Stuff, oh the stuff!

I often pride myself on the efficiency of my travel.  I have developed a very specific routine to go through airport security, which includes, among other things, proper dress to minimize the removal of metal, and selection of bags for ease of removing computers, etc.  There are other things I do, to make sure I travel efficiently.  Today, I was the least efficient traveler ever.  I was ashamed at my skills... and probably had the bulls eye of a novice traveler.  What caused this change?  Stuff, way too much stuff.  I have over 200lbs of stuff that I am bringing with me.  This amazes me since I only brought one large backpack when I moved to Costa Rica for one year, and only 100 lbs of stuff when  I moved to Paraguay for 27 months.  I often look at people like me today, and wonder, where are they going?, and why could they possibly need that much stuff?.  Well, I still do not know how I ended up with 200lbs of stuff.  This is why I was extremely shocked when the lady told me that I had one bag that was 69 lbs, and one bag that was 63, and another that was 43....that will be $800 please.    Wait a minute, I can lift these bags, that means they are under 50lbs, your scales must be wrong.... or maybe I have just gotten a lot stronger.  I have to give a giant shout out to Amy and Stephanie for helping me dig through and move all my stuff at the San Fran Airport, so I could lower my extra baggage costs (also shout out to Owen for helping me back all this stuff till 2:00, and dealing with the little nervous breakdowns of dealing with all my stuff).
So you might think, how do you get over 200lbs of luggage?  Well I am blaming the Pelican Cases.  Pelican Cases are a necessary evil of field work, they keep all your important gear from the dangers of humidity, rivers, the occasional elephant stampede, and/ or truck that runs over your stuff.  They are large and heavy and bulky, but boy do they work.  I know right now I am cursing bring 3 pelican cases, but I know that I will be happy to have them when my stuff goes swimming in the river.  The other things that are on a 'field biologists' packing list include: boots (I destroy boots, so I brought 3 pair), tents, botanical plot measuring devices (including the worlds largest tape measure), rain gauges, thermometers, Rite in the Rain notebooks, flagging tape, life jacket, motorcycle helmet, field clothes, office clothes, snacks, and books lots and lots of books.  I guess all that stuff adds up quickly.  So the next time you see someone struggling with too much stuff at the airport, rather than a poor packer or an inexperienced traveler, maybe they are going on some crazy adventure that needs a lot of gear.  Lets just hope that everything makes it safely to Jakarta.