Selling mode

Only 10 days to go and I am looking really hard at stuff to decide how badly I really need them. I still have all of my university text books. Really, what do I need them for. I just don't want to part with them on the off chance that I may need to look up some obscure fact that I can probably google for faster. But since I had to pay over 100$ a book, it is hard to bring myself to throw them out. I am also not sure I will still want to be in the biology field when I come back from hiking. With only a bachlor's degree I feel that I have hit the highest job possible and it is unsatisfactory. I really want to do research and feel that I have not been given a fair chance to try it, so I think even grad school is out now. I hope to get into writing while hiking, maybe even photography. I hope that 6 months on the trail will lead me down that path. Now that begs the question; digital camera or film? The digital is less than 1lb but my great film camera is 2.5lbs. I want to bring film but weight is everything. Food is more important than a camera so this is a hard choice.

I managed to sell my tent and have my packsack, a pair of boots and a hiking pole also slated for sale. This allows me to get a bigger pack, which I feel will be needed, I already have my wonderful Hennessy Hammock, and a new set of trekking poles to replace my 10$ REI garage sale pole. The boots, which were also an REI garage sale impulse buy, must go. They are really bad on my knees. They are hardly used but I scuffed the toes badly so they will not go for much. My older boots will have to be exchanged for a slightly larger pair as they are just a little too small. I feel really bad returning them to REI after having them for over 3 years, especially since I have loved them dearly, but they really are just a little too small and I feel it at the end of a day or when going down hill as they are tight in the toe area. So that means new boots to break in and all this has to be packed and moved as well. I will be hitting their sale this weekend. I love REI, I hope MEC is as good.