What’s in Your Bag?

My good old grey Mountainsmith day-pack is a leftover from traveling in my 20s. Sigh. I’m still hanging onto its companion, the larger backpack that goes with it, hoping one day I’ll travel again with everything I need crammed in the pack on my back. Who knows? Maybe one day P will be using it. For now it’s hanging, lonely and neglected, in the garage.

Life-as-a-Field-Trip-Adventure-Bag

My day-pack is still going strong though! Now that it’s almost summer vacation we’re starting to take lots of field trips and my it is getting a lot more use. In fact, we have a big field trip this weekend. We going on a weekend camping trip with my son’s scout pack and I definitely need to be prepared!

My bag is perfect because it’s so versatile.  What do I ask myself when choosing a bag?

  1. Can I wear it across my chest?
  2. Can I wear it as a backpack?
  3. Can I wear it around my waist?
  4. Does it have lots of pockets?
  5. Is it lightweight?
  6. Is it large enough? Is it too large?
  7. Can it hold my water bottle without damaging the contents of the bag if the bottle leaks?
  8. Will my camera fit and will it be protected?
  9. And the #1 consideration: Is it comfortable?
Adventure-Essentials-Life-as-a-Field-Trip
Not pictured, but ABSOLUTELY necessary are my small notebook, camera & phone.

I pack depending on how intense the field trip will be, but most of the time I carry these things:

  1. Extra bag. We usually end up carrying home specimens, rocks and other goodies
  2. Tissue
  3. Sunscreen
  4. Cash
  5. Chapstick
  6. Pens & pencils
  7. Notebook
  8. Hand sanitizer
  9. Insurance card and Safe Kids card (Planning for the worst: injuries, emergencies and missing kids)
  10. Safety pins
  11. Nail clipper
  12. First aid kit
  13. Snacks

Whether it’s a baseball game or a hike in the woods, I always bring an adventure bag. It’s not always this bag, but I like to be prepared.

Terra @ Life as a Field Trip

2 Comments

    • I have a dirty little field trip secret. ..I can’t stand binoculars! Gasp! I do have a little ‘monocular’ gizmo. I’ll have to start packing it. 🙁

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