For anyone who hasn't recently packed two years of their life into 80 pounds, let me assure you that such a task is somewhat daunting. Some things I am still investigating:
- A water-shedding backpack
- A laptop (as in, should I bother taking one)
- Dress shoes (can you believe I am worrying about dress shoes?)
- A good wide brimmed hat
- A swiss army knife
- A high quality kitchen knife
- One miniature disco ball
- A machete (they say it is the only way to kill some of the insects)
Some of those items may not be on my list, but I will let you decide which ones are real and which ones I can only dream about taking.
I can't believe you are going to Africa... you are INSANE!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can get an elastic rain cover for your backpack!
ReplyDeleteAlso, absolutely take a netbook! Cheap, does the job, comes with a flash memory reader built-in, and under 4lbs! You never know when you might find wifi and I'm guessing the computers over there might be a bit slow and virus riddled. (I recommend Asus, MSI and Acer netbooks. You can even get first gen for around $200.)
I think what you are doing is fairly informal and in a poor country - I advise against dress shoes. Tennis shoes are versatile enough. Extra pairs of shoes are heavy and bulky taking up precious bag space.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice zessi. I will seriously think about getting a netbook and rain cover and avoiding dress shoes.
ReplyDeletei would say that you definitely must take a machete. first, it is really hardcore and awesome. second, do you remember that scene from the new "willy wonka and the chocolate factory" where willy goes out into the jungle in search of new flavors for his candy? he encounters all sorts of large, terrible insects and he survives. key fact; he had a machete...
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