The weight of anticipation

Carefully picked and packed lightweight clothes still add up to one large bagful

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Full list of packed items;

Sleeping bag, snow boots, tripod (all fixed to the outside of my main rucksack), 2 microfiber towels, a bar of soap in a plastic soap box, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a razor and shaving gel, face wash, deodorant and hair wax (all in my waterproof wash bag). 1 pair of insulated and waterproof salopettes, a pair of jog pants, blue jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 hooded jumpers, an outer shell fleece jacket and a microfiber fleece pullover, a lightweight wind proof and water proof jacket, 2 extra insulated winter hats, 2 pairs of thermal underwear, a woolen shirt and 10 T-shirts, 1 cardigan a belt, 11 pairs of underwear and 14 pairs of socks all tightly stowed in my bright orange 90 litre (+10 litre) outdoor explorer rucksack. I am also packing my rugged old laptop and charger, a spare battery an external hard drive (250Gb), my Nikkon digital slr. Oh, and a micro laptop mouse.

This may sound like a great many items to travel with, or not depending on your perspective, but I am planning to be away for what could be a long time and in the depths of winter in countries which survive under some of the harshest climactic conditions on the planet. So I guess I shouldn’t complain, this pile of stuff could all be layered about my person saving my skin in the next few months. For those of you still in the dark regarding my impending travel plans (check out the Map tab on the main blog page to see the earliest stages in it’s full detailed, interactive glory – this will be updated as we book more legs of our trip) I’ll blog the whole scheme on a post really soon to layout the ideas and goals behind our trip, unfortunately I’m short on time. It’s a Sunday which means I’m writing this in between various sporting events (The Buffalo Bills have just beaten the Denver Broncos to allow my beloved San Diego Chargers a shot at the post season playoffs by beating the Broncos in winner takes all divisional clash next week – no one does last ditch drama like the Chargers!). I follow Liverpool fc and the San Diego Chargers as closely as humanly possible which pretty much takes up every day of the week (off and on during the two simultaneous seasons) apart from Friday. No one in their right minds would play sports on a Friday night, right? 

I’ve got to shoot through, as the Aussies say, as just starting on channel Five is the NFL Sunday night game hosted by Nat Coombs and Mike Carlson. Who, for my money anyway, make up the oddest but most fun and informative host/commentary partnership on tv (I’ve been looking for a good poll to add to my blog; maybe this could be it?). I’ll write more extensively about how I found the NFL and indeed chose the Chargers as my team at some later date, I’ll also no doubt tell you more about my immense love for Liverpool fc. But for now I’ve gotta go!

I realise I’m promising allot on this blog and not really delivering on it all (anyone who knows me will tell you it’s the truest representation of my personality possible) but its all being noted and I WILL return to explore all the points I am just barely raising.