How to pack for fourteen months of adventure

Next Tuesday I take off for my trip. As my flight approaches, more abstract questions are being replaced by more practical considerations. Among other things I need to figure out insurance, pick a malaria pill, and pack. I spent last week in Oberlin commencing from college and I had an opportunity to test out a theoretical load of stuff to accompany me on my travels. I then spent this morning adjusting my planned stuff and weighing everything out. I will likely ditch some items, and pick up others, but for now I think this is what I am intending on bringing... but what am I missing?

						Thing	Weight (oz)
					Clothes				Wearing
						Briefs (1 pair)	1.75			Shoes	32.50
						Brown Shoes	32.5			Shirt	6.50
						Dress Shirts (five)	28.25			Socks	1.57
						Handkerchiefs (10)	11			Underwear	2.12
						Hat	3.25			Pants	18.25
						Lightweight Coat	10.75			Wallet	3.00
						Pants (3 pair)	54.75			Handkerchief	1.10
						Poncho	1.75			Total Wearing:	65.04
						Sandals	23.25
						Shorts (2 pair)	14.75
						Socks (11 pair)	17.25
						Sports shoes	32.5
						Sunglasses with case	2.25
						Swimming Suit	8.25
						Tie	0.75
						Undershirts (two)	9
						Underwear (10 pairs)	21.25
						Wallet	3

					Toiletries
						Deodorant	4
						Razor with Shaving Cream	15.75
						Retainer	1.25
						Scissors, tweezers, nail clippers	1.25
						Soap	6.25
						Suntan Lotion	5.00
						Toothbrush, toothepaste, dental floss	6.50
						Towel	3.50
					Tech
						Camera, three batteries, charger, and cord	15
						Cell Phone and Charger	6.25
						Laptop with cord, wireless card, and stand	108.25
						USB Headset	4.5
					Other
						Backpack	96
						Compass	0.75
						Duct Tape
						First Aid Pack	1.75
						Flashlight	5.75

						Bag	1.75
						Lock	1.5
						Emergency blanket	12.25
						Fork, knife, spoon.	2.5
						Sleeping Bag	28
						Spanish-English Dictionary	18.25
						Two Water Bottles (Full)	84.25
						UV Water Cleaner	9
						Water Tablets	1.25
						Watercolors	5.5
						Total Ounces	722.5 oz			Total Minus worn	657.46 oz
						Total Pounds	45.15625 lbs			Pounds minus worn	41.09 lbs

Decisions, Decisions

I am moving to Mexico. It finally hits me because I finally made a decision. This morning I purchased my first of many tickets to come for my future journey. While I almost went with an around the world ticket, I realized that with the relative inflexibility that the package would have required, it wasn't what I wanted. That... plus the fact that every quote I was getting from a travel agent was significantly higher than what I was finding online through a series of one-way tickets on Expedia. So, come June 5th at eight a.m. I will be heading to Mexico City non-stop on Mexicana Airlines.

I am not mister decisive. I like a lot of things, so choosing between options is real tough. I always want to do just a little bit of everything. Evidently it's not possible, which has made planning my adventure a bit harder. While I know I will be spending my next year and a half looking at people and their staple grains, what precisely that means is as of yet undetermined. My project essentially splits into two different ideas for implementation: one where I spend a lot of time examining policy issues regarding agriculture, another where I spend a lot of time looking at cooking issues regarding eating. The trouble is, I like policy and eating both quite a bit.

My degree was in history and politics, but I haven't actually formally studied all too much agricultural politics. I love the stuff, so I do a lot of reading in the area and I know a good bit, but diving in with hard-hitters is going to be tough to do. That said, I love a challenge - especially when it's about politics.

While I have been baking for a long time (check out some of my beautiful creations, like the one pictured here at my picasa site), I don't have any real formal training or any real experience (I've been trained by chefs, but I haven't attended cooking school. I've cooked for college kitchens, but not for pay). I love baking, but I wonder if it is something I want as as a hobby or a career. The work is amazingly relaxing and enjoyable, but repetition leads to boredom and entering the cooking world means doing a lot of the same thing - over, and over, and over.

This question comes to a head here because I am still trying to figure out just what I am doing with the rest of my life. I sorta feel like whatever I end up gravitating to in this year of wandering is more likely the path I should be going down for the longterm. So, I suppose my wants for this project come down to a big divide - do I want to spend my time doing mentally taxing things or physically repetitious things? While politics is a passion, you don't get the joyous art that comes from making something. But while feeding people with my baked creations is a noble goal, studying how to feed people is something much larger which can help thousands. Improvements I would hope to make could help direct how humanity farms and eats - rather than just satisfying dozens who would get to eat my tasty treats. But having face-to-face time with folks gives so much more of a satisfying feeling.

Oh, how I hate making decisions.