Your Beach-Ready Survival Kit

Yay! Finally, some sun, son! I was starting to give up on you, Vancouver. Hopefully there’s still at least two months of good weather ahead of us, because I have resolved to be a beach-goer this year. I have not been awesome at this in the past, try as I might (I’m pale and freckly and would usually rather sit in a park under a shady tree if I’m given the choice). I also live pretty far from the beach, and would rather stick close to my hood. I’m boring, guys. Sorry.

BUT! This summer I am trying to be different. And one of the ways I’m doing so is with a Beach Kit.

This is something that a friend of mine alerted me to—she’s a new mom and so going to the beach carries extra issues. Sand in baby bum, hungry baby, tired baby…I could go on, but essentially she just has to be ready for whatever may happen. It’s that, or haul the whole business home, which is an even bigger pain. She and I went beaching the other day and she showed me her bag of tricks for the beach. It’s impressive, and it got me thinking about making one for myself.

The first thing I did was take an old backpack I don’t use anymore, and clean it out (does anyone else accumulate 10,000 pens in each bag they own? What is that about?). Having done so, I sewed in some pieces of elastic I bought from Dressew on Hastings (best store ever, seriously). This was an inspiration from my friend, who did this in her bag so she had easy access to bottles and lotion. Then I packed the bag with the following:

1)    Sunscreen (duh)

2)    Lip balm

3)    Hand cream (the ocean makes me dry!)

4)    Wet naps/hand sanitizer

5)    A travel pack of Kleenex

6)    A travel sized hair conditioner (salty water makes my hair gross!)

7)    Three granola bars/Trail mix/beef jerky (keep this bag away from mice when not in use)

8)    An empty water bottle

9)    A couple of toonies/bills (just in case—you never know!)

10. A crossword puzzle book

11. A hat I can squish in there

12. A towel

13. A bamboo mat

14. Sunglasses

15. A tshirt or small dress

16. 50 Shades of Grey (what?? Don’t judge me!)

It may seem like a lot, but I use all of it, and I don’t have to spend precious beach minutes running around my house looking for this stuff. In many cases, I put the “crappy” version of each item in my bag, and use the nice stuff when I’m out and about otherwise. Beach stuff gets dirty and wrecked pretty easily, and this way I know I can hang out without worrying about what might happen.

The other awesome part is, when you get home at the end of the day, exhausted, you can just drop your bag in the foyer and go to bed. Tough life, right?