The Contents of My Backpack

I found this photo today. It was still on my camera from when I was in Mexico.

The day I took it had been a really long day, with a long night and morning of editing. We had already moved out and packed up most of the comforts of home from our "Program Office" (the hall way in the guys dorm building) I still had more editing and another long night in front of me. Basically, I had a long day ahead of me and there was no coffee to put in the coffee pot. But, no worries, I had my well stocked backpack that I take with me everywhere, ready for any emergency. (Okay, maybe not any emergency, but mostly any emergency that I might find myself needing to be prepared for. You can only macgyver so much and this helps me beyond that level of cleverness*.)

I opened up the front pocket and started digging, knowing exactly what I was looking for. You can see it in the lower right corner of the picture. Oh, what you can't read Hebrew? It's a single serving travel packet of instant coffee. But, not just any instant coffee. It's instant Turkish coffee from Israel. It's just about the nastiest stuff I've tasted, but, wow, does it pack a punch. It has better flavor than a packet of Nestle Instant from an "Instant Coffee Shop" in South Africa, but that's not really saying much. It's like making a shot of espresso and then just dumping the grinds back into the cup. In Israel, I usually drank it with two packs of sugar. Now, I was desperate. I was going to drink it straight.

I had dumped out the contents of my back pack on the tiled floor, when somebody came in and asked what I was doing. "Getting an emergency ration of caffeine," I replied. They informed me that I didn't need to take such drastic measures, "We took the coffee down the road to the dinning hall; there's some percolating in the kitchen." The emergency backup was saved for another day.

Before I packed everything back up I snapped a picture, struck by how odd my make-shift first-aid kit was. I've kept this stuff in my backpack, more or less, for over two years now. It's served me well. I've used everything in it at some time or another in many different situations. I'm sure any other adventure/traveler would recommend a different stash, but this is mine. It's changed a bit as supplies get used or new ones get added, but most of it has stayed the same, and there have been some upgrades. (I used to carry regular cheap plastic utensils, but then I got these Lexan short utensils from Singapore Airlines last October.) There hasn't been a whole lot of thought put into it; I just kept what I found to be useful and needed, most of it is probably here by accident.

Here's the list, roughly from left to right:

• Lighter
• Compass
• Magnesium and Flint fire starter
• Attaching chain
• Lexan Utensils
• Burt's Bees, Medicated Lip Balm with Clove Oil
• Chemical Water purifier (MicroPur1, containing Sodium Chloride)
• Crest Toothpaste (The tooth brush is in the Pen pocket of the backpack.)
• USB Flash drive 512MB (badly needs to be upgraded, but it will do in a pinch.)
• Pseudophedrine
  
• Anti-diarrhea pills
• Medicine Bottle with Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Tylenol, and Chlortrimaton (anti-histamine)
• Phenylephrine (fake Pseudoephedrine, used as a decongestant instead of Sudafed, easier to buy because you can't make Crystal Meth out of it, or so I've heard.)
• Lactaid Pills (I am Lactose intolerant, and it seems like I meet someone new everyday who just found out that they are too.)
• United States Passport (The only time this isn't in my backpack is when it's in my front pocket because I am in another country, or it's at the Papua New Guinea Consulate in Washington, D.C. getting a temporary Visa for my next travel assignment.)
• Record of Immunizations (I just about have all of them now, though I hear that there's a new one for Mono.)
• A sewing kit with scissors. (This always seems to get through those TSA screening scans somehow.) But, just in case...
• A sewing kit without scissors.
• Blister treatment. (These are water proof, sticky as all get out, and can double as band-aids in pinch.)
• Wet-Wipes Singles (Antibacterial)
• Tide, single, just right for doing laundry in a sink.
• Instant Turkish Coffee.

*As a side note, I've recently concluded that excellence in the game of Cribbage is merely based on luck and a certain level of cleverness.