LeahAndMark.com

First. My jeans.

I really don’t have too many clothes in my closet that have been there for ‘years’. Mostly because I’m like a kid who doesn’t take care of his clothes so they all get ruined. I’ll grow up someday. However, this pair has stuck around for… I think it’s actually been all of this decade so far so… it’s in the 8th year of life with me. This also means that it’s torn up. I started out patching small tears when they turned into large tears. Then they kept tearing at the knees in spots further and further away from the knee. Then the corners of the back pockets and a few other spots. These are the only jeans I’m taking on this trip so they have to last – not because I c0uldn’t buy another pair really easy and for cheap – but because I want them to come back with me – hence the heavy duty patches on the inside. At some point I’m sure the legs will just be completely covered in patches on the inside.

Lunch! Bagel Boys Cafe in Alpharettta, Ga. – Four Cheese Panini Sandwich.

So the Gear.

So those metal clips are great! I grabbed about a dozen and since my pack is about 10 years old (and rarely used) it’s not nearly as ergonomically awesome as Leah’s brand new super pack. SO. Mine sits poorly and it really doesn’t distribute the weight well and it makes your shoulders tired quite easily. These clips help pull the pack closer to my upper back and so it doesn’t stick straight out back horizontally as much. Anyways. My pack is considerably smaller when compared to Leah’s but it still holds a lot. Put the two side by side though and you see the difference – remember, the bigger one is Leah’s pack. It carries much more and she’s much more comfortable with it on her back. It’s all types of awesome – and about $180 more than mine was 10 years ago – and 10 years ago mine wasn’t really cheap either.

Also, her’s has an awesome mesh back for insanely great breathability – if you’ve ever worn one of these with a traditional back, or even a ribbed back, you know that you end up with your shirt soaked in sweat after a few hours of hiking and just generally carrying around the pack for a while. Leah’s is great and it makes it much more comfortable. Can you tell that I’m really really jealous?

So we’re packed. Basically we each have three pairs of pants, a 4 or 5 t-shirts, and other stuff, but really only about 3 maybe four different outfits to wear the whole month – of course, if we need to or feel like it, it’s not big deal to ditch an article of clothing and just BUY a new t-shirt or pants or anything else we need since it’ll all be relatively cheap to do so over there ya know? Some of the stuff we choose to bring simply because they are things that we can leave if we need to or feel like it.