Channelling the Hulk

I think my subconscious knows I've run out of time. It's trying to compensate by rousing me out of a dead sleep at 4:18am. And now I'm wide awake. This is the 4th morning in a row that this has happened. Normally I'd just turn on the TV to drown out the noise of my inner subcommittee and lie in bed hoping to get another 45 minutes of sleep, but I'm crashing with my friend KC, her summer roommate, and their visiting friend for one more night. Friend is clearly not suffering from my insomnia on the futon, so I don't think Saved By the Bell reruns are a viable option right now.

I spent the better part of yesterday running around town assembling the last bits and pieces of gear I need for my trip. I am proud to announce that I'm only short one pair of underwear and one shirt. I plan to rectify this situation on Wednesday during my 13 hour layover in New York, provided I can walk upright after Tuesday night's goodbye festivities with my friends. This could get entertaining.

Packing for this trip has been sort of an interesting exercise in rational thought. I'm an okay packer, and since I've done this before I assumed it would be just as easy to do it again. Last night, as I laid out my packing list and the items on it, I felt like something was missing. The small pile of camping and hiking accessories in front of me couldn't POSSIBLY be all I'd need for a month long trip. No way. I've taken more things over to a friend's house for a dinner and TV date. I checked and rechecked the list, went over my daily routine in my mind, and marked off each necessary item... all of which I had in front of me. A little confused and frustrated, I started organizing everything into my brand new hiking backpack in an attempt to decide on the best packing system for all of my odds and ends.

And then I picked up my packed bag.

Yeah, I have everything. I haven't weighed it on a scale yet (though I plan to Wednesday morning before I leave for the airport), but my guess is that bag weighs about 30 pounds, not including the 3 liters of water I'm going to be toting around in my Camelbak every day. I'm going to be carrying the equivalent of a kindergartner on my back across Spain. Time clearly fades memories, because I didn't remember how heavy my bag had been the first time around. I feel like I maybe should have lifted weights more this month.