- (3) notebooks
- (1) book
- (1) sketchbook
- (5) pens
- (1) wallet
- (?) tampons
- (1) clothespin
- (1) toothbrush
- (1) knife
- (2) sets of keys
- (1) headphones
- (1) mini pack of color pencils
- (1) outfit
- (1) work outfit
- (1) watch
- (4) ponytails/rubber band
- (1) stick of deodorant
- (1) light jacket
- (1) inkwell
I carry two bags with me nearly constantly and I'm not the only one. We're urban campers. Survivalists who have learned to live in a difficult to maneuver environment. I've learned that when it's hard to get home, it becomes necessary to make everywhere more home like.
There isn't much I can take for granted; there isn't much anybody can take for granted. Hence the pack. Packs prepare people for a wider array of experiences. A well prepared pack can get people through nearly any situation.
Last night, my general plan was to make it home. Cook, eat, write. Instead, I stuck around for M and S, started the evening with pizza&beer at Roma's, and party-hopped the night away. After chasing down a bus, we made it home around 3 or so.
My pack gave me (normally would give me) entertainment on the bus so I wouldn't pass out (I'd just finished Gravity's Rainbow and my phone was broken, so I couldn't actually read--but normally it would have been there for me), the spare jacket I would have been miserable without, trail mix to supplement the pizza...
Without my bike, I've been hiking to work. There's about a mile between both my work and BART and my house and BART.
Urban Camping. What do I mean by that? People are prepared to sleep, eat, be anywhere. Is that camping? Kind of. It reminds me of J.S.'s proposed 3-month-long hike through the Appalachians. There are elements of isolation, fending for oneself, and preparedness. These are all things people deal with here too (or in any urban setting, potentially).
Isolation--There are lots of people, but not many interact with each other. Especially not so much to help out. I feel this a lot when it comes to transportation. In the middle of the night, even the bus will pass you by if they please.
That ties in a lot with fending for oneself. There isn't someone who can be relied on. Either they're not present, or they're not to be relied on. There isn't much of a sense of hospitality here--people are too broke. Parties don't have kegs, people bring their own 40s. They're big and don't get put down for someone else to drink. It's sometimes hard sleeping at other people's houses because they might not even have blankets to spare.
This naturally flows into preparedness. In understanding that these are fundamental qualities of the environment, one either learns to deal or learns to avoid. A lot of people want to be here, so a lot of people learn to deal. Hence adaptations like carrying a pack. Bikes kind of fit into it too.
People have recognized the limits and parameters of interacting with this environment. These limits and parameters are similar to those of camping.
I think a lot of it has to do with transportation. There is a trade off between needing to change oneself to adapt to the environment or the ability to change one's environment to adapt to their needs.
The smaller car culture and limits of public transportation are important contributing factors.
Without the ease to move (change one's environment), one has to become able to change oneself.
My ways of interacting with an urban environment have changed with other parts of my lifestyle. When I was very academically focused, I made myself be prepared for spending the day in the library. I'd have the proper clothes (extra layers and jackets), all the conceivably necessary books and any technological implements I might need. I wasn't in a place (mental, mostly) where I'd get swept up into other kinds of interactions. Here, I am. So my pack is better suited to that set up.
I did this with my car somewhat too. (Although it was less necessary because cars promote such independent mobility, it wasn't often necessary to be prepared to stay somewhere I didn't want. Generally, I'd have layers and a work shirt. Books and other more personal items would be in my bag. Although, I did have a big technological focus in my car, centered around music. Phone charger, stereo bits, mini speakers (for a while), cords, wire splitting tools... ...
We all camp. We all carry packs that fit with the call of our own personal environments. (Except, perhaps, those unlucky people who never quite seem to be in their element. They just haven't figured out what they need.)
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