I opened up Facebook the other day to find a message from my cousin, Jenna Hartkopf, who is on the race right now, she's had a little advice, so I thought I'd share.
I've heard/read a lot of this stuff through reading other racer's blogs, but there are some great little nuggets in here as well (like bring a pack of your favorite seasoning.)
It's just fun to hear from someone currently on the race!
I realize you still have a while before you leave, but I’m headed to Africa so I thought I’d send this while I have the internet. One thing I wasn’t aware of until like two weeks before training camp was that you need all your gear for it. Meaning tent, sleeping bag (although it’s going to be HOT when you go so you may not need that), sleeping pad (I bought a really nice one and love it! My whole squad lived in tents month 2 and the people with crappy or no sleeping pad really regret it), backpack and such.
Some things I either brought that I love or wish I brought are:
* an ipod touch- I realize they’re expensive, but they’re super nice to have when you end up somewhere with internet and didn’t want to lug your computer along
* packing cubes- they are a wonderful way to stay organized in your pack
* an external hard drive- it’s really nice bringing movies and borrowing them from people, a lot of people who didn’t bring one ended up buying one at the airport
* laundry bag- just a smallish bag to throw your dirty clothes in to carry to the bucket you are going to wash them in
* everything soap from REI- it’s this little bottle of blue soap that you can use for washing clothes or washing your hair. I’ve used mine a few times when we haven’t had time or a place to wash clothes and you need to wash something in the sink. Or when you need to wash your mosquito net in the shower because the person who borrowed it made it way more dirty than you realized…this just happened to me and I’m so glad I realized it before I got to Africa.
* a little pack of your favorite seasoning – depending on where you are and how your meals are being prepared, it’s really nice to have something to spice up your food. On your budget you rarely buy anything except salt and when you cook for yourselves your team will love you for providing a little extra flavor!
* carabineers- you’ll be surprised at all the uses you find for these things especially when it comes to tying your shoes on the outside of your backpack and such
* a waterbottle- some people’s blogs said don’t bother with this. They are wrong! Everyone who didn’t bring one has bought one or complained a lot about not having one. I have a carabineer on my waterbottle and just hook it to my pants pocket and it’s the best. It’s also a good idea to wrap duct tape around your water bottle. Duct tape always comes in handy and it’s nice not to waste space on a whole roll
* an airporter- your pack will get beaten up! Having an airporter saves it from getting destroyed on the airplanes. If you can find a colored one (I don’t know if they sell not black ones) that would be great because everyone has a black one. So at least decorate it or throw some lines of colored duct tape on it so it’s easy to pick out from all the other ones
That’s all I can think of right now. If I think of anything else I’ll let you know as long as I can find the internet somewhere. One last thing: make sure your backpack is the correct size for your back. When you have to walk an hour carrying a 50 pound backpack, it helps when it’s actually resting on your back and not all on your shoulders. REI can be expensive, but the people there were so helpful with figuring everything out so that’s what I would suggest. Other than that, I hope you have a blast! Get ready for training camp, because it’s pretty dang insane! I'm also not sure how you feel about speaking in tongues and such, but at training camp people will be speaking in tongues. I had never seen it done before and the girl I talked to about the race prepared me before hand which was nice. I believed in it and all, it was just very new to me and still is. So I thought I would do you the same courtesy as she did me and inform you. Once again, if you have any questions please let me know!
God bless,
Jenna
