Zak just posted that a mention of The Spreadsheet barely touches the surface of all the planning that has gone into this trip. I recently mentioned on here that we have bought a lot of stuff that we may or may not need. The vast majority of the stuff that we bought I had never heard of prior to this planning. Honestly, there is a bunch of things sitting on The Packing Table that I’m still not sure of their purposes.
It isn’t much of a secret that much of the trip is really going to be outside of my comfort zone. I’m went through many years of my life with the mantra “I don’t like nature.” (Maybe my mom or dad will explain the Everglade experience of my childhood in a comment.) Bugs freak me out. Last night I squealed over a moth in the family room. I hid inside the entire summer of the last cidada invasion. (See these OLD posts from the blog: Cicada Search. Please note that there are three pages of blog posts that reference cicadas.) I don’t like dirt, although in recent years I’d add gardening to a list of my hobbies, so maybe I am changing a bit. I hate the snow and other extreme weather. I’m not even a big fan of animals. Generally, I don’t really like nature.
With all that being said, I was really surprised by the gear that we’d need to buy for a handful of potentially isolated hikes. I guess I do want to be prepared in every possible way for all this nature.
Here’s Zak’s hiking pack. Attached is bright orange rope incase….I’m not sure. Don’t want to think about it. Also a mini pair of binoculars and a compass.
. 
A dry pack. For situations that our other backpacks would potentially get wet.
Yep. Just because.
99.11% deet. Not sure if this is legal.
I’m not sure what these are, but under them you’ll see a 12 pack of colored bandanas. Because they go with my fashion theme of “vintage hiker chic.”
Not sure why we needed to buy 40 safety pins, but we’ve already used one.
Two mini cutting boards and a sharp knife for picnics and a LifeStraw because we might be get that desperate. (We will start each hike with 2 gallons in our CamelBacks.)
Because.
