This might have been one of my first questions as Astrid and I began to prepare our luggage and packing options for this trip.  

While I am capable of packing light, often the draw of creature comforts and “options” for fashion in my luggage overpowers the need for minimalism. Though, for this trip, knowing it was a serious “you pack it, you carry it” expedition, there was a greater desire to get things right.

In recent years my destinations of choice have not required such luggage and the evolution of the roller bag has served me just fine. 

However, it is not like I haven’t travelled with a backpack before. I was probably about 12 (grade 7, maybe?) when I got my first pack. My dad likely bought it at MEC, a Canadian institution for outdoor-zee folks. It was brown with a nice comfy waist belt and was well suited for my camping gear, sleeping bag, and clothes. I recall using this pack mostly for Guide camp, but I know I also used it on a couple trips along the West Coast Trail. 

For those who know my family, you’ll know that when we camped as kids it was pretty hard core. For example, only when the river reaches your tent flaps, and you can’t move it back further into the woods, is it time to go home. (trip to San Joseph’s Bay with the Loucks family) 

And, during the time we spent on the WCT, well, that was a whole other level of organization and minimalism. We brought a tarp and bivey sacks for sleeping (tents and sleeping bags were heavy and bulky) and I’m pretty sure we had our food down to a science as far as how many crackers, slices of salami and apples would been required to feed us well, but ensure we didn’t bring a single item of food back out of the trail. I suspect that “master” food and supply list is still in the Dobson camping arsenal and the next generation will soon be using it themselves.

In those days, it was “pack in, pack out”, but at an extreme level on the WCT – there were no bathrooms, no campsites, no trash bins and no communication technology to help you. 

Today, there are reservations required to hike the trail, bins and bathrooms strategically and subtly placed and cell phones to call for help (if service permits). But back in the day, you could literally hike for days and see no one, so if you didn’t like who you were with, well, tough luck. Your only other companion option might be a bear sniffing at the tree trunk where you’ve flung your food bag over a high branch for the night.

For this trip, I trotted down to “Out There”, a Calgary-based outdoors shop on Stephen Avenue. Based on their website, they were the place in town I would most likely find a huge pack of 85L, our desired size for this trip. The staff were awesome and within minutes I was ready to take flight with my blue Osprey pack. It fit well and the well-padded belt would be ideal for absorbing all that travel weight. A grey rain cover for foul weather finished things off and I was ready to start packing.

This time around, the challenge was less about the twenty some-odd days we would be on the road (sinks make wonderful laundry facilities); rather the variety of climates we would hit along the way. And, layers can only take you so far. When you are at 12,700 or so feet, an insulated jacket, toque and gloves are absolutely necessary and in a downpour in Zermatt or Chamonix, boy are you glad for a Gortex jacket and a fleece lined hoodie. As we make our way towards Italy these items will be shoved into the bottom of the pack and summer dresses, shorts and tank tops will hopefully get their time in the sun.

Astrid, on the other hand, is a veteran backpacker and valuable resource for me in how to pack for a backpack. She has spent a tremendous amount of time backpacking in many locations around the world – in the Canadian Rockies, throughout Europe; along the shores of the East Coast of Canada and throughout Australia and New Zealand. She has it down – sealable space saving bags, heavy weight on the bottom, little pouches for all the bits and pieces and a spot for all her many, many maps.

Our large packs are complemented by a day pack each that we wear on our front between rail lines and hotels and also serve for some day outings. In place of a city handbag we each have a handy leather cross-over bag. In this case, my Canadian Roots bag is the well-travelled one and shows the wear and tear of my many adventures. On this trip alone, it went for a little bath in a rainwater downstream sidewalk cavity while we were having lunch in Paris. Soaked right through, it dried quickly and there is not a stain to be had.

Astrid’s Derek Alexander bag was new for the trip. Fits all her necessities and has achieved its first adventure story – a small series of scratches on one side courtesy of the catacombs in Paris.

 

  
We have done well on this trip by way of not over acquiring too much too early, though as we do pick up small items the bags are starting to fill and get heavier. My problem seems to be that I buy little bags and boxes of treats and shove them in, creating weight. Astrid on the other hand, knows better, and consumes all that chocolate she buys as we go.

Where we may find ourselves in a bit of trouble is when we reach Italy. If history repeats itself, I many find myself overwhelmed by choices in the Italian leather markets and dreaming through windows at leather shoes. It will be at this point where our true backpacker spirit will be needed, but one can bet these urban girls are going to need a great bag to bring home…