thing. More importantly it is a verb.

Adam: I understand you are a graphic artist. I’ve worked with a few to develop logo’s for projects I worked on. From working with these guys, I understand that the graphic artist listens to the person he is working with to come up with the work that appeals to the request which appeals to the target audiance.

“Is that how it works? Will you help me in understanding this process from your perspective?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Yes that is pretty much it. But I will go into the weeds for a bit. (just like my fishing and hey, I am a professor, so I like to talk about this stuff. Sorry in advance.)

Design at its most basic definition is about change. It is the process from turning an existing situation into a preferred one. So everyone is a designer. As a graphic designer I give meaningful visual form (what something looks like) to content in a variety of media: on screen and in print, from very small hand held experiences to interactive 3D environments, from logos to books, from posters to websites. But what identifies me most uniquely as a designer with expertise in visual communication or graphic design is my ability to communicate specific messages to specific audiences through the thoughtful and artistic manipulation of that visual form: words (typography) and pictures.

So the process is really about finding the goodness of fit between who wants to say what, to whom, in what context and with what effect.

So in your example of the logo…it needs to identify an organization, communicate something about that organization, be able to work across lots of different situations and also be visually memorable. Fun stuff.

Adam: I have an extensive library of old Japanese tenkara books. I’ve been fortunate to have the help of many tenkara anglers in Japan from many regions help me with my collection. I gathered them together to learn about tenkara. The contents of the books are amazing and I don’t even read very much at all in the way of Japanese written word.

But I do understand pictures, diagrams and art.

There is a particular writer, Soseki Yamamoto who illustrates many of his books prolifically with tenkara subject art. Beautiful pieces between chapters that serve to deepen the context of the subject.

I see the same thing when I see your work. Your eye for aestheticism is amazing. You have a knack for conceptualizing the term, the more you know, the less you need in your art. Some of quite minimal yet that minimalism does not detract from the subject and beauty of your scene.

“How do you do that? How do you take a few lines and put it together to give it such great meaning?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Soseki Yamamoto sounds amazing. I would love to see these pictures! Please share.

In the afterword for the book In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki,“ Thomas J. Harper writes, One of the oldest and most deeply ingrained of Japanese attitudes to literary style holds that too obvious a structure is contrivance, that too orderly an exposition falsifies the rumination of the heart, that the truest representation of the searching mind is just to “follow the brush.”

So I like to think I just sort follow the pencil. I draw a lot in my sketchbook. Most of the ideas kinda form as I go. Searching. Moving. Connecting to things I see on the water. Just playing. I like to draw on the stream bank, underneath a shady tree, in the mountains catching my breath on a hike…thinking about the places our minds wander to when we are fishing. Then I like to go back to things I have drawn in the field, revisit those ideas I had and try to distill them down as simply as I can.

Adam: I love to travel for tenkara. I’m starting to think of other places than Colorado to explore with my tenkara rod. In the next six months, I will go to Kauai and head up into the mountains and find a couple of streams that were planted with rainbow trout a 100 years ago. The streams are self sustaining and I’be been told that more people that have climbed Everest than have caught the rainbow trout in this stream.

“Have you travelled with your art?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Yes I have been fortunate to travel a lot. I have gotten to travel a bunch with Daniel Galhardo and Tenkara USA, TJ and John. Whether it is a fly fishing show, or during the book tour as the designer-in-residence of sorts for Tenkara USA I love getting to meet folks that have seen my work and enjoy it. Sometimes I will bring along some prints and display those too.

As a design professor I have gotten to travel to Germany, Italy, England, Taipei, New Zealand, Switzerland and all throughout the states…a few of those places I brought a tenkara rod with me too. I felt like Izaak Walton when I caught some brown trout outside of Sheffield England after a Design and Healthcare Conference at the university there. Had a good afternoon on the river then walked to a pub to celebrate.

I will be traveling to Japan this summer for the first time on a research trip for a tenkara book project, so definitely looking forward to that. Would love to meet some tenkara anglers over there, especially any other art and design sympathetic ones for some fishing and drawing.

Adam: I live just a few miles away from where I was born. I travel quite a bit but I always end up in Phoenix, my home. My favorite stream is about a two hour drive away, another is 4 hours. That’s 2 and 4 hours of driving on a freeway and an Interstate highway. Both are in two different directions of the compass and in very different types of geology.

“Can you tell us about your favorite streams?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: As a flat lander in Kansas I don’t have any local streams I fish. I do have some wonderful farm ponds I get to fish, but I need to drive a bit to get to some cold water streams. My in-laws have a house in the Ozarks, so I have gotten to explore Missouri trout streams quite a bit and love the smaller spring creeks there. Perfect Rhodo and Sato water.

My students and I work get to work with Rocky Mountain National Park through my Designing Outside studio I teach and between that and working with Tenkara USA & the Tenkara Summit I have been fortunate to fish in and around Boulder, Estes Park and some other places in Colorado’s front range quite a bit. I love to fish the high gradient streams in the park on the way up to those pristine alpine lakes. Tenkara really shines in that water and if you are willing to walk you get rewarded with quiet places full of hungry wild trout. Fish on the hike up, take a break and have lunch by the lake, then fish your hike down. That’s a good day.

I was able to fish the Driftless area of Wisconsin last spring with Daniel, Ed Engle and Jason Randall and I really love those streams. It was like I was on a farm in Kansas, cows and all…but all the sudden there is this meandering crystal clear creek with big brown trout in it.

Adam: We got a chance to talk just a little bit at the Summit last year. I remember around the table in the house, we began to talk about Takenobu. I like it how Daniel has Takenobu as his background music in his videos, narrating about what he does and then we arrived at the Summit venue and the same music is playing. Instantly my memories where taken back to those videos, the music stiched together the memories.

Now it’s all memories whenever I hear Takenobu.

Daniel is very aesthetic and he does a fantastic job.

And now you are doing art for Tenkara USA and I am begining to see that same stitching together with your graphics, the book, Tenkara USA.

Without going on about it, I really am glad to see your work like this.

“Any thoughts on what I just wrote? The stitching together, the consistency?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Great. I love Takenobu and sometimes listen to him while I am sketching stuff. I am so glad you see the consistency and the common visual language stitched across the Tenkara USA brand. Daniel and I have worked hard to create something unique, that expresses that paradox of tenkara…a complex simplicity of sorts. Hopefully when someone sees the white space, the line drawings, the graphics, packaging, marketing materials, the book etc. they know it is coming from Tenkara USA.

Adam: Music imprints memories for me. I remember listening to a Frank Ocean album that came out on my neighborhood walks. I walk a few times a week to stay in some sort of shape. I listen to music and my mind drifts. It helps me escape to another place and I end up pushing myself a little on my walk or hike in the hills in Phoenix. I ended up listening to this same album as I walked through the streets of Tokyo on my last trip.

I had listened to another album from Frank Ocean (one of my favorite artists) on my first trip to Japan and I wanted to imprint those memories. This imprinting, I remember where it started, down in Mexico on a beach fishing trip watching the sunset…

“I’m wondering from your perspective if you have this sort of imprinting from creating your works? Do you imprint a time and place where you come up with a idea for a drawing?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Oh yes, that imprinting as you call it happens a lot. That is one of the joys of a sketchbook or a diary is being able to go back to it and re-remember that hike or fishing trip…it takes you back for sure. I listened to Yo La Tengo's album Summer Sun on repeat while I was finishing my thesis at North Carolina State University. My wife took me to see them play a few years after I graduated and honestly it was kinda weird to listen to that music years later in a different place. It immediately transported my back to my time in grad school.

I’d love to do more commissions where I go fishing with folks, sketch during our trip and refine those sketches for them to have as keepsakes/prints for their homes. I think it would be a good way to relive days on the stream. It’s just a different way to document a trip…in some ways it seems more tenkara-like.

Adam: I have made a few things out of wood that I really enjoy. Radio control sailplanes, bamboo fly rods, I love working with wood. It is rare but once I made a rod that came out much better than I had invisioned. It was a complex rod that did not have a cork handle but instead a swelled butt of bamboo and wood. 18 pieces of wood had to come together in a single point and I remember the music I was listening to at the time.

“Have you created any work that came out even better than you thought it would?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Yes. Although a lot more work doesn’t come out as good as what I am envisioning in my head!

Recently I wanted to give my self some parameters and experiment with not using any line in my drawings, so I just used torn paper. I am working on some collages and I am liking how they are turning out. I had no idea or expectation and just wanted to make a path by walking. It’s kinda like the one-fly method…it forces you to be creative and try new things.

Adam: I think my best teacher that I have ever had was failure. I’m not alone in this. Failure is inevetible in some of the things I have done. But it is this failure that gives me insight to what I want to accomplish. It helps me to have respect for what I do and it provides me with the humility that makes me who I am.

I still feel that I am a failure at writing. The thoughts in my head and what comes out on paper and the overall effect of what I do, I’m about 50%. A lot of people enjoy these interviews and there are some that say that I suck, to put it bluntly. Early on I’ve learned that it’s not possible for me to make everyone happy.

“Have you ever had someone reject your work? If you have, how do you look at failure?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Ah failure. As an educator I appreciate failure. The design process is really about failing early and often and learning your way to the best solution. IDEO a U.S. design firm has a saying that goes something like this: Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius. I love that saying. I fail a lot, but I fail on purpose iteratively to learn what design works, looks good, reads correctly and then I refine.

I am sure people reject my work all the time, but I am too busy making new work to notice :)No seriously if they reject it and let me know about it in a constructive way, then I try to just consider it feedback and then ask how can I learn from it. It is also important to have trusted friends that love you and will give you an honest opinion for back up too.

Adam: Although I am not classically educated, I was sought after by a medical university for the work I do. My director was a pioneer in his field and I had worked with him in the past. Together we created a high fidelity teaming platform that is cutting edge in the field of heart surgery.

Eventually I had to quit, working for professors was difficult, they are constantly improving the process and at one point I was talking to a German software engineer, an American software engineer and a biomedical scientist and a demanding professor trying to get a heart lung machine to mesh with data logging software. I was able to get the job done but my compensation was not commisurate with the amount of stress that I was going through to do my job. 5 years was about all that I could do.

“Has your education helped you as a graphic artist? Your fishing? Is art a process of practice at an experinced level?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Yes! I have had great teachers that have taught me well. I am really grateful.

Design has taught me a lot about fishing…they can be looked at similarly. In both Design and Fishing you read the stream (situation), see what is happening, make some goals, problem solve possible solutions, test them out, get feedback (any bites?) and start the process all over again. What I love about tenkara is that the equipment stays pretty much the same, it is the constant and the creativity is in how I am using what I have: rod, line and fly.

The simplicity is freeing. Much like in design…its just as important what isn’t in the design and what it is the design.

Art is a process, just like learning. I am a curious person, I enjoy the search, so I love the process and usually have a bunch of projects going on at once, without getting stressed too easily. If you don’t enjoy the process then you probably don’t like fishing…its all about the process. That’s why it isn’t called catching right?

Adam: I think it is important to ask some tough questions. It’s where the good stuff lives.

Jeremy, tenkara is becoming a way of life for me. Not like religion, efficiency. I have learned efficiency through my introduction to tenkara and the study that I have done from it.

I now filter much of what I do on a daily basis from learning about tenkara.

“Do I need this or do I just want it?”

“How can I accomplish this task in the most efficient way possible?”

“Has tenkara or this efficiency affected you in any way? In your art?”

Jeremy Shellhorn: For sure. I think I have probably shown that in my previous answers! and I am working on a book project that speaks to this.

10 Colors : Tenkara By Design will explore how tenkara is a wonderful model for designers; a process for creating a goodness of fit between a design solution and the context in which it is situated in. The book will also illustrate how tenkara fisherman from their earliest invention of the method to its current practice have designed smart fishing tools that are effective as well as having crafted beautiful visually-rich artful objects worthy of examination and documentation. Early tenkara anglers fished for sustenance, and made their living by selling their catch; contemporary tenkara anglers fish for entertainment and release their fish back into the rivers and streams they recreate in. But for both anglers I believe tenkara is greater than the sum of its parts (rod, line, fly and fish). There is an experiential aspect to tenkara, a mystery below the surface. A connection to nature through moving water. The feeling of casting and hooking a fish—the pull, the fight, the beauty of pulling the fish out of the water, the anticipation, and the waiting. The hike into the mountains, the stream side camp, the sounds. An old Japanese tenkara saying states that if you ask 10 tenkara anglers to show them the fly they use and they will show you ten different tenkara flies. Thus, in a play of words, it is often joked that “tenkara has ten colors”. Tenkara originated and existed in Japan for hundreds of years before being introduced to the U.S. in 2009, since then it has more “colors” than ever before. This book looks at the “colors” of tenkara: the art, design, crafts, ideas, and objects from its past and its current practice; trying to paint a beautiful picture for the reader. I think it is a visual arresting way to fly fish and hope the book expresses that.

Adam: Thank you so much for your time. I love your art and your work with Tenkara USA. I appreciate who you are from meeting you and I hope we get to spend some more time together in the future.

“Please use this opportunity to write anything you would like to say.”

Jeremy Shellhorn: Thanks Adam for the opportunity! I appreciate the kind words and look forward to fishing and hanging with you again soon.

To see examples of Jeremy's art and design work please visit www.jeremyshellhorn.com and or shoot him a line @ shellhorn@tenkarausa.com

Yamamoto Soseki illustration

Yamamoto Soseki illustration

Yamamoto Soseki illustration

Yamamoto Soseki illustration

Yamamoto Soseki illustration

Yamamoto Soseki