Six and a half weeks before we jet off and I get itchy to start packing for our dive trip to the Galapagos. It may be because my time at home is broken up by trips to Lethbridge to care for my daughter during her chemo treatments, or it may be the water and the sea life calling me. I am just ready to start packing.
I “spring clean” our library, where we stage our packing, print off a packing list (found under “Packing Lists” in the main menu bar) and start digging stuff out. From the front closet, meant for coats, I pull out our BCDs. From the basement jock room closet, I find my dive hoodie and bring it upstairs. I precariously pull our dive fins and the box of dive gear off the top shelf of the bedroom closet. The stuff is all over the house.
As I place Murray’s stuff on one side of the library and my stuff on the other side, I mark our packing list with an “M” and “D” noting they are in the piles. We will highlight the items once they are safely in our suitcases. I go slowly through our “dive box” digging out duplicate gear, marking the packing list and filling the room.
Debbie laying out gear
By the time I get most of the dive gear sorted, I am pooped. I will tackle the “travel box” another day. The stuff that isn’t sorted stays in the centre of the room. Very organized! I also have a list of things to check/do/fill/buy. This list is something like the following:
- Buy more Sudafed (for ears while diving).
- Print more dive logs sheets.
- Buy more legal sized paper so I can print more dive log sheets!
- Take dive regulators to shop for quick check.
- Check out camera, housing and associated cords etc.
All this stuff takes time and I hate doing it in a panic. And this is just what came up from the dive gear. We still have clothing/first aid kit/miscellaneous stuff to go through! That is why I started six and a half weeks early!
Library after first crack at packing