Trip to BC and Packing (continued)

So first off, I went to British Columbia for a week, returning just a few days ago. I went to see my girlfriend and to check out the grad schools. Unfortunately due to bad weather and timing (as the professors I was most interested were out of town), I only had a good chance to look at the University of Victoria. But otherwise it was a great trip- I got to see Penticton, Victoria, Salt Spring island, and of course Richmond, BC. (The last one was when I went out with Jack and Ed and did not see another white person for a few hours. But the chinese food/ bubble tea were great)

Pictures are here

As for packing, today I decided to stuff everything I planned on bringing into my backpack to see how it all fit. It was based on the idea that I am wearing...

1 pair of socks, underwear (suprise, suprise), shorts, a t shirt, belt, wallet and money belt. I also have a great thing to wear in airports that holds my ticket/ passport etc.

Everything else was in my backpack. I stepped on the scale and it all weighs... ~ 30 lbs. I think thats pretty good, considering my laptop + battery + charger must be around 7 lbs. I am def looking forward to seeing what Noah packs in his, as he bought a 3800 cu inch backpack (mines 5000) and I'm pretty tight on space. I guess its mainly due to him bringing 1 less pair of pants and 1 less fleece. I kept these figuring I'll want extra warmth when I go to Patagonia/ climb mount fiji/ visit Scandanavia.

To buy: I still need... a first aid kit, some ziploc bags (1 large enough for my laptop + charger...), a compass, and a computer mouse.

Things to do: Look through all the packing options I have (ie, 2 normal packing cubes, 1 toiletry thing from Geneve, a bunch of pockets in my backpack etc) to find out whats the most efficient/ best way to load up all of my gear. I think spending an hour (or 2 ) doing this now will probably save me a ton of time when on the road. Main goals is to make sure the important stuff is either very accessible or very well hidden.

Anyways, I'll def load up pictures of all of my gear before leaving so you can have a good idea of what i'm bringing/ how it all looks as I pack it in.

Ian