Time to go...

(This post was written on Wednesday the 22^nd).

So I am starting to feel like I am very much mentally and emotionally ready to go. I have started to pretty much get all my gear together and have the bulk of what I'm going with. This is of course a big barrier both physically and mentally. Once you have the gear you're going with there is little left to really worry about. There are a few things that need to be done and obtained, but for the most part the main things are falling into place. I just got my Titanium cooking pot – wow, can you say light? It's literally like carrying nothing.  I cooked with it the other night as well, not bad, I think it will do just fine.  I just threw rice, greens, and some stew meat into it and let it cook.  Not bad - needed more spices, but good cooking-wise...

I also got the tiny flexible waterproof keyboard the other day. The phone should come at any time and this will tell me a lot. The keyboard is a little odd, but could certainly be gotten used to. This would seem like a coup if I could just go with the phone and the keyboard. I really would like to take the computer and would love to be able to just sit down and write as I am right now. However there is a bit of a concern for me with this. Despite being tiny, it is an emotional bulk. I would certainly have to worry about it. It is not big or heavy as computers go, but it is fragile and takes up space. Do I want to be bouncing through the jungle with it? What if I want to run and I have my pack on? Water? Security/Theft? These are all things that could become an issue. I wouldn't have to worry about these things quite the same with out it. I would feel much “lighter” I think. Be we shall see. I may not spend as much time as I thought moving around during this trip, who knows. If I am sedentary for some time then it would be a better scenario to have a computer, but I think I could get by otherwise. We'll see. I need to experiment.

I also have come to a bit of a dilemma about the shoes. I got my second pair and was feeling satisfied. But I went out for a long hour plus run on the AT Sunday and realized that that older pair is quite worn. There is a small hole starting to appear in the fabric of one of them, and the inside seems to have been worn down to the point where friction seemed to be starting to be an issue. Now I obviously will take that pair and they will be used. But the second pair I'm taking – the smartwool ones – do not seem exceptionally durable material wise. The fabric is wool and isn't woven so incredibly tight as to think that I could be off running through the woods with prickers and whatever else I might encounter not tugging or pulling at the fabric. So we will see, I guess it will depend on finances. But in an ideal world I would take a third pair (which was my original plan). I've looked into them, a little more tread and cushion would be helpful. They have trekking ones, but they are 125 dollars and made out of kangaroo leather. I would think this would be hot, the sport trekking ones are synthetic as are the running ones. Anyway, we shall see, both financially and practically.

The other thing I learned Sunday was that there really is a reason why no one uses silk for exercising and such, it does not manage moisture well, at least not the one I had on. It got soaked and then it started causing friction – I started to feel like it was going to rip my nipples off. They're still sore...

Today is Vaccination day, so that is again another big hurdle in this whole endeavor. Tomorrow Visa day, I leave in three and a half weeks, time to have everything together...