Traveling Light(er)

So you want to trek around South America but you're having trouble with the weight of your pack? I have a solution. The secret is in your sundries kit. It's simple. Narrow down all your toiletries to only your favorite essentials, then transfer your essentials to those convenient little 3 ounce bottles. I'll admit it - the salon travel size sunscreen I found that professed to resist sweat while not clogging pores, and the mosquito repellent that promised to protect me from Yellow Fever while not melting my travel pants, brought a prideful smile to my face. Next, make sure you have enough prescription medicine to last the entire length of your trip, and don't forget those malaria pills, antibiotics, and Imodium for "just in case".  Then the survivalist in me always throws in some quality jerky and protein bars, maybe some trail mix. Brian even scored a steripen water purifier to keep us from buying all those endless bottles of water. I insisted that Brian let me carry the pen for safe keeping. Ok, now that you have all these things packed away in your kit, you might despair a bit at the weight it adds to your pack. Not to fear. Solution? TSA security. As you go through the check, remove  the kit you spent so much time perfecting and place separately on the beltway, because, you know , it just seems like the right thing to do. Walk through the scanner, grab your pack and shoes, and leave the carefully packed sundry bag full of all those essentials behind. Yep! Just leave them. And here's the best part. As you continue down that terminal, heading to your gate, brimming with excitement as you board your plane, congratulating yourself for packing so efficiently, feeling as if you are ALREADY getting stronger because your pack ALREADY feels lighter...................

Ahhhhhhh, crap. 

I promise never to laugh again when I hear those announcements that come over the load speaker calling someone back to a TSA checkpoint for a left behind object. I only wish I would have gotten one of those announcements. 

After a quick panic of "now what do I do??!!", and a magical pep talk from Brian, two things became very clear to me:

1. my bag is much more comfortable now

2. preparedness is a state of mind that is relative only to your ability to adjust. 

Believe it or not they do sell toiletries abroad. You won't need half those toiletries anyway. And the meds? Here in Bogota at the pharmacy 2 blocks down the road they had what I needed without a prescription for a quarter of the price. As for the steri-pen, I hope to see it again someday. Brian and I were excited to use it. In the mean time bottled water will suffice. And every country has their own version of protein snacks. All is good! Travel on. 

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