Tonight, September 7, is my last night in my house in North Carolina for the next nine months. I leave tomorrow morning for launch in Atlanta, so I’ve been spending all day today packing, saying goodbyes, spending time with my mom and dogs, running last-minute errands, and making sure I’m fully prepared to rock n’ roll.
I’m heading to launch a day early because I need to go through some extra training since I am holding a position as a Logistics Coordinator for my squad.
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what kind of stuff I’m packing and how I’m going to fit my life into two backpacks, and I thought that it was great information to share with whoever is curious! Whether that’s future racers, supporters, friends, etc.
So I’ll start off with what clothes I’m bringing:
Five pairs of ~dress code appropriate~ shorts
Two pairs of jeans, even though they’re bulky. One pair of leggings for travel days, sleeping, or when it’s cold and need an extra layer. One pair of long pants.
My funky overalls, a maxi-dress, and one skirt (two are pictured here but I decided to only take one). I don’t usually wear skirts or dresses that often, but we can’t show our ankles in some of the places we will be doing ministry in, so alas- I will wear the darn skirt.
Seven t-shirts and two button downs that I love to wear 🙂
Fifteen pairs of socks, twenty underwear, six bras, and one one-piece bathing suit.
Two jackets. One light-weight wind breaker, and the other is a super light-weight rain jacket.
Here’s all of those clothes packed into packing cubes and what not. I got a space bag that I can roll all the air out of, so that’s handy! I put the clothes I won’t need until I get to Swaziland in that. I feel as though I did pretty well with keeping the clothes to only what I’ll need but it looks like so much! It was interesting to get it all to fit but HEY it happened, and that’s all that matters.
Toiletries!! All the basics, really. Shower stuff, a little make-up, deodorant, etc. The two things here that aren’t really the basics are the REI quick-dry towel and the Tea Tree oil. The quick dry towel is about the size of a dish towel, and is supposed to serve as my shower towel. I already know I’m going to be finding an alternative to that in country. The Tea Tree oil is handy for all kinds of stuff- antiseptic, on your skin, insect repellent, get rid of lice (which sadly is a very real possibility), and antibacterial purposes. Cool stuff.
All the toiletries are in this one bag. I made sure to put any liquids, such as shampoo and stuff, in plastic baggies. Not trying to deal with anything leaking, am I right?
This is one of my favorite parts of packing- This is my sleeping bag and tent, and both of them will fit into the green “stuff-sack” on the right, which will compress them both down into…
BOOM look how small it got!! Love it.
Here’s all of my gear! Sleeping bag and tent in the stuff sack, footprint, tent poles, airporter (which is basically just a duffel bag that I can put my big pack into while we’re in airports in order to prevent the straps from getting caught on anything or getting holes in my pack), sleeping bag liner, sleeping pad, and my eno. I forgot to include my travel pillow in this picture.
Here’s a lot of stuff that I’ll be keeping in my day pack, but this isn’t everything. Other things that will be included in my day pack are: my bible, pocket knife, two hats, another journal for logistics notes, my passport and other important documents, and a book and travel-size game of checkers for these long plane rides.
And voilà!! My big pack weighs about 36 lbs and my day pack about 15 lbs. Both of these backpacks are definitely packed as full as I could get them, which I’m sure I’ll regret later. But I’ll also learn what I need and don’t need when I’m on the field.
I think I’m well prepared! I’ve got everything I need, an eager attitude to learn and grow, and the Holy Spirit inside me- seems like a great way to live to me. I’M READY TO ROCK N’ ROLL. I LOVED training camp and I can’t wait to be back with everyone at launch.
Fundraising is going really well. As of right now, I’m at $10,002 out of $15,800. $5,800 more to go! I’m still trying to find supporters and anyone who is at all interested in being a part of this journey! 🙂 My mom is AMAZING and is helping me fundraise while I’m out on the field- thanks mom, love you. You rock. I’m excited to see how the Lord will provide by calling people to help further the Kingdom!
I hope this was helpful to anyone who was curious or a future racer. Thank you very much for reading and I can’t wait to share about what my squad and I are doing while we’re on the field.
Until next week,
Clarissa Cappadona
