I've been on the road quite a bit the last few weeks. In fact, I've spent at least one night away from home each week of the last month. I'll be leaving again on Thursday morning for Christmas with my family. I've spent a great deal of time traveling these last few years (much of it to camps and camp-related events) and I've grown accustomed to traveling light. I don't have a lot of stuff anyways, and I don't like to take much of what I do have with me when I go. That said, there are a few things that are almost ALWAYS with me, especially when I'm on the road. I've seen a lot of people talking about their Everyday Carry (or "EDC") items lately, so I figured I'd give it a shot... I can think of five things I NEVER travel without:
1.) Bible - I don't read much, but I do try very hard to get into the Word
every day, no matter where I am. Right now I'm carrying a small "pocket
sized" (though I don't think it would fit in any of my pockets) NLT that I've
had for about 6 years.
2.) Pocket Knife - I have a small Swiss Army Knife that I carry all the time
(unless I'm in an airport). It's only got a couple of basic functions (phillips
and flathead screwdrivers, nailfile, plus the obvious knife), but it has
proven to be an invaluable tool. When I travel, I often take a larger SAK
with several other functions, as well. Great for gigs as well as "real life".
3.) Flashlight - I've been a bit of a flashlight junkie for some time now. I
used to be a die-hard Maglite fan (and the bigger the better, at that!),
but I recently found the other "flashaholics" (as they call themselves) that
hang out on CandlePowerForums and had my eyes opened to a whole
new world of lights. Through that website, I tracked down a Fenix L0D
Q4. This little light is amazingly bright (but has three different brightness
settings) and only uses one AAA battery. What a find! This little wonder
goes everywhere with me now while the big Mags sit at home.
4.) Cell Phone - This one might seem obvious, but my cell is absolutely my
lifeline when I'm on the road. I hate traveling with a laptop, but I'm
wholly addicted to communication and connection. I email, Twitter,
Facebook, read RSS feeds, blog, and do so many other things, all of them
constantly. My cell is my way of doing that when I'm not at home with my
laptop. Right now I've got a Motorola W385 and a great deal on
Verizon's MobileWeb service, which in my mind is as good as it gets
unless you've got an iPhone or one of the other fancy (and way out of my
price range) new phones out there. Again, invaluable to me on the road
(and in everyday life).
5.) MP3 Player - Music is my life (you all know that), and I always have a
little music with me. Right now I have a couple little players I sometimes
carry, none more than 2GB of storage. Makes me really think about what
I want to listen to on a trip.
So there you have it. Not to be cliche, but if I was stranded on a desert island (or just about anywhere else) and could only take a few things - this is what it would be. 90% of the time, all of these items are on my person anyways. So let me ask you: what are your essential "EDC" items?
