Keepin’ this destination to myself for now, but although I was born in California, I’d never have moved here. I don’t thrive in hot weather, that’s for sure. Genetic makeup, I reckon?
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I spend a year and a half in San Diego whilst building a factory across the border in Tecate, Mexico. San Diego is one of the best climates on the planet, a great city and I could have easily lived there forever. 65-75 year round.
The rest of Cali….meh. But I’d love there over Texas any day.
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Yes, living alas too far inland 120-ish miles up the coast from San Diego’s a different climate but SD does have perfect weather. A good friend lives in Coronado and I envy his perch! But unlike many exiting the Golden State, which is looking more and more tarnished to this native, I’d never move to Texas, Las Vegas, or Arizona, that’s for sure…
Thanks for the tips all along, @eric.kiser. While I save up for that Zoom, I have a tiny Valeton Rushead headphone amp. Is there a decent portable external speaker for practice\ monitoring that you’d recommend (preferably w\ a wall adapter)? I assume a standard portable type of amp would not work as well, as I reckon that any headphone amp works as a pre-amp. I figure there’s a headset-off option out there.
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Any bluetooth speaker with a line input will do. You just plug the headphone output into the line input from the speaker.
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This was the first option that occurred to me, but I wondered about blowing out the speaker, vs perhaps a little “toy amp” that theoretically could handle the input…
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Don’t think you would blow out a speaker that quickly. The headphone output is a stereo signal (so it is not like a real amp that has to power your speaker). The volume depends on the quality/specs of your bluetooth speaker. You can even hook up a 1200 watt PA speaker if it has a line input 
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I suggested the Zoom B1Four because it has a lot of features for the $100 price tag and it’s small with a battery option.
If your good with taking the Rumble Studio 40, then go with the double box idea above. The Studio 40 is an amazing amp with more features than you can shake a stick at.
There are so many ways you can set things up, it’s hard to make a suggestion with out knowing more about what you want out of it.
Are you good with taking the Studio 40?
Is it important to save that space for taking other things?
Would you rather have a more minimalist setup?
Do you prefer to use headphones or not?
Let us know where your head is on all this and we’ll try to come up with more solutions.
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Great advice, and this is coming from someone that hates pedals. 
In 50 years I have only purchased 3 pedals, 2 of which were this year, when starting Bass. A Tube Screamer I use on my guitars and a Zoom B1X4 and an in line Bass tuner, although the Zoom B1Four has an integrated tuner.
I’m retired now, but when I was working, my job took me to over 60 countries. I just took my 1/2 size acoustic with me because I was not immigrating but just overseas for a month or so.
One other thing I would recommend @DrJLMurphy to consider are strings.
Take three or four sets with you. I found a lot countries that either there were no local music stores or the prices were absolutely ridiculous by North American standards.
Just my thoughts.
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Very very good point with the strings @Celticstar especially with a country with no postal service. There could be a few more smaller consumables worth thinking about too ( maybe picks if that’s your thing for example)
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Thanks again, @eric.kiser and @Paul for your advice. My Plan B if I don’t ship the Rumble 40 is to look into, say, an Ibanez 10b practice amp. The others at that price point are much bigger, nearing the size of the Studio 40. The Ibanez is the only one that seems small enough to fit realistically into a backpack or suitcase…except of course for the likes of the Blackstar Fly3 or those Joyo $50 ones on Amazon. I do have a Valeton Rushead Max pocket amp for effects. I have used that happily with headphones, but for extended periods (I wear glasses and after a while “cans” get to me) I’d prefer an external speaker. I tried this pocket amp (which lacks Bluetooth if I’m not mistaken) with a couple of portable speakers. One picked up no signal another was very dim., a third spotty, registering sporadically some notes. I wonder if the little bass amps are markedly better?
As to minimalism, I note a great approval here of the Boom B14(X) effects pedal. I was wondering how this compares the Valeton GP100 modulation pedal model (the kind of item I am attracted to)? Or, as to effects without pedal, such as the Valeton Dapper effects series, for instance, or even far cheaper ones like the Wine Cellar pedals driver.
I figure I want to lay the groundwork for products that can give me a foundation for more equipment as my proficiency grows (if not my budget, thanks to the wife). Thanks.
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I can’t really give advice about the Boom B14 but how I play at home these days is with 3 pedals and an external keyboard speaker. The 3 pedals are a compressor > preamp > cabsim. The cabsim I hook up via the headphone output to my keyboard amp input with a stereo cable. The cool thing about this is that I can simulate different cabinets on very low volume. Another option is that I hook up my laptop on the keyboard amp as monitor.
My opinion on this matter is that a bass amp only works if you go big. You really want to hear that low-end. Anything below your 40W Rumble won’t really cut it imo. I got the Blackstar and it sounds pretty decent for it’s price but don’t expect it sounds like a full Ampeg stack.
Hope this info helps a bit!
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Agree totally. I have the Joyo amp for when I am up in the living room. It works for its intended purpose, but would not want it as my main amp/cab all the time. I would lean to headphones instead of something this small on a regular basis, and I am not a fan of headphones either. I am very very curious about the new Boss Waza headphones coming out though.
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I’m not trying to be pedantic but I have to mention, the Studio 40 already has most, if not all, of that functionality?
If you want all of that and be able to play amplified, the Studio 40 is going to be really hard to beat when it comes to cost and weight.
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Thanks, @Paul @John_E @eric.kiser…when it comes to bass, pedantry welcome. I am picking up a well-used Ibanez 10b for now, as I can fit it into luggage. I appreciate you all chiming in!
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Cool. I hope it works out for you. Don’t hesitate to ask more questions if you need anything. 
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