What Does She Carry in That Waist Pack?

The scene: a recent evening at our house.
We are watching Criminal Minds, season 13, on DVD.
Dr. Spencer Reid: Guys, I read about a guy in California who only has 79 items to his name, including his underwear.
Me to my husband: Wellp! That'll never be me!

I am thinking about buying a new waist pack. The one I carry, a Columbia pack, has seen heavy, heavy wear. It also has just two zippered pockets - a main one up top and a small one on the front - and I think I could use more of those. Fully packed, it weighs a few pounds. Its dimensions, packed, are about 11 inches long, 5 inches deep, and 5 inches tall.

I was looking on Amazon, and I came across a lot of options. Some big, some tiny, called various names. We call them fanny packs over here in the U.S., but I understand that fanny may have very different connotations in other parts of the world.  ;-) 

They are also known as waist packs or bum packs. The deal is that you stuff all your STUFF in one, and then you wrap it all around your waist, snap the buckle, and with the contents of your waist pack, you take on the world! I prefer to keep the "stuff" carried on my lower back rather than in front.

I am always amused by those tiny videos that go along with the products, showing you all the crap somebody else stuffed in theirs. I laugh to watch, though, because they are always showing you about 10 items. Oh, look! I can stuff 10 items into this thing! Oh, whoopie ding! Hey! Look what I've got in mine!

So just for giggles, I dumped everything out of mine, and I made a list, and I took some pictures. Yes, this is stuff I carry, every day, in my waist pack. This doesn't even show ALL of it. I'll give you a list below. (And you may note almost instantly that there is no cell phone - nope, don't carry one, don't plan to start anytime soon!)

As you have already guessed, I have never been one to travel LIGHT in life, bwa-ha-ha-ha! You might think me some sort of modern-day Mary Poppins, carrying her carpet bag and whipping out an umbrella, or perhaps a coat rack. But my bag isn't quite capable of THAT level of magic. Not unlike Bruce Willis in The Last Boy Scout, though, my motto is - Always Be Prepared!

And can you believe that after I made this list, I thought of some things I needed to ADD? I added a pack of snack crackers, and I plan to put a small flashlight in; I can't believe I don't have one in there already! Having said that, here is the list of what you're looking at, row by row:

regular hand sanitizer
Bath & Body Works sanitizer, Japanese Cherry Blossom scent
hair brush
Oil of Olay face moisturizer
hand lotion
Listerine breath spray
soap leaves
toothbrush
toothpaste
floss and flosser
Q-tips

anti-itch cream (NOT to be confused with toothpaste!)
lipstick
lip gloss
Care Deeply lip balm
emery boards
pill cases
sewing kit
small spoons
magnifying glass
picnic set

a wipe
Casio watch face (I wear an identical one on my wrist)
hair clip
band-aids
lighters
American flag
calculator
tiny screw driver
2 masks

salt and pepper
sweet 'n low
cherry lollipops
snack bar
big mints
Ruth Bader Ginsberg Judgmints
gum
flavor singles for water

house key
pens
bags
key chain loyalty cards
paper clips
red heart I found and keep for good luck
twistie tie

tissues
tiny book
memo pad
can coozie
4 photos - Barb and Joseph and Aunt Mae, Barb and me laughing, Mom & Dad at the peony bush, and Dad taking Mom there on a tractor (that story is told here)

Now, here are the things you DO NOT see that are also in there, some not shown for obvious reasons, but mostly because nothing more would fit in my photo!!!!  :-)
cash - dollars and change
driver's license
library card
credit cards
coupons
gift cards
a few phone numbers
assortment of papers - funny things we've said, notes from trips
lists - list of DVDs I own, J.D. Robb books I've read or own, etc.
Springsteen setlists from all concerts (2000, 2012, 2016)
favorite author lists
books I'm looking for
coupons
one blank check (for the dentist Monday)
maps
bookmark
Covid immunization proof for self and husband
wrappers from several items I bought that I loved, that I never found again (always hopeful I'll run across them again while shopping!)
a few baggies for any spare food I run across and need to take home, LOL

So, do you think I might need a slightly bigger waist pack with more pockets? Yes, I think so! Do you have a waist pack you adore and recommend? Drop a comment or recommendation! And why am I sharing all of this? I just thought it might be fun, and besides. . . . .

I am the girl of 100 lists
From what shall I wear
To who I have kissed
Check items off
Let nothing be missed
Sing I to myself and my 100 lists

Our soundtrack song is the Go-Go's, with Girl of 100 Lists!

P.S. You're allowed to comment! I won't be offended, I promise, LOL! A friend who saw this said this is like the Swiss army knife of junk drawers. So true! And I'm adding a second song, which is practically the story of my life: Tracy Chapman, with Mountains o' Things.

P.P.S. Quite possibly related: a peek inside my camera bag.

P.P.P.S. I do NOT actually carry this pack on my daily walks. I typically carry a different fanny pack that has very little in it, and I tuck into that my umbrella, my water bottle, and my tunes box and ear buds. I DO, however, carry this fanny pack when I go to town, shopping, out to eat, and backpacking! On longer hikes, I carry a daysack AND this fanny pack. Lordy, you don't even WANT to know what's in the daysack, LOL!