Why Won't It Fit?

I said that I would be all packed by the end of Sunday. I was wrong. All of my stuff was laid out on the bed, but I decided not to pack it until tonight.

It was later than planned when I got home. Then there was tea to cook. Then there was tea to pour into my mouth (I think I may have even forgotten to chew, such was my haste).

That brought me to the packing process.

I’d decided for this trip that I’d like to use the backpad for my OMM Villain, rather than putting my Thermarest in its place. I packed on that basis, but it was a very tight squeeze. On the one hand, once some of the food has been eaten, it will all fit just fine and in the meantime I could put my half of the tent on the outside of the pack. But on the other hand, I’ve opted for my Paramo jacket on this trip and if it turns out to be warm one day, then I’ll need room in my pack to stow it.

So, out everything came, including the backpad. The Thermarest went into its place (there’ll be Thermarest sogginess when it rains). Everything went back in. And somehow it took up no less room without the Thermarest inside than it did with it. How is that possible?

Theoretically packing wasn’t going to take long. I did it every day for three months and had it down to a fine art. It didn’t take many minutes. Yet tonight it’s taken hours.

With the final activity of the waving of a Stanley Knife in the direction of a guide book, I think that we’re about ready to go.

Posts for the next couple of weeks will come from the Pocketmail. Hopefully Vic will do a sterling job once again of removing that annoying footer. I think she's going to do something clever with a map and a red/green line too.

(BTW, I haven't written out a kit list for this trip, nor do I intend to, but for those interested the pack weighs in at a smidge over 10kg, including 2 litres of water, 5 evening meals, 2 breakfasts and a day or so worth of snacks.)