Three more days at sea, a couple of days to sample the fleshpots of Santiago, Chile, and then we’ll be winging our way home. It’s been a wonderful trip, but my sights are already set on the next big adventure. Plus, there’s only so many Chateaubriands sitting on a bed of truffle potatoes with caviar sauce one can eat. For the record, it looks like that number is seven. In case you were curious.
When we get back, I have a little shopping to do, for a number of small, and not terribly important pieces of gear. Then, there’s the planning. I’m not going to do mail drops, so that simplifies life quite a bit. On the other hand, I do have to figure out some likely meeting points for Mary and myself during the hike. Got to decide on which maps and guidebooks I’m going to use. Should I get a new cheap phone from Verizon, since apparently coverage from AT&T down in the South is the pits?
But the real burning question, of course, is whether or not I should go the moustache route or not. There’s no question that I’ll drag along the weight of a razor and some shaving cream, since I have no intention of growing any more than a week of chin hair. Because:
- A beard will almost certainly come in very grey, or even white, and I have no desire to end up with trail names like Gramps, Methuselah, or Geriatric Dude.
- Because a face full of fur, in the heat and humidity of an East Coast summer, would be, shall we say, uncomfortable.
So, no beard for me, but a moustache seems like it might be a fun and interesting diversion, especially if I work on a nice handlebar. The drawback with a handlebar is that it requires a fair bit of grooming, which might be difficult to pull off on the trail. Plus, there’s so many styles to choose from.
Something fussy, precise and Belgian?
Or something just a wee bit over the top?
Or something more traditional, and it comes with a fez!
So things are a bit on hold at the moment, but in less than a week I’ll be able to start moving forward again.