Here’s a first list of some of the items that I brought along my trip, Part 1 (inventory Part 2 will be available soon), starting with functional and work equipment:
– Canon SLR
– Canon 28mm fixed lens
– Canon 15mm Fisheye
– Laptop
– Car
– external hard drive
– baby tripod
– Canvases, acrylic paint and pencil/pastels
– May 6: found children’s art kit in the trash in Louisville, full of colored pencils, worn markers, etc.
– Notebooks and sketchbooks
As you can see, I’ve drowned most of my expenses into photographic and technological equipment. To these I would like to eventually add:
– an iPhone or equally functional smartphone ($400)
– Car to AC converter ($60) May 9: Got it, $20
– a 4g USB broadband service – $50 / month
– another 1TB external hard drive – May 16: $100
– a handy knife / Swiss knife – $100
– 1 flashlight – $30 / May 9: Got two reading clip LEDs, $3
– 1 sleeping bag
– Portable electric grill May 9: Got it, $13 (don’t yet know if it will work with car inverter)
– May 16: gas burner and propane – $25
– 1 tent?
– Car maintenance (tires, repairs, this is adding up way too quickly!)
Other items I have this far include what I brought along when I came to the US, such as clothing:
– 1 backpack
– 1 hooded sweatshirt
– 4 T-shirts
– 1 long sleeve shirt
– 1 pair of blue jeans
– 1 pair of black trousers
– 1 pair of sweatpants
– 3 boxers
– 4 socks
– 1 scarf
– 1 pair of gloves
– 1 coat
– 1 pair of black sneakers
– 1 suit and 3 dress shirts
– as well as toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, disposable razors and shaving cream
To these I add some random items I have come upon since I am here and that I will keep in the car:
– 1 unfoldable yoga mat
– 2 pillows
– 3 towels
– 1 hand towel
– roll of paper
– box of scented candles
– 50-liter Ice cooler, where I store canned / wrapped food, one pot, a few plastic containers
– rolls of duck tape and adhesive bandage – reduced this to one roll of duck tape and two of bandage
– plastic gloves
– Hand soap
– trash bags
– Roach and insect spray
– indoor slippers
– one pair of non-UV plastic sunglasses
– new used socks!
– April 28: New used white Adidas sneakers, size 12, much more comfortable than my previous sneakers!
– 2 small drawers (took too much room, although enjoyed using it as a tripod for my first video)
– Febreze (bottle was empty)
– Dish Soap (emptied itself onto other items, got rid of it as well as some candles)
– Dishwasher detergent (of no immediate use, got rid of it)
To these random but useful items I add other random and scavenged items that I use as tokens of appreciation:
– Plastic model airplane, unassembled – my last ‘token’, who will be its beneficiary?
– one shower curtain with metal hooks (gave it away to a friend in Montreal who needed one!)
– Pots (given away to a friend in NY)
– a hand-made funky lamp (given to same friend in NY, don’t know if he kept it)
– 1 box of cigars (gave to a friend in Montreal)
– 2 Nerf guns (gave to a girl I met in Cincinnati for her little brothers)
– soccer cleats (given away to a friend in NY)
I also have brought two books to the US, and will be getting others along the way:
– Ulysses (James Joyces)
– Le cote de Guermantes (Marcel Proust)
– and borrowed Burr (Gore Vidal)
– one book about number theory and one book about light I got at Border’s clearance sale
– I found two books at a coffehouse in Louisville, a novel by Salman Rushdie and one by Dean Radin
– I need another book in French, as well as another novel in English!
