Trying to think of everything

Ten years ago, everything I owned fit in a backpack.

Trying to squeeze my life back in there is a great visual reminder of how it’s changed.

As I packed, it slowly came back to me.

In the end, my pack weighs 30 pounds. Of course, much of that weight is “Finnegan’s Wake” by James Joyce and a copy of Joseph Campbell’s “Skeleton Key to Finnegan’s Wake.” It took me ten years to get through the first 50 pages of that book. This trip seems like the perfect place and time to finish it.

Over the next three months, those 30 pounds of possessions will be whittled down to the bare necessities as I remember what those are.

Here’s what I packed (complete with unpaid product placement):

• Cat’s Meow sleeping bag (with newly repaired zipper)

• DownMat sleeping pad. The stuff sack is designed to inflate into a pillow.

• Two pairs of pants, two shirts, one long-sleeved dress made of stretch material. Sports bra.

• Pair of flip flops.

• First Aid Kit in a plastic bag— rehydration salts, Advil, melatonin, Amoxicillin, Malarone, bandages.

• One set of silverware in a plastic bag. Light Gerber pocket knife.

• Duct tape. Carabiner. Safety pins. Silicone earplugs.

• Petzl headlamp.

• Amharic phrasebook. Lonely Planet guidebook to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

• Asolo hiking boots. Two pairs of SmartWool socks.

• Baseball cap.

• In plastic bag — waterproof matches and firestarters.

• Daypack.

• Scarf — to be used as towel, wear, etc.

• Point and shoot digital camera with six memory cards. Two USB drives.

• Toiletries — half a roll of toilet paper in plastic bag, one package of wet wipes, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, lady stuff — in a stuff sack.

• Pair of binoculars.

• One set of playing cards.

• Journal and pen.

• Three photos of home and my wedding ring.