Coming to you live from Melbourne, it’s everyone’s favorite game: The Most Superfluous Thing in My Backpack Is!

Today’s contestant: Two giant spiral notebooks that make no sense to carry around in this digital age!

Weighing in at 200 pages and some 0.4 pounds, these two – yes, count ’em, two! – giant spiral notebooks that make no sense to carry around in this digital age take up an impressive 11×8.5 square inches of space each!

This is space that could otherwise go to snacks, water, guide books, or nothing at all if I knew what was good for me because weight is a real life thing and I already have too much of it in my pack!

Now tell ‘er what she’s playing for, Jonny! –

Well, Bill, that’ll be a tripworth’s supply of Peace of Mind!

And about 12,000 Bic pens.

…

When I first saw the size of the notebook my friend who would be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail grabbed off the shelf, I had a strong reaction.

She was leaving the next day for her trip and decided she wanted something to log it, but only, really, as an afterthought, which is how she wound up picking something last-minute from the sad collection at Target. Among a few reasonable options, she selected a child-size trinket, practically made of tissue paper.

The logic was impeccable. I couldn’t understand it.

The thought of that malnourished thing being held responsible for containing all the mess of that trek was distressing.

And so I make the space for it, a peace tax on prime real estate.

Namaste.