Heavy backpack and the kindness of strangers

I'm in the Canadian desert now (or as close to desert as it gets in Canada) and it's made me think a lot about what I've got packed in my full to bursting rucksack. In this heat it has in it among many, many other things two hoodies, a fleece, a woolly jumper, about four pairs of thick winter socks, two pairs of long-johns, a thermal top, two long sleeved tops, a big pair of gloves, a hat, a scarf, a raincoat and a thick winter coat. Admittedly I did go to the subarctic, but now I'm in the desert and it's hot here!

Not only do these things take up at least a third of my rucksack, but the thing is extremely heavy that just thinking about walking from buses to hostels is bad enough. I was meant to be walking from Kylie's house to Susan's with my backpack, but when Kylie offered me a lift I wasn't very hesitant about accepting the offer. This is neither good for the planet or myself, but my goodness this backpack is heavy!

Kylie had said to me that maybe someone would offer to take me the 1.5km uphill from the greyhound station in Nelson to the hostel, but I dismissed that thought and was getting myself prepared for the hike. The girl who was working at the Greyhound station did however take pity on me and got her parents to drive me to the hostel before going home. And not only did I get a lift to the hostel I got one back to the greyhound from a lady called Val from Vancouver Island who was staying in my dorm room at the hostel. I really appreciate this kindness from strangers.