The Challenges of Preparation

Hypothetical Situation: You are traveling for the next month. You will be hiking through mountains more than 15,000 feet high, followed by time in the sweltering rainforest working with animals. Don’t forget a few cities, where you may need nicer clothes. And you have a 50-pound limit on luggage in a single bag.

What do you pack, and how the hell do you pack it?

It’s been an awesomely hectic couple of weeks, as Fran and I try to tackle the puzzle mentioned above. There have been trips to REI. To Target. To the outlet stores in Castle Rock. Those shopping excursions, of course, add another challenge to the equation since we are adding more stuff to a very limited amount of space in our bags.

That might be why our eyes lit up every time we saw something that could fold up to next to nothing in size. I have a week’s worth of clothes in a stuff sack, compressed to the size of a football, and I think our rain gear could fit in a tin a Skoal.

Think I can fit my pillow in with my malaria  meds?

I suspect if you check a satellite photo of Machu Picchu next week, you will be able to spot us by the world’s most wrinkly clothing.

It’s been a fun kind of hectic, trying to work out every last tiny detail, like where can we keep our cars and what kind of insurance do we need? Meanwhile, we need to figure out transportation within the countries we’re visiting, and figuring out lodging might not be such a bad idea.

For those of you who might be thinking of doing something like this in the future, here is the strategy I recommend:

1. Make a list of places you are likely to go and when you are likely to be there.

2. Figure out a packing list with only the essentials.

3. Take mimosas out to the balcony and put your feet up for a while.

4. Figure out the rest later. There’s no reason to stress.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to finish packing. Or maybe to drink a mimosa.