This past week, I have been caught up in a whirlwind of last minute planning and packing. I have been astonished at how I can be simultaneously both so precisely organized AND so completely disorganized.
I guess it doesn't help matters that I started the whole week with a move from North Carolina to Massachusetts. That added a completely new category of STUFF; I already had enough categories of stuff. I had stuff in the storage unit, stuff over the garage at my parent's place, NC stuff packed in the Jeep, hiking gear in storage, hiking gear in the Jeep and stuff/gear I had yet to purchase. Very precise, distinct, well-thought-out categories. In way too many areas.
It also doesn't help matters that I had a little surprise when I arrived at the storage facility. Massachusetts, you may have heard, had a most epic winter. Snow and ice galore! With snow banks and snow piles up to the roof in some places. (I, of course, was down in North Carolina, so I missed all that fun) Anyway, the giant heaping piles of snow had a tendency to cause damage to buildings. Buildings likes sheds and houses and, I don't know, maybe storage buildings. Fortunately, the leaky roof did not cause any damage to my actual STUFF ( just the storage containers housing them). But it did mean I had to devote almost an entire day to clearing out the unit and moving all the stuff across the facility to an empty unit. Time that could have been well spent doing some other kind of preparatory activity. (Although, I wouldn't have had the experience of riding with the door open, standing on the running board, and holding a mattress on the roof of the car because tying it down takes too long. Good times!) And yeah, the new storage unit is more organized than the old one was. But still! Precious time, people, precious time.
The PCT also takes more logistical prep than the AT. It's more remote. There are fewer places to resupply. And some places where you must resupply by mail drop. So though I rather enjoyed not having to have regular mail drops on the AT, I will have to enjoy picking up regular mail drops on the PCT. I did not enjoy packing up the mail drops!
I guess it doesn't help matters that I started the whole week with a move from North Carolina to Massachusetts. That added a completely new category of STUFF; I already had enough categories of stuff. I had stuff in the storage unit, stuff over the garage at my parent's place, NC stuff packed in the Jeep, hiking gear in storage, hiking gear in the Jeep and stuff/gear I had yet to purchase. Very precise, distinct, well-thought-out categories. In way too many areas.
It also doesn't help matters that I had a little surprise when I arrived at the storage facility. Massachusetts, you may have heard, had a most epic winter. Snow and ice galore! With snow banks and snow piles up to the roof in some places. (I, of course, was down in North Carolina, so I missed all that fun) Anyway, the giant heaping piles of snow had a tendency to cause damage to buildings. Buildings likes sheds and houses and, I don't know, maybe storage buildings. Fortunately, the leaky roof did not cause any damage to my actual STUFF ( just the storage containers housing them). But it did mean I had to devote almost an entire day to clearing out the unit and moving all the stuff across the facility to an empty unit. Time that could have been well spent doing some other kind of preparatory activity. (Although, I wouldn't have had the experience of riding with the door open, standing on the running board, and holding a mattress on the roof of the car because tying it down takes too long. Good times!) And yeah, the new storage unit is more organized than the old one was. But still! Precious time, people, precious time.
The PCT also takes more logistical prep than the AT. It's more remote. There are fewer places to resupply. And some places where you must resupply by mail drop. So though I rather enjoyed not having to have regular mail drops on the AT, I will have to enjoy picking up regular mail drops on the PCT. I did not enjoy packing up the mail drops!
Not nearly as fun as the picture would suggest. (The picture actually makes me want to pack a few more boxes just for kicks.)
The most important prep work in my head was pre-planning gifts for people. Last hike, I had this grand idea that I would just go on Amazon and order people's birthday and anniversary and special day gifts whenever I got to town, sending the gift directly to their house. It somehow never worked out that way and I ended up missing lots of people's birthdays. Lots of little cute people I'm related to. So when I got back, I had to look really lame as I rushed around to pick up gift cards.
This year I plan to rush around and look really lame by purchasing the gift cards before I leave.
The most important prep work in my head was pre-planning gifts for people. Last hike, I had this grand idea that I would just go on Amazon and order people's birthday and anniversary and special day gifts whenever I got to town, sending the gift directly to their house. It somehow never worked out that way and I ended up missing lots of people's birthdays. Lots of little cute people I'm related to. So when I got back, I had to look really lame as I rushed around to pick up gift cards.
This year I plan to rush around and look really lame by purchasing the gift cards before I leave.
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