Packing for a Trip

How do you get ready for a trip to the Middle East?  Well first of all you need some type of luggage.  Even though I have traveled to a variety of countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa, I have always used an old backpack that my dear wife bought me for Christmas about 30 years ago.  It is still going strong and I could take it on this trip too.  But I thought that this trip deserved something new, so I got a new piece of luggage from Patagonia called the MLC -- Maximum Legal Carry-on.  I figure that going to the Middle East in the summer, when the temperature will be about 100 degrees during the day, I will not need to take too much clothing along.

Laura also got a new piece of luggage.  Her duffle bag of 25 years was stolen in South Africa and she really needed something new.  Actually hers is what I call “pullage”.  I have to lug mine and she gets to pull hers because they took a couple wheels off a roller blade and bolted them to the end of her luggage, turning it into pullage.  Hers is bigger than mine and does not fit in the overhead compartment.  But that is just fine.  If I run out of room I will just stuff something in her bag and she can pull it around for me.

Besides new bags we decided we should get new shoes.  (This trip is getting expensive.)  I have been wearing some Asolo hiking shoes for five years; I mean every day for five years.  They have finally worn out, at least there is very little sole left.  So I thought I would just get a new pair of the same thing.  Can’t go wrong with that.  Laura lost her best hiking shoes in Africa and has not been able to find anything that fits her glass-slipper feet.  Finally, she fell in love with a pair of Keens and has been breaking them in for the last couple of months.  Those boots were made for walking and she can walk all over me.

So now we have bags and boots.  We are almost packed.  Moving up the anatomy we have a few pairs of short, wool hiking socks and also water sandals for when we are not hiking.  We have a couple of convertible pants which we can zip the legs off when it gets hot and turn them into shorts.  Both of us have a few light-weight shirts to protect from the sun.  We also have to take a light jacket along for the night we spend on Mt. Sinai.  Each of us also has our favorite quarter-zip fleece that should work out well.  Oh yes, something for the head.  I still have a floppy hat from Africa and Laura will be crowned with a wonderful sun hat.  I was looking for a fur felt fedora on the order of Indiana Jones, but I can’t believe how hot they are.  Harrison Ford had an air conditioned trailer when he made that movie in Jordan.

There is really not much more to take.  But some extras that we will take along include a camelbak for our water and “stuff” for the hikes.  We have a little camera and I am also taking my iPad so I can take notes and stay in touch with family and church.  And of course we will have our binoculars.  We don’t go anywhere these days without them.  Israel is one of the best birding destinations in the world.  In the land where Jesus told his disciples to “watch the birds,” we want to prepare ourselves to be as obedient as possible.

Now we still have to find out if it all fits into the bag.  After doing a bit of traveling we have developed a Mary Poppins knack of packing everything into our bags so I don’t see any trouble in getting it all in.  We are not really looking to bring home any religious relics from our trip.  No pieces of the cross for us.  We just want to be light and nimble so we can walk in the steps of God’s people and of our Savior for a couple of joy-filled weeks.