| PREPARE FOR WAR! A Guide to Pennsic for the Complete Beginner |
Heading Home
Pennsic 27 site token
(1998)
(click to see enlarged view)
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Eventually, Pennsic will be over, and it will be time for you to begin the voyage home.
Don’t leave all your packing to the morning of your departure day. Pack up every single item except the bare necessities (tent, bedding, change of clothes, breakfast) the day before. Then all you need to do in the morning is:
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Pack your remaining gear and gather it into one tidy pile. | |
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| 2. | Fill in your fire pit and wastewater pit, if necessary. Fill in any other holes or trenches. | |
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| 3. | Strike the tent. Try to avoid taking down your tent until it’s had a chance to dry completely from the overnight moisture. Remember that it will be at least 17 hours (probably in a very hot car) before you can take it out to dry again. Mildew only needs about two hours of heat and moisture to start growing. | |
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| 4. | Pack up your ground cloth. Again, try to let it dry first. | |
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| 5. | Police your campsite thoroughly for any and all trash, no matter how small. Police the area a little around your campsite for good measure. Do this even if it’s raining! | |
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| 6. | See if anyone in your camp needs assistance in breaking camp. | |
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| 7. | Go get your car from the parking lot. Don’t get it before this point, because other people need to load their vehicles, too, and there isn’t enough room for everyone. Keep the time your car spends in camp to an absolute minimum. | |
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| 8. | Load your gear into your car. | |
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| 9. | Police the area where your gear was for any and all trash. | |
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| 10. | Take all garbage to the appropriate receptacles. Garbage should always be placed in plastic garbage bags and tied tightly. Pennsic recycles, so remember to separate! | |
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| 11. | You are free to go! |
When you finally arrive home, you will probably find yourself physically exhausted and emotionally wrung out. You’re likely to be grumpy and out of sorts and too tired to think clearly.
My first word of advice to you is don’t plan on going back to work the day after you arrive home. You won’t be fit for human company and you’ll be completely useless for getting any work done.
My second word of advice is to unload the car the minute you get home! Even if you don’t unpack everything, at least the car will be unloaded.
Spend the next day (when you’re home, not at work) unpacking and getting everything squared away. Take it slowly, with frequent breaks. I have found this to be an excellent strategy for unwinding, touching base with mundane realities again, and reformatting my brain for modern life. When everything is put away in its place, I have officially ended Pennsic and am ready to face the workaday world again.