_or, "How to survive hacker summer camp with a back injury"_ # Wednesday Got to the airport early. Rideshare driver at 0345 on a weekday was all business. Easy money for him, I suppose, since I booked the ride the night before. I made sure to empty my person of any contraband prior to entering the airport, per usual. Was through TSA in maybe 120 seconds. Then I just wandered airside for two hours. Boarding was the typical Southwest cattle-call, but uneventful otherwise. Slept like a baby in my window seat, thanks to that inventory clearing upon airport arrival. I started to awake half an hour before final approach. A fabulous flight. Little did I know. When I stood to get up, I noticed the difference immediately. The minor lower back pain I had left with, which I thought was getting better, was significantly more real than it had been at the start of the flight. Well, power through, as I normally do. Skipped the slot machines in the airport and headed right for baggage claim. Scuttlebutt was that rideshare from Reid was total chaos, so I just took a cab. This was the right call, and wound up being the right call anywhere there were cabs for the rest of the week. Dropped my baggage off with the Flamingo bell staff, and off to wander. It was such a relief to not have to carry bags around with me. If there was any personal lesson learned from DEF CON 32 it was to stop carrying so much shit. I don't have a military-style pack with all the MOLLE PALS webbing all over it. I wanted to carry a number of portables ("handie-talkies", or, HTs, often colloquially "walkie-talkies"), so I got some 1-inch velcro strap and added temporary PALS webbing rows to the straps of my pack. I was able to carry the Anytone, the Kenwood, and the M17 radio, as well as a Meshtastic radio. It was a fashion statement, for sure. But it did not help my back injury one bit. _to be continued_