I meant to do this in February, so now that it's June, I better get on the ball.
Transportation
- Rental Car
- Travel Plans
- Bicycle
Food
- Water (1.5 gallons per day per person is the rule)
- Food (that can survive harsh conditions for more than a week without going bad)
- Non-water beverages?
Clothing
- Sand goggles, sand mask?
- Hat?
- Sunglasses?
- warm weather clothes
- cool weather clothes (the desert can get chilly in the evening)
Shelter
- Tent
- Shade structure?
- Sun umbrella?
Other
- Sunscreen (and lots of it)
- Bag to carry around and hold important stuff
- trash bags
- toilet paper (one ply) (in case the facilities run out - can also be used as general purpose tissues)
- towel/s?
- soap? other cleansing products?
- journal
- camera(s), with batteries
- ???
It'll be a miracle if this trip works...
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add guitars & strings, CDs, tape recorder, walkman, marijuana, salvia, LSD...
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ReplyDeleteRental car -- should get a van... or better yet, a U-Haul. Then you can have a place to lay down and tons of space to put the stuff you need. I can't imagine a sedan working out all that well unless you filled it to the top and brought a tent or two. Then again, mileage could pose a sizeable problem in terms of money.
Travel plans -- you're the expert. Google maps all the way.
Bicycle -- again, it would be nice to have a van to have someplace to put this... though you could get a bike rack as well.
Water -- if you stop at hotels on the way, it might be a nice idea to take a few coolers with you... and put water bottles in the freezers at the last stop. Toss them all in the coolers so they stay frozen for a day or two; it'll be that much more refreshing. Also, if you get a water cooler, load it up with ice from a gas station.
Food -- chips, beef jerky, pepperoni sticks with cheese, trail mix, granola bars, pretzels, cookies... fruit drops to suck on in lieu of water as you walk around. Cereal. Don't forget that not ALL of your food has to last that long... the stuff you eat on the first day has to last for less than 24 hours, then the stuff on the next day has to last only 48... and so on. If you go with the cooler idea, you could EASILY take bread, cheese, and cold cuts for sandwiches for the first two days.
Non-water beverages -- Get some gatorade mix or something for variation; you can just put it right in the bottle and shake. Ditto for lemonade/iced tea mixes. If you take a large bottle and some teabags, you can make sun tea, which is delicious.
Sand goggles -- Sounds uncomfortable and hot. I always hated goggles. Then again, if you take contacts...
Sand mask -- veil yourself, Aielman!
Hat -- You know, you could just get a large hand towel and wrap it around your head and mouth/nose like a shoufa. It's what the bedouins do.
Sunglasses -- Definitely.
Warm weather clothes -- Take a bunch of towels. You can wrap them around your waist for covering if you want it, or drape them over your shoulders. Your dress shirts might be nice, too. Light, but decent covering and protection from the sun.
Cool weather clothes -- take your jacket and jeans, I guess... pack some extra socks and gloves; you can wear the socks in layers and it'll help a lot.
Tent -- One for you and one for Doug? One big one? One problem to consider is sand and dust getting in -- not only from the entrance, but from your feet, as well.
Shade structure -- You can get a pavilion, which is at least as easy to set up as a tent. Or you could take a bunch of duct tape and black trash bags to improvise with. At the least, you could use them to cover the windows and make a shade structure in the car... though ventilation would be problematic.
Sun umbrella -- Beach umbrellas... beach chair to lounge in?
Sunscreen -- Good idea.
Bag -- Also a good idea... though if you go nudist, the bag will chafe on your shoulders and be impossible to wear after you get sunburnt (I'm guessing this is inevitable).
Trash bags -- Giant black plastic trash bags. Multi-purpose.
Toilet paper -- Good idea. Too much is better than too little; you can probably trade it.
Towel/s -- Take a bunch. You use them to wash, for shade, for clothing, whatever. Even roll them up and use them as pillows.
Soap -- There's soap out there that you can use without water. It feels funky, but it does clean your hands off. Deodorant would probably be a good thing to take as well.
Journal -- I look forward to it.
Camera(s) -- Take them and take a couple of zippered bags. You'll want to be careful of the dust; if it gets on the lens and scratches it, you're going to regret it. Ditto for if it gets inside -- especially the Sony. It'll really fuck with the optical zoom mechanisms.
??? -- Guitar, CD player, amp? The miniature headphone adapter I sent you? Binoculars, whiteboard? Duct tape... Advil/aspirin. Contact fluid out the ass. Even if you don't want to use your contacts, I'd take them anyway, just in case something happens to your glasses. A flashlight or three would probably be nice too, though more batteries to juggle.
You should look into getting a car battery and adapter for electronics. Or a small charcoal grill and lighter; you could make smores or something.
Talk to people on the boards, see if there's anyone you could team up and synergize with -- they bring something, you bring something, you use them together for mutual enjoyment and satisfaction.
You have no idea how envious I am. I'd love to be going on the trip with you.
Also, as far as food goes, you could look into getting surplus army rations. They're relatively cheap, made to last in weird environments, and offer a variety of meats and vegetables.
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