The other day I was at my mom's house,
and she said, "Just think, two weeks from now, you will be in
Brazil." I think that my reaction was more intense than it should
have been. "Two weeks?! That's it?!" It just kind
of snuck up on me!
Now that I realized that it's so
quickly upon us, I've begun to get very excited. We finally found out
where we are staying! It took us long enough to find that important
information out!
I am excited, but very nervous.
This is my first experience with something like this (by "something like this" I mean traveling outside the country, going on a pilgrimage, chaperoning minors in a foreign country, etc). That'll make anyone nervous. Luckily my boss is really the one in charge, but still, I am the
second-in-command, and I have NO idea what I've gotten myself into! That's one big fear!
Everyone knows that I am afraid of the
flying part. That's not new information. I'm terrified!
Another thing that makes me really
nervous is the Port-a-Potty situation! But there's not much that I can do
about it! I did, however, make sure to pack extra baby wipes, hand
sanitizer and toilet paper. You know...just in case!
Another thing that really worries me is
that some people have talked about having their bags lost for days! I began
to think about how that could really happen to a person, and how awful it would
be to not have a sleeping bag, towel, clean underwear, etc! What's the
best way to make sure that you have all of that stuff once you land? To
pack it in your carry-on! Which provides for a difficult task:
the actual packing.
How do I get ten days worth of stuff
into a carry-on bag? I mean, there are some things that I am packing ONLY
for the Vigil, so those things can go on in my checked bag. It's
very unlikely that my bags will be lost for so long that I won't get them back
in time for the vigil. Nothing's impossible, I realize, but it's still
really unlikely. But I wanted to get as much stuff as possible in my
carry-on bag, so that I can be as sure to have those things once we land.
It's not like we are staying in a hotel, where I will at least be guaranteed to
be clean and have a bed. If I lose my bags, I'm bedless and without vital
things! I have to get this right! And, to be honest, I have bought a LOT of stuff!
Take, for instance, this:
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| Pink Sea to Summit Towel, size XL |
This is a compact little camping towel, that expands to a large size, but squishes down into a small, easily packed size. I chose pink because it's a good color, but you can get them in different sizes! This particular towel is a Sea to Summit Towel, size XL.
I also bought a new pillow. Again, it's one that can be easily compressed for packing ease. I'm a bit nervous about this bad boy, because I've never used it. I tend to forget pillows on retreats though. Actually, sometimes I purposefully "forget" them, because they are too difficult to pack. I know from experience that not having a pillow on retreat is awful. I've been on my fair share of retreats! But this is not just a retreat, it's a pilgrimage. And it's not just for two nights, it's for nine. Investing in a compressible pillow was a good choice not just for this pilgrimage, but for my job in general. Now I will not have an excuse not to have a pillow! Yay!
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| Compressible Pillow |
Per the recommendation of many, I begrudgingly bought this tarp to use at the vigil, to protect me if it rains. Given the tropical area we will be visiting, which we happen to be visiting during the rainy season, it seemed like a good idea after all. I would hate to be stuck in the rain without it.
 | |
| Tarp, 5' x 7' |
I also bought three, three-packs of notepads. That might sound a bit strange, but I think that it was a good idea. We will be gone for nine days. I want to take my journal with me every day, but I'm afraid that I will lose it, or that it will get wet and ruined somehow. If I take only one of these each day, I can leave the rest back at the lodging area. Then, if I do lose one, or if one gets ruined, I only lose one day of precious memories, catechesis, and experiences. Plus, they are very small and light weight. They probably weigh only a little more combined than my actual journal alone does. I think this was a good idea! I'll be sure to transpose my notes so that you can see them here and benefit, too!
 |
| Memo notebooks to be used as journals and notes pages |
Binoculars cost a little bit of money. This was tricky, because they needed to be powerful but light-weight. Remember, not only do I have to worry about weighing in my bags at the airport, but I also have to worry about carrying these things to the vigil! It's gonna be a long walk that day! Everything that I carry needs to be as light-weight as possible. But binoculars are important because people have told me that they used their binoculars just to see the screens that the Pope was projected on at the vigil and closing mass! I want to see him as easily as possible! Which means, I bought binoculars!
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| 17x Binoculars |
Some people discouraged me from buying a head lamp, but I think that this is a must have item. Think about it, it's 2:00 am during the vigil, you have to use a port-a-potty. There are no lights in the port-a-potty, so you either have to risk going in the pitch-black-darkness (which means that you don't know what you're touching), or, option two, you use a flashlight that you have to set down in the port-a-potty that has been used by thousands of other people, or, option three, you use a head lamp that stays nicely attached to your head and allows you to have a hands-free bathroom experience. Sorry, I know that might have been a bit of "too much information" for you, but that's what goes through my head! And that is exactly why the head lamp is a no-brainer!
We also bought these water filter systems. They are amazingly light-weight, and, although I have not tried it yet, it appears to be very effective. We will probably have plenty of bottled water available to us, but you never know. It is South America after all. We already discussed the port-a-potty situation. You don't want to end up with stomach ills in a World Youth Day pilgrimage situation. Clean water is a must!
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| Sawyer Squeeze Water Filtration System |
I also ended up buying several pairs of shoes. After the first pair of shoes almost destroyed my feet (quite literally), I bought another pair of shoes. Those ended up giving me some really bad blisters. I went back to the first pair of shoes and decided that my feet had healed and become stronger, and the first pair became my favorite. I'm probably going to bring both, though. One pair will go in my carry-on, the other in my checked bag. That way, I can rotate shoes between days so that my feet get a break from each shoe. They did warn us about how much walking we will be doing. Ten miles a day is not going to be easy on the body, but the feet will take the worst damage! Good shoes will be the difference between "this pilgrimage was so amazing! What a wonderful experience" and "it was awful! I hated every second of it!"
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| These are the first shoes that almost broke my feet. Now, I love them! Plus, I have problems keeping my shoe laces tied! I specifically wanted shoes without laces, and I got them here! |
I bought a lot more stuff, but I don't really feel like it's necessary to go into great detail about all of it. My complete packing list is below. It's pretty intense looking right now!
I started packing, just to see what I
can do in a small carry-on bag. Let me tell you, you can stuff those
things full! Here is the first "layer" of my bag:
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| First "Layer" of Packing |
The first "layer" of my
carry-on had my sleeping mat (the long roll on the right), my sleeping bag (the
green roll on the bottom, left), and ten shirts rolled for more convenient
packing. That looked like a lot of stuff, and I was feeling really
discouraged at this point. But it turns out, there is a lot more room
available!
I started adding stuff, to see what all
I could fit. It turns out that my sleeping bag was able to squish a bit,
and that there was some room way down between my sleeping bag and mat. So
I rolled up a couple of pair of shorts, my swim suit cover-up, and my swim suit
and shoved them down between the sleeping equipment. To the pouch on the flap
I added bags with my socks and underwear. This was my second
"layer" of packing!
 | |
| Second "Layer" of Packing |
Packing clothes is good and important,
but we are not staying at someone's home, or a hotel. We are staying at a
church. And because of this, toiletries are going to be extremely
important for us to have with us. I don't want to risk not having
shampoo, deodorant or a toothbrush. And I believe that others will be
happy that I have those things, too. I also needed a mirror, hairbrush, hair
ties, and bobby pins. But guess what?! They make room available on
the outside of the suitcase just for that!
 |
| Outer "Layer" of Packing |
But it seemed I was still missing some
things. Shoes. My pillow. My towel. I realized that
those things would be necessary immediately upon arrival in Rio, too. My
shirts had some room above them to put those items. Also, the pouch in
the flap had a bit more room, so I added my knee brace, ankle brace, ace
bandage, money belt and money clip.
 |
| Last "Layer" of Packing |
I discovered that my bag weighed...
26 pounds, which was under the maximum weight!
| Item | Purpose (if it's not super obvious) |
| "Stuff Bag" | To store dirty clothes |
| Hydration Reservoir (2 liters) | |
| Baby Wipes | Sometimes, you just need to feel cleaner (ish) |
| Backpack | This is a high quality, backpacking backpack, that I will be using for the Vigil. Thank you, Craigslist! This was an awesome find! (Amazon.com was selling this same backpack for $169-$223!) |
| Beach Towel | |
| Binoculars | To see! It'll be extremely difficult to see what's going on, but not with binoculars! I want to see the Pope as close as I can! |
| Body wash | |
| Brazil Travel Visa | |
| Camera | |
| Camping Towel | |
| Compressible Pillow | |
| Hair Conditioner | |
| Day pack | |
| Deodorant (and LOT'S of it!) | |
| Eyeshade and Ear Plug Set | For the flight and for night |
| Face wash | |
| Foot powder | To make feet less stinky, duh! |
| Hat | |
| Head Lamp | This is especially useful for port-a-potties at night during the Vigil (which are unlit). |
| Hooded Poncho | |
| Journal | Cause you wanna remember |
| Medications | |
| Nail Clip Set | |
| Pants/shorts for 10 days | |
| Passport | |
| RFID Money Belt | |
| RFID Money Clip | |
| Shampoo | |
| Shirts for 10 days | |
| Shoes | |
| Sleeping Bag | |
| Sleeping Mat (inflatable) | |
| Socks for 10 days | |
| Sunscreen | |
| Swim Suit | |
| Toothbrush | |
| Toothpaste | |
| Umbrella | For rain AND sun |
| Underwear for 10 days | |
| Warm Sweatshirt | |
| Waterbottle | |
| Zip Lock Bags | To keep documents safe and dry |
| A photocopy of all documents (passport, visa, etc) | In case something happens to the documents you brought with you, you can more easily obtain new ones |
| Travel Pillow | Mine converts into a regular pillow, which is nice because then I don't have to pack two items! It's all in one! |
| Bug Spray | To prevent uncomfortable mosquito bites and the bad stuff that comes with them! |
| Simple first aid kit | First aid |
| Tarp | Vigil |
| Stress balls | Keep hands from swelling while walking |
| Backpack rain cover | |
| Watertight box | |
| Knee brace | So if my knee decides to be stupid again, I can have this available to help it |
| Eye drops (allergy) | |
| Eye drops (red) | |
| Toilet Paper | You know...just in case! |
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