I mentioned that a few weeks ago I started a work assignment on the Tahoe National Forest. While a lot of the world is in a remote work situation due to COVID, a lot of my job has to be conducted on-site and in the field. Which means that I don’t always have the luxury of waking up, making coffee and plugging in to start my workday from home in my pajamas.

While I’m back in Flagstaff for a few weeks, I spent the first three weeks of my new work assignment in the Tahoe area, for a few reasons. Given that I work in land management, I have to actually take some time to familiarize myself with the land itself. It’s really important for me to tour districts and see things like recreation sites, project areas and burn scars. Talking about something you haven’t actually seen is really, really hard. And, since a lot of what I do is photo and video work, I need to be physically located in the area to do that.

I managed to find a long-term Airbnb to book for the rest of my time on the Tahoe (I head back at the end of the month!), but my first few weeks were spent living in a hotel.

Which meant packing was a little unusual.