You can see from the previous photo the state of my packing a few days ago. When I finally put everything into my pack, it was clear I had too much stuff. My goal was to have my pack weigh around 16 pounds. It came in at 21.6!! I unpacked everything three times and then finally settled with 16.5, not including water or hiking boots. There wasn't really too much to take out but I reduced the amount of medical supplies and gadgets that I thought I needed. Turns out, one soap will work for everything I need to do: wash clothes, hair and body. I also took the water out of my water bag which made a big difference. I had worked myself into quite a tizzy over this and then went to pack my other bag of "normal" clothes. I chose the smallest carry-on I had and put in a few "luxury" items like shampoo and perfume and left it at that. I will beg, borrow or steal anything else I might need. Chances are, clothes won't fit after 35 days of hiking and walking anyway...unless I do nothing but eat tapas and drink wine! Last minute things to do: write a few emails, phone Robbie, shower, take out garbage, eat, pray that flight gets out of Castlegar and I make all the other connections.
I miss George already, but he was very happy to see Norm when I dropped him off last night.
Next post will come from Liverpool.
