So, I got this beautiful blue backpack for Christmas last year from REI. It was magical how much could fit inside of it and such a work of engineering with its assortment of pockets, zippers, and buckles. I loved it and was excited to finally use it to its fullest potential at training camp last week. I packed everything I needed in that bad boy (minus the aforementioned flashlight) with room to spare. I strapped my tent and sleeping mat to it, which definitely made it look like a real “outdoorsy” person’s pack. You know, like someone who goes outside more than just to walk to the alley and get in their car and then walks through a parking structure and into a hospital. Number of seconds in a day: 86,400 (thank you Kris Allen) Seconds spent in fresh air: 47. The image was more of someone who knows what a leatherman is, who doesn’t even blink when told to pee in the woods, and who likely owns several pairs of keens. I’m headed in that direction, but not quite there yet. I still blink a lot. Anyway, back to the magical backpack. Somewhere between being thrown around in baggage claim and getting sat on like a bean bag chair, one of the buckles broke on the strap that holds my tent and sleeping mat on. And clearly that buckle is important in order to uphold my blossoming new image. So, today I went back to REI just to get a new little buckle. They were very helpful and said that they wouldn’t even charge me for a new little plastic gem. Awesome. I figured as long as I was there, I could have them adjust my backpack to fit me a little bit better. After an impressively thorough torso-measuring procedure, I learned that if my torso were in fact half an inch longer I would probably need a men’s pack in order for it to fit properly and unbeknownst to me my beautiful blue backpack was a women’s small, and unfortunately those two facts don’t really jive too well. But, now comes reason number #564 why REI is awesome. My year-old backpack that I have clearly admitted to using (and breaking) and that may or may not have had a bottle of shampoo explode inside of on the plane ride home, leaving it with lingering scent of herbal essences could in fact still be returned. Seriously? How amazing is that. They gave me $164 dollars of store credit towards a backpack that would actually fit me and my super-sized torso. I totally went for it and just had to pay the small difference between the store credit and the cost of the new pack. The new one is lovely and green. And rests on my hips instead of my ribs. I definitely think jolly green will serve me well as I circumnavigate the globe. With every passing day, the adventure that I am about to embark on becomes more and more real, and I couldn’t be any more excited.
