Packing Lists Are Not Optional

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“Let’s make better mistakes tomorrow.” – unknown

My kids and I were recently playing in a small space nestled on the top floor of house that we don’t use often. My daughter caught me picking some dried playdough out of the carpet, looked at me and said, “I was younger then so I didn’t know any better.”

Ha, if I had a nickel for all the things I could say about that in my life! That thought prompted me to think of what I would say that about. Lessons like:

Not believing that the sign meant it when it said 45mph for the curve.

Not knowing that wool shrank when you put your mom’s borrowed skirt in the dryer.

You shouldn’t ever try to park a U-Haul by yourself.

Thinking that sleeping pads were just for comfort and packing lists were just suggestions.

The last one in particular made me chuckle. It came from the time in college when spent 5 weeks in Ecuador on a study trip – 2 weeks hiking in the Andes, 2 weeks living with the Cofani Indian tribe in the jungle and 1 week camping on a remote beach near the Galapagos Islands.

In the weeks before my trip, I kept choosing to spend all my time with my boyfriend instead of preparing so it came down to the night before I was to leave that I really started to get everything together. I looked at the packing list and was surprised at the entry for sleeping pad. I hadn’t spent much time hiking or camping and my family didn’t have any so I decided they were optional, probably for comfort, and I skipped it.

It wasn’t until the first night we spent camping in the Andes at 12,000 feet that I understood why sleeping pads are necessary. Lying on that very cold ground without anything but the thin nylon of the tent to insulate me from below, I absolutely froze in my sleeping bag.

Fortunately one of the items on the list that I did manage to pack was plastic garbage bags. The group leader showed me the next day how you could wrap your body in garbage bags for additional warmth. That trick got me through those nights in the mountains – just barely.

I’ve been very diligent in my packing for expeditions ever since. But I look back on that and think, “I was younger then so I didn’t know any better.” 😊

I’m guessing that for every person who reads this, there is a life lesson that pops up for you. Please leave it in the comments if you want to share!

12 thoughts on “Packing Lists Are Not Optional”

  2. Caveat emptor Wynne . . . I’m a lot older now and still experience occasional moments when “…I didn’t know any better…” I just claim a senior waiver 😊

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    1. Ha, ha, ha! I fully assume that “I was younger then and didn’t know about better” can be used throughout all our years! Even if it was just yesterday that we didn’t know any better…. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Great post, and we all have these moments despite what stage were in. To answer your question When moving, back a box and mark it “first night”, and back it with things you need for the first 24-72 hours. When we moved in our first home, we couldn’t find toiletries, towels, snacks, or linen, and had to make what should have been an unnecessary Target run.

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  6. Lovely post, Wynne.
    Whenever my little one would say, “I wish I had done this or that. Or why didn’t you do this? Life would have been so much better” I would explain that any decision dad, and I made, we did out of our love for you, in your best interest, and considering all the options available to us.
    To our older one, we would say jokingly, “You are our first born and didn’t come with a manual, so dad and I tried to do our best, and with all our love.”
    As the saying goes, “hindsight is 20/20.”
    Have a lovely weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, that’s hilarious. The difference between the first and second kids is so funny!! Thank you for sharing that – I’m still laughing! Hope you have a lovely weekend as well, Chaya!

      Liked by 1 person

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