I have almost finished packing in preparation for my trip to Virginia. I have a few last odds and ends to gather, but I'm not leaving until Sunday so I have a little time. My original intent was to travel light and quick. I'm finding however, that the pile of stuff I have to put in the car has grown past what anyone would call 'light'. Part of me would love to head to Petersburg carrying only a backpack and a duffel bag. That is difficult though since I want to take along my bike, a laptop, a small stack of books, and few small items. I also have (perhaps overly ambitious) thoughts of doing a day or three of hiking while I'm in VA, so I have quite a bit of my backpacking gear out. I feel like I'm heading to college again with my car packed full of stuff that I might not use. When I traveled in Europe the rule we lived by was: 'Pack only what you think you can't do without; Then cut that in half'. I'm not sure I want to go back to that, but I could probably unpack a few things without too much inconvenience.
For anyone who's interested here is what my small stack of books includes (more or less my summer reading list).
The Wise Man's Fear
Stranger in a Strange Land
A Sand County Almanac
Dark Star Safari: Overland From Cairo to Capetown
A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
The Mountain People
The Art of the Commonplace
On a completely different note I'm going to be looking for a church while I'm in Petersburg so I suppose that will be an adventure in itself. I'm not sure how my schedule will work out, but I'm hoping to make it to services once a week. In all likelihood I'll be trying at least a few different churches and I'll post my reviews here.
I used to think I was way cool because everything I owned fit into my 1989 Dodge Shadow. I criss crossed the country in that car. Then I was humbled by someone who carried everything they owned in a backpack.
ReplyDeleteWe're looking forward to your posts from the field!
My wife's first car was a shadow. She loved that car. All my stuff will definitely fit in my 2005 Neon... at least I hope so. If not then I absolutely need to throw things out.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels man. I look forward to reading your posts.
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