"Joe," my backpack... NY cont'd....

If anyone knows me and my packing habits, you know that I am NOT a light packer. You have to have options in my opinion. I mean, what if someone in Central Park noticed my athletic prowess (chuckle) as I walked by their practice and I asked if I would join them in their game later that night b/c they needed big boomer and I only had my open toed shoes or flip flops?!?! Disaster I tell you!! So I tend to 'over pack' and take home a few bags of mostly unused clothes and shoes... in order to be prepared of course :) So I decided to pack light and only take my backpack for my two and a half day trip. That's an attainable goal right? It was!! My poor backpack was busting at the seams and when I got off the bus and hit the streets of Manhattan I started to feel like I had someone hanging on my back. Not only was this backpack way heavier than really should be possible, it stuck out about 3 feet past my back side. Needless to say, moving through the over capacitated streets of New York is not an easy feat for one person alone.... But I was walking for two. "Joe," (yes, we decided he was so big he needed a name) was constantly getting in the way and knocking into unsuspecting people as they passed on the street. It was Joe's first experience in NY and he experienced it all... he took the train, walked downtown, rode in a taxi and got the full deli experience. We were quite the group of tourists and looked the part. But we didn't care, it was a blast. And for the most part, I had enough options to make it through the weekend, kind of :)