It's just a jacket, right?
As I work my way through a plethora of cameras, lenses, cables and hard drives, I have to make some ruthless decisions about what is going to make the cut for our 12 months on the road for GranTourismo!
Clothes are another matter. I’m always ruthless about them. Suit. Travel pants x 1 (for photo shoots – lots of pockets). Semi-casual pants. Shorts. Long-sleeved shirts. T-shirts. Boots. Runners. Flip flops – just for the beach or around the house, I loathe them as much as I loathe being afforded the opportunity to seeing other people’s cracked feet when they wear them. Socks. Underwear. Hat.
But on this trip I’ll be doing everything from surfing to safaris to snowboarding. Temperatures will go from beyond freezing to beyond boiling. My snowboard gear weighs a lot and I probably won’t use this gear until the end of the year. I have a snowboard jacket that’s lasted me years. I bought it when Nike were trying to buy into snowboarding cool. I bought it in Dubai before my first ‘real’ snowboard trip to Cortina in Italy. Since then it’s been worn in the snow in France, Morocco, Lebanon, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Australia and probably a couple of other places I’ve forgotten. It has a couple of tiny tears in the outer lining and it’s not worth taking half way around the world – especially seeing it won’t get used until December. I still don’t want to part with it as it’s travelled with me for some of my most memorable trips. But it’s going to the local charity shop.
How is it that just holding this inanimate object can bring back so many memories? The adrenalin, the excitement and sometimes the fear when putting it on in the morning at a ski resort when it’s your first day there. The first ‘serious’ snowboarding lessons. The first black run. Becoming addicted to heading off the groomed runs for off-piste adventure. The hikes. The hilarious Moroccan snowboarding misadventure which I still must scribble about.
I’m so tempted to put that worn out jacket back in storage…
3 Comments
Inanimate objects can bring back the most intense memories when we least expect them. And I know that feeling of the first day at a ski resort. I so miss snowboarding right now!
Hi Erica, thanks for your comment. I’m glad someone feels the same way I do!
Yes, the first day at a new resort is filled with so many emotions! I have to admit my biggest fear is the first run up a drag lift in powder. I *always* feel like i’m going to slingshot and fall. And icy black runs that only a downhill ski racer could love!
Nice post. Your post about reminiscing reminds me I need to remember to write some posts on that blog I’d forgotten about.