Want To, Need To | Issue 2

To Listen

• Cartographer of Meaning in a Digital Age
• Elizabeth Gilbert Interview on NYPL
• The Beauty of Shared Silence
• Death Cab for Cutie: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

To Read

• South Sudan: A Man-made Catastrophe
• Pico Iyer on the Art of Stillness
• Debunking the Myths 
• Pentagon Wants to Bomb the Hell Out of this Tiny Pacific Island
• The Road to Character Blog
• 30 Years Alone in the Alaskan Wilderness
• Masters of Love
• The Trouble With Wilderness
• The Small and Happy Life

To Explore

• Humanthology
• Cycle Route
• 100 Fonts of 2015
• Great set of 40 free fonts

To Make

• Stuffed avocados

Want To, Need To | Issue 1

I'm one of those people who have at least 30 tabs open at a given time. It's annoying!

The intentions are good: "This looks like a really thoughtful post about hope...Oh, that looks really easy and tasty!" 

But the action is poor: Case in point (this is just one of many)

I'm trying something new here. It's my Want To, Need To list. I'll post it every time my tabs get too plentiful. (Translation: it's going to be sporadic)

To read

• Starving for Wisdom
• What is Your Purpose?
• The Moral Bucket List
• The Power of Hope is Real

To make

• Lemongrass Beef Bahn Mi
• Strawberry Cookies and Cream Cake (Update: SO GOOD. MAKE IT!)
• Buttermilk Beignets (Update: YUM! I would add some more salt to the dough, but otherwise delicious!)

To explore

• Montana's Sierra Club outings
• Summer Trail Volunteer Trip
• Backpacking Meals
• JMT Detailed Reports

To buy

• Emergency Kit Supplies
• Good-to-Go Backcountry Meals (Update: Thai Curry is fantastic. Can't wait to try other flavors this summer on the trails.)

planning our wedding: the overview list

i hope you've enjoyed this wedding series as much as i've enjoyed finally getting it all out my head. because lists are nice...here are all of the "planning our wedding" posts:

• intro
• the ceremony: 6 questions to ask yourself before you begin planning + our ceremony flow
• forget the reception: a celebration where napping was encouraged
• our itemized budget: how we got to $17,676
• our vows
• regrets
• everything is expensive, but these 5 things are free!
• 4 things we delegated that thoroughly surprised us
• why we said no to a bridal party
• saying no to pinterest

and to end this series, here's the video slideshow that our photography oh happy dawn made for us.

love,

liz

zero waste home adventures: let's talk about apparel

i'm embarrassed to tell you how much clothes/shoes/accessories i had before i moved here. good thing i didn't count it all. but to give you a sense of all the crap i excavated from every nook and cranny of my barn loft, here's what i donated on just one occasion of a clothes drop: 50 shirts, 3 jackets, 10 dresses, 12 shoes, 3 bags, 2 luggage bags.

i've said this before, but i prided myself in believing that i lived simply. but when push came to shove, the amount of stuff and waste i accumulated was - simply put - too much. so i got rid of possessions, over and over and over again until i finally came to a stall. too much of this iterative minimizing can cause a kind of mental constipation. it's an exhausting process. when i felt like the amount of apparel had been reduced enough, i packed it all up.

then i moved and counted everything before unpacking it. here's my current list of apparel:

• tops
• 10 casual shirts 
• 5 nice blouses/shirts/sweaters
• 4 tank tops
• 4 dresses
• 3 cardigans
• 3 sleepwear tops
• 2 half zip long sleeve pull overs
• 2 athletic tank tops
• 1 really ragged hoodie sweater (my favorite!)
• total: 34 tops

• bottoms
• 3 jeans
• 3 shorts
• 3 sleepwear bottoms
• 3 other pants
• 2 hiking pants
• 2 workout pants
• 2 running shorts 
• 2 long johns
• 1 snow pants
• 1 skirt
• total: 22 bottoms 

• jackets
• 1 waist length down jacket
• 1 half zip puffy
• 1 rain jacket (also doubles as my snow jacket for snow activities)
• 1 knee length down jacket
• 1 running shell
• 1 cycling shell
• 1 jean jacket
• total: 7 jackets

• intimates
• 12 underwear (i accidentally forgot underwear on a 3 day trip, so bought 2 extra. argh)
• 4 bras
• 3 lingerie
• 3 sports bras
• 1.5 bikini (two bottoms, one top)
• 1 slip
• total: 24.5 intimates

• shoes
• 2 brown leather boots
• 1 running/trail shoes
• 1 crocs
• 1 swing dance shoes
• 1 flip flops
• 1 snow boots
• 1 slippers
• total: 8 pairs of shoes

• accessories
• 10 pairs of socks
• 6 pairs of earrings
• 4 rings (including my wedding band)
• 2 belts
• 2 cold weather beanie/hats
• 2 gloves
• 3 scarves
• 1 bracelet
• 1 neck gaiter
• 1 sun hat
• 1 cap
• 1 messenger bag
• 1 "nice" bag
• 1 pair of sunglasses + case
• total: 36 accessories

• GRAND TOTAL: 132.5 apparel items

this is my first time adding it all up, and geez!! it seems like a lot. 

i'm surprised by: the number of jackets, pairs of socks, underwear, and shirts i own.

when you see this list, what surprises you? 

what's been really interesting to notice in this lifestyle experiment, is to see what i've actually been wearing these past three weeks. it's significantly more casual here in montana, it's actually winter, and my days sway more towards being ready for an adventure than going into an office. also, i haven't touched any of the spring/summer things like my skirt, shorts, and flip flops for obvious reasons. my hope is to get down to ≤100 items by my next culling. until then, hopefully subconsciously, i'll be able to let go of more of my "what if's."

slowly and surely...

lists.

lovely, aren't they?
i was talking to someone yesterday and they asked me if i make lists. i said yes. and while sitting there, i realized that my most recent journal is probably about 82% lists (and i'm only about 20 pages in)! the topic of my lists include: dreams, personal goals by end of 2011, portfolio content, photo ideas, blog posts, intentions for my recent chicago trip, experiences for year 29, and 75 answers to 108 questions of a self-inventory thing i'm doing.

anyway, the reason i bring this up is because there's a blog i really appreciate written by a friend, tony. he's a truth-seeking dad, husband, urban farmer, academic, hunter, geek!, cook, etc. he's also quite quirky as well as a manly man. he started blogging not too long ago and i resonate (or want to resonate) with the topics he writes about. he recently wrote a piece on starting a "stop-doing" list. 


for those of us who might struggle with wanting to do too much, i found it to be a helpful reminder to focus in on what's important - to cut out the frivolous stuff of life - in order to focus in on the real juicy stuff of life. 

high sierra trail | packing

"not bad liz!" 
that's what i thought to myself about my packing before the journey started. 

but what i realized during the trip is that i want to go ultralight to whatever degree that i can without cutting off my limbs. carrying a heavy pack is really hard and it unnecessarily multiplies the "i'm miserable" factor by some unquantifiable but noticeable amount.


for you geeks out there, this was my packing list:


essentials
mountain hardware skyledge 2.1 tent + footprint
mountain hardware phantom 15 bag
thermarest women's prolite plus
leki women's poles
osprey women's ariel 65
rei raincover (depends on location/weather)
headlamp + extra batteries
bear canister (rented from the ranger station)
mini swiss army knife
mini flash light
s-biner (eh, not essential)
2 boxes of matches (stormproof, regular)


cookware
soto od-1r
msr isopro 8oz
spork
cup
pot (also used as bowl)
cloth napkin
1/5 of a sponge
45 water tablets


clothes/accessories
rei pants
patagonia pullover puffy
rei rain jacket
patagonia long johns
patagonia short sleeve base layer
patagonia long sleeve merino wool base layer (would not take next time)
patagonia zip up base (would not take next time)
2 sports bras (could possibly go with just one)
2 underwear
1 bikini
3 medium thickness wool socks (would bring only 2 really thick pairs next time)
2 thin socks (need only one for evenings)
bandana
bug bucket (mosquito net hat; would not take next time)
mountain hardware gloves
mizuno arm warmers
2 beanies (only needed one)
chacos (will be replaced with lime green crocs)
micro towel
3 dry sacks: 20L, 8L, 4L


hygiene
mini deodorant, 2oz
mini toothpaste, 1oz
colgate wisp toothbrush
7 strands of dental floss in ziploc
lemon eucalyptus bug spray (need to take less, transfer into smaller container)
ultrathon, 2oz
chapstick, .5oz
biodegradeable soap, 2oz
sunblock, 2oz
first aid kit
one roll of trader joe's toilet paper minus the cardboard roll
3 baby wipes
5 tampons (needed more, thanks di!)


camera equipment
canon 5d
24mm, 1.4 mark II
3 batteries
4 memory cards (4gbx3, 8gb)
camera strap
bag for accessories
lens cleaning rag


"luxury" items
the way of the heart by henri nouwen (a small thin book)
thin paper journal
pen


then, add the consumables
3L of water
21 oz water bottle + water
7 days of dinners + snacks (i shared meals with one person, she took care of breakfast and lunches)


at my fullest load, i was probably carrying just about 50lbs. i'd like to figure out a way to get my total weight down to about 33-37lbs with a base weight of 18-20lbs. this means i need to shave off about 10-12lbs from the non-consumables list. yipes! i better start throwin' out those matches. 

the wilderness. part i.

solo backpacking trip into the ventana wilderness.
28 hours, ~22 miles, ~4000' elevation gain, ~30lb pack
bookended by a 125 mile drive to/from arroyo seco.

i'm glad i went on this trip, even though i was riddled in fear many times. in fact, i feel like i'm still shaken up by how much fear i experienced, mostly all thoughts of "what if's" and crazy scenarios that i played out in my head while being alone in the back country. (thinking about 127 hours was not helpful.)

with that said, i made a list of things i would do differently next time:
1. bring a friend. (defeats the "solo" aspect of the trip...but i think it'd be worth it any day!)
2. carry a compass
3. don't bring a 1.5lb book! you'll ultimately want to burn the pages to make the load lighter.
4. figure out how to gauge mileage accurately.
5. refill on water sooner.
6. i don't like the hassle of eating/i don't like eating when i'm super tired. figure out yummier
& easier eats to pack in the calories that doesn't require much work.
7. when they say it's "less traveled" they mean it; don't expect or hope to see anyone.
8. get some trekking poles & sunglasses
9. should've brought my chacos. should've learned that there would be over a dozen river crossings!
10. 50mm is just okay; next time, bring a wide angle even if it's heavier. it'll be worth it.
11. learn what to do when you approach a snake.
12. don't forget the dorky ankle brace.
13. stay open to the journey, not just at arriving at the destination. (but if focusing on the destination helps get you through, freakin do what it takes!)

a few more:
14. figure out a tasty & easy protein source. (realized i relied almost solely on carbs. oops)
15. knowing the gist of the trip was okay, but i think it would've made for a better experience if i did more research ahead of time.

i think the only thing that would've dramatically changed the trip for me would've been #1, having a friend on the journey.

the list.

i feel beckoned.
i am curious.

these are the places i want to go
& the list continues to grow.

. peru
. spain
. montana in the summer
. canada
. alaska during a season transition. (spring to summer or summer to fall)
. colorado
. ashland, oregon to run in the mountains
. iceland
. patagonia, chile
. austin, texas
. china to visit a dear friend and see this.
.
.
. ...