Well, I leave in three days. Something tells me its about time to start packing.
I am taking a backpackers pack and a daypack, and the amount
of things I have to pack is painful. I have to keep it under 40 lbs. Seriously?
Here’s what I’ve got so far.
weight: 46 lbs. Ahh. Ok, I guess I can
go from 14 shirts to 10 and ditch the extra sweatshirt. I decide to recruit my mom and dad to offer
some expert advice and to force me to unpack some things that I know I wouldn’t
take out on my own. No, Dad, I absolutely am not giving up my pillow. Out of the question. My neck hates me when I sleep on a rock.
me?? I have nothing else I can take out. Let’s sleep on this one.
packing cubes and organizer gadgets. Hopefully this helps. Also, I decided to listen to my mom and let her help me organize everything. This was an important step in the process.
Third Packing attempt, weight: 41 lbs. Ugh. Ditch 3 more
shirts, 3 more pairs of socks, and move my chacos (2 lbs!) to the outside of my
day pack.
stuff fit in my pack! It’s true, it didn’t. A lot of stuff didn’t make the cut.
The saddest thing I had to ditch: my Australian speedo. I am still mourning the
loss of this close companion (or, I may just be trying to throw all my
teammates off and surprise them with some speedo action 4 months down the road.
I will neither confirm nor deny).
I consider myself a pretty experienced packer, but this was
a pain in the butt! Throughout this packing experience I was constantly
realizing the things that I thought I absolutely needed but really didn’t.
Truth be told, I think I’m still in denial over the loss of the speedo and my
favorite Guatemalan market shorts, but I’ve realized I really don’t need these
things, and that this trip is about giving up our luxuries, our comforts, and
those “extra” things that aren’t really necessary. And honestly, I bet after a
month or two of lugging this backpack around, I’m gonna wanna ditch everything
in there anyway. Why not start now?
Ecuador in three days. I am so ready. Until next time,
Hasta luego!
