I find myself checking my pockets for my keys - keys to the house, to the car. This instinct is a surprise to me and I guess it is part of the process of letting go of stuff. What we have now is each other, the kindness of friends and family and our mountain of gear. We are in our third iteration of whittling down our gear to the essentials. We left our house with enough clothing and equipment to buckle the legs of a pack mule. We found more we could let go while staying at friends’ in Illinois and we will make one more attempt to prune the backpacks during our visit with the Garcias in Puerto Rico before Spirit Airlines does it for us on our way to Costa Rica.

Thanks Amy, Tara & Chris.