Journals

 

San Diego Outfitting

April 10,2000

  You would think that roughing it would be cheap... right?  Not the case whatsoever.  As you might have guessed this entry is about outfitting ourselves for our trip.

  It started like any other day; we rolled out of bed at 10:30 (you poor working class devils) and had a leisurely breakfast on the veranda.  Jeeves had prepared a delightful repast of fresh fruit, lemon tarts and poached quail eggs.  Rebecca and I had an engaging conversation on the cross-pollination of Begonias and Larkspur on the eastern slopes of the Himalayas, as the driver brought the car around for the trip to REI.

  For those uncultured few who don't know, REI is the discount outdoor co-op that will have everything you need and never wanted to need when roughing it.   I spent many hours     scouring the store for... everything imaginable.  From the elusive left-handed Downtime 15 degree sleeping bag to cotton/wool blend socks that won't make my feet smell like the rare Jamaican delicacy Sloo Foot  (I fit that in for you Toby ;-)

  Okay back to reality, Jeeves is a figment of my imagination... Sloo Foot is not.  Another reality, there were about twenty trips to REI, G.I. Joes and Copeland Sports spanning two months and three different states! I don't think it is possible to get outfitted in one day, as I had originally planned.  There are so many things you don't know you will need until you need them!  The folks at REI were by far the greatest help in deciding what was necessary and what was not.  REI is staffed with people who actually enjoy the outdoors and use the equipment on a regular basis, so their knowledge is proving quite invaluable.

  One little tidbit we gleaned from our countless hours of question and answer with the outdoor aficionados is to try the equipment on a short trip, or even in your own backyard, before you really have to count on it in the wilderness.  You never really know what is going to work for you until you try it in action and there are a lot of bugs to work out if you expect to live out of a backpack for any extended length of time.  Rebecca tried two different "waterproof" coats before she found one that actually kept her dry!  I got lucky and found a shell that could withstand the waterfall test on the very first try.

  The most important consideration, which is absolutely paramount in every purchase, you will be carrying everything you bring so think light.  It never really dawns on you how heavy thirty-five pounds is until you've carried it all day and even your toes are sore!  Lighter is always better, as long as it works like you thought it would.  Keep in mind that the retailers know this so lighter will always be more expensive as well.  I was planning on spending about half of what I actually did on gear, so next time the budget is going to be bigger and the backpack is going to be smaller.

  The next point of order in our outfitting experience were all the visas, passports, photos and shots that you have to get in order to travel abroad.  The visas turned out to be a non-issue on this leg of the trip as the only South American country that required one was Brazil.  The funny thing is they will not let you get the visa too far in advance of your planned visit to their country, so we will have to apply for one on the way.  There seems to be political component to the visa requirements for some countries.  If they feel the United States makes it too hard for their citizens to visit, they will reciprocate by making it difficult for Americans to visit their country.  Can't we all just get along?  It would make my life so much easier!

  Speaking of easy, wait until you get your vaccinations!  It boggles my mind, what could possibly be the need for six pages of paperwork, a two-hour wait in the office and $500 to get 4 shots?  The price you pay for being adventuresome I guess.  Actually, the shots were an adventure in their own right as Rebecca fainted on number four and I caught her careening face first toward the tile floor of the clinic!  She came to with a smile on her lips and no recollection of her near nose job encounter.  Whew!

  It just goes to show you that ALL of life is an adventure and really is whatever you make of it!