What will my essential items be?

When I was thinking about my walk, I read the book ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed, (also made into a film starring Reece Witherspoon).  Cheryl set of on her hike without much preparation so not surprisingly, several things went wrong. Her boots were too small, and she lost several of her toe nails due to this. One of her boots fell down a cliff, so she threw the other after it, and then had to walk in taped-together sandals to her next stop, where she had hoped to have new boots waiting for her. They weren’t, so she had to continue on to another stop, with the sandals. Her hike was riddled with misfortune, but she keeps going.

This made me think about what I needed to prepare before going on my trip!

If you’ve read my other blogs, you’ll notice that I have thought about quite a lot of things, and have prepared as well as I can.

I even did a practice pack of my rucksack, just to see if I could get everything in.

Actually, it’s not a matter of if I can get everything in, it’s more a question of- can I carry it, along with everything I and the dogs need?

 This is what I’m going to have in my rucksack:

Tech:   Laptop

Charger

Phone

Powerbank

Kindle

Head torch – running torch.

Camping equipment:

Tent

Inflatable sleeping mat

Sleeping bag

Swiss Army knife

Compass

First aid (plasters?)

Trowel to dig holes

Clothes:

            3 pairs lightweight trousers

            3 lightweight t-shirts

            Knickers

            Sports bra

            Socks

            Pair of lightweight walking shoes

            Raincoat

Thick lightweight sweater with hood

Toiletries:

            Toothpaste

            Small hand gel to disinfect hands

            Towel

            Loo rolls

Snacks for me: nuts, carrots etc.

Dry Bags; to keep things dry

Washbag (a modern take on the old fashioned washboard. The clothes go inside and you rub the bag against stone or rock and it cleans the clothes).

My luxury item, if space -leather bound journal, because I love to write daily.

For the dogs:

Picnic insulated mat for dogs to sleep or sit on

Roll up travel sleeping mat for dogs (carried outside rucksack in dry bag)

Dog food 2kilo

Poo bags for dogs      

Towel for dogs

Water bottles with filters (can be put into lake and still drink the water:  Katadyn)

One collapsible bowl for dogs.

            Snacks (these have to be in my rucksack, because if they were in their saddle bags,  

we wouldn’t get anywhere fast)!

Inside the dog’s saddle bags:

Dog leads

First aid -Metacam (helps with musculo-skeletal issues)

YuMove – joint supplement for adult dogs.

If I run short of anything I will be passing shops at some point, every few days, so can buy extra clothes, or food.

I also decided to send myself little parcels to be collected at post offices along the route, which I’m sure I’ll forget what I put in them, so will be a good little surprise!

If you’d like to follow how my walk is going, please follow my blog on www.thewanderlustcoach.com

or follow the boys on Instagram: www.instagram.com/watsonandhastings/