My Swiss Army convertible backpack arrived yesterday. I already had a backpack, but as you can tell from my previous entry, the travel vaccines are causing odd symptoms. Admittedly, my new backpack is delightful. Max suggested I just get a cheap bag and fill it with $20 bills for the same effect, but then I would have missed the spiffy snap-off daypack, the exciting compartments everywhere, the satisfying clicks of straps that don’t seem to do anything. It has a handle I can pull, and hidden backstraps and a hip belt. And it’s red. I will be the coolest kid on the Ko Sanh Road.
All the same, don’t get drunk and go on the camping gear website. I really didn’t need a clothesline, space blanket, mosquito net, compass, cup, spoon, torch, three pairs of Cosabella knickers, and an umbrella too.
UPDATE: The box just arrived from REI.com. It also contains a sunhat, padlock, travel wallet, and a compass/altimeter/weather forecast watch that’s about twice the size of my skinny wrists. My God. No more martinis for Dervala.
Dervala.com 