Road Trip Wednesday: What's In My Middle of the Ocean Kit?

The RTW topic this week asks: You're packing for a month on a deserted island. What, as a reader and writer, must be in your backpack?

The nice thing about this topic is that it takes place on an island, which means I don't have to worry about sacrificing books for shoes. I'll happily go barefoot! So after I've stuffed in a couple bathing suits (never mind, deserted island, after all) a couple sticks of lip balm, lotion and a blanket, I discover I've got loads of room left in my pack!

I'm assuming the island has fresh water. Because if it doesn't I'm screwed. I can't carry enough water for a month in a backpack without going all Man Vs. Wild and drinking my own pee.

Ew.

But I'll totally take the food challenge and assume I'm finding my own. A few Lara bars to get me off to a good start and the rest is fish and crab (I hope. Yummers). So a collapsible fishing net goes in the pack. A Swiss Army Knife, too. And loads of matches. Heck yeah, my island has wood.

Shelter? Check (blanket fort ftw!). Water? Check. Food? Check. Once the survival basics are down, I've got to pack for my writer self. One month means a pack of multi-colored pens and ten or so composition books. Maybe fifteen. Really, I'd probably go with as many as will fit in my pack. For the reader self, I have to have my favorites to read over and over again for comfort and company: How I Live Now, Jellicoe Road, The Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea/The Island, Sense and Sensibility. I'd probably want to take a few I haven't read yet, but funny ones, I think. Tragic stories might make me too lonely on a deserted island. So David Sedaris, Christopher Moore and Dave Barry go in the pack.

Beyond that? There's sand. There's sun. There's ocean. It's a month of heaven.

What would you take to a deserted island? Hop over the YA Highway and add your thoughts on the topic. Happy Wednesday!