Do you want to send me something on the trail? Yes! Send me something! The best option is to send it to Mom, since she will be my principal point of contact, armed with the most current information on my whereabouts, a complete list of my intended town stops, addresses, and ETAs.
Mothership Lohrenz
1200 Polnell Shores Drive
Oak Harbor, WA 98277
If you don't want to send it to Mom, at least find out from her where/when to send it, and then give me a heads-up via email or voicemail. It's worth pointing out that my resupply plan doesn't include a lot of maildrops until I reach the northern half of this country, which means that on town days I'll be heading directly for the grocery store, not the post office--I'll need to know in advance if there is a prize waiting for me. It's not even safe to send a "surprise" box to someplace I'm already picking up a maildrop--these areas handle literally hundreds of hiker boxes each season, and if I don't know to ask for it, I probably won't get it. Missing a care package would be sad indeed, so grant me the boon of anticipation. Don't be deterred by all these restrictions, though, because providing I get as far as central/northern California--in July, I imagine--I'm definitely going to be a little wild-eyed and all too happy to feel the love from off-trail.
What to send? My suggestions for thru-hiking treats are nearly the same as the rules for Antarctica: consumables and disposables. Food is best, always. Good food equals a good mood! No Oreos, please. No Pepperidge Farm. No ClifBars. Actually--no bars of any sort. Just like in Antarctica: send the hippie-est, organic-est, weirdest food you can find, stuff I won't be able to get for myself. Send cookies. Send candy. Send cheese-doodles. And chocolate, always chocolate. Don't worry about sending durable comestibles "appropriate for travel," because chances are, if I find something special in my maildrop I will eat it immediately--like a STARFISH.
If you don't fancy sending food, the number one thing to keep in mind is that I will have to carry it, whatever it is, so keep it light. Really light. Paperback books that weigh less than four ounces, for instance. I am not kidding about the weight limit, either--get out the scale before you send a book, don't make me cut it into pieces. Postcards. Stories, poems, letters. Anything to occupy my brain during the long spells when it won't be needed to direct my feet. (There may come a point when Silas finds a brand-new iPod shuffle on his doorstep and if that happens please fill it with "epic baking"-type music and send it on immediately.)
And remember that for the first time in living memory I'll be carrying my phone with me. A smartphone. (!) Most of the time it'll run in airplane mode and on standby to preserve battery life, so it's not like the basic paradigm of my owning a phone will have changed that greatly, but it means I'll have internet access so yes yes yes send email, voicemail, pictures of cats and fancy pastry. Motivation! Let me hear from you! You've all gotten so good at these bare-faced lies--"It's going to be amazing! You'll have the summer of a lifetime!"--that I almost believe you really think that.
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