Crazy Backpacker Confessions

I'm a backpacker. And yet, sometimes I am plagued by doubts. I don't think I even qualify into that category. I've been called crazy and that may be closer to reality.

What makes a backpacker? The backpack? The number of backpacks? The travelling pace? The curiosity to discover? The wealth in experience? The scarcity of means?

When I left Vancouver I left 4 backpacks behind in different sizes and for different purposes. I took my good old big backpack and my beloved small all-around backpack. Then, in Nepal, on my first trek with a porter-cum-guide I realized that the small pack was too small to work as a daypack and so I bought a bigger small backpack.

However, on my next trek when I went solo I took the old little pack and stuffed it in the big backpack. It worked perfectly for the daytrips I did from time to time as well as for the photo sessions at sunset and sunrise.

Then, before leaving the Asian continent, I realized I had to get rid of some stuff and one of the small packs and I said good-bye to the new one, being too emotionally attached to the old and worn small backpack.
To my disappointment in Cairo I had no choice before starting the Tour d'Afrique but to give up the big backpack. In hindsight I now know I could have asked for a favour and got the backpack and the trekking things loaded on the truck along with the permanent bag. But I didn't dare ask and so I left the pack there. The small backpack I carried on my bike for the duration of the tour except for 3 days when the rain was too heavy. My camera was always with me this way.
When the TdA ended in Capetown and I now wanted to go hiking and backpacking I had no choice. First thing in CapeTown I bought a big backpack. Then, when I decided to go back and climb Kili I realized that my good old small backpack was too unreliable by now besides being a bit too small. The zipper had given me headaches for months now. To cut it short, I bought a small backpack but still didn't give up the old one.
I left Africa with all 3 backpacks and still think back about the old pack semi-wrapped in duct tape that I left in Cairo. Sometime this fall I hope to get there and pick it up. My gore-tex layers, trekking poles and a few more items are stuffed inside.

Does any of this qualify me as a backpacker? Yep, I guess you're right! Whether it makes me a backpacker or not is irrelevant, what is certain is that I'm crazy.