Buying out the store at REI

It's so much fun to buy things for my expedition! Even though there are still a couple of months before my trip, I used birthday money a couple of weeks ago to go on a shopping spree at REI. Because I like doing outdoor activities like hiking and camping, I have a lot of the gear I'll need already, but there were somethings that I either need more of, need to replace, or need to buy for the first time. A month or so ago, I made an REI gift registry so that I could keep track of the things I wanted to buy. There isn't really a "wish list" option on REI.com, so the gift registry worked well, and then other people could see it, too. If you'd like to see the kinds of things that I need to take with me, you can check out the gift registry at here. Anyway, everything I ordered came in to the Hingham store (I ordered online and had it shipped to the store...I love that option!) on Thursday, and I was so excited to pick it all up. I bought a new daypack, which is a little smaller than I expected. That's probably a good thing; the L.L. Bean backpack that I have is large and heavy, and might be uncomfortable to lug around all day in Kenya. I also got a new pair of hiking pants; I'll need a couple of pairs of pants for field work, and these can convert to shorts when I'm back at the Earthwatch compound. I also bought a lot of small things, like a new Nalgene water bottle, a small tripod for my camera, a digital camera card, biodegradable soap, sunscreen to protect me from the Equatorial sun, bugspray to keep away the malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and a big sun hat. I also bought some new light hiking socks...I'm still not sure how comfortable wool socks will be in Kenya, but I need good socks if I'm going to wear my hiking boots all day to protect me from snakes. I can't wait to test out some of my new gear, like the daypack and pants, on the Adventure Club hiking trip in a couple of weeks! Maybe I'll bring along the pocket survival kit that my brother bought me, too; I think he's afraid I'm going to get lost in the savannah! In any case, I think it's a good thing that I will need to use some of my new purchases before July, because otherwise I would be tempted to start packing already, which would be just a bit ridiculous. :)