Indulge me in my packing list hyperfixation, and I'll tell you how to pack the most useful summer day bag ever.

Fun Auntie Fact: I was born overlooking the opening ceremonies of what at the time was my country's largest volunteer-run arts festival. It's sadly defunct starting this year, but it used to kick off festivals celebrating all of the ethnic and creative enclaves of the city, from a Pow Wow the very next weekend, straight through to Kasimir Pulaski Days at the beginning of October.

Another Fun Auntie Fact: I started my career as a professional tarot card reader in a tent at regional renaissance festivals. The person who taught me both how to read the cards, and how to run a tarot business, taught me how to assemble a hygiene bag as she was teaching me what the minor arcana were. It's just something renaissance faire vendors know they need. It's handed-down knowledge from anyone with repeated experience with port-o-potties.

When I wasn't in a tent at a renaissance festival, I was going to outdoor music festivals of all sizes. You get the idea. I've done this before.

If you are packing yourself a backpack for "a day out" at an event or vacation destination, whether that means you'll be leaving your home, your hotel, or your campsite, here's what Auntie recommends bringing with you, based on decades of experience. I'm even going to tell you the why!

First of all, let's talk about what you should be wearing with your daypack:

• A brimmed hat - fairly obvious, you don't want the sun beating down on your head all day, and you want to shade your eyes at minimum, preferably your ears and neck, too.

• Sunglasses. If the hat brim is enough for you, awesome. Don't opt for sunglasses without a hat, even if you have a full head of hair, your scalp will not thank you for the burn.

• Light layers, loose enough to breathe, not so loose to take a dip in the loo. You want to keep the heat of the direct sun off your skin, not just the UV rays. Consider UPF 50 performance fabric.

• Good socks. Compression socks are smart. So are UPF 50 compression leggings.

• Well broken-in shoes or boots with good ankle and arch support, and cushioning inserts if needed.

  • If they're leather shoes or boots, consider sealing and waterproofing them before the event.

  • There's a reason rubber rain boots are so popular at big music festivals, even when it's not raining... and that's the port-a-potties, and the general state of the beer-and-piss fueled mud pits you find randomly on the grounds, usually near the port-o-potties.

And the daypack itself, which is actually a two-bag affair:

1. A small pouch worn cross-body, or a small fanny pack. This acts as your purse and hygiene bag.

2. A 20-30L backpack, preferably the kind with a space for a 1L water bladder & bite valve straw.

So, what to pack? Let's start out with that cross-body bag...

• Your State ID/Driver's License or Passport, or however you identify yourself to buy age-restricted things.

• Your money and access to your money. Don't bring every penny to your name to any of these events, thieves do work all these places. Just what you need to function.

  • Tuck the above two things into an inner pocket, for easier accessibility for you, and far less accessibility to thieves.

• Lip Balm. It's easy to forget, and you will be miserable without it. Go for the kind with SPF.

• Hand sanitizer. Whatever brand you use. I triple down with 1 oz bottles of HOCL (which I can also use as a quick skin and fabric deodorant) and prepared Dettol (which I can also use as a surface disinfectant).

• A pocket pack of facial tissues.

• Wet Wipes. I like Summer's Eve, but there's tons of brands out there, individually wrapped and in travel dispensers.

• Toilet seat covers. Again, you can find them individually wrapped, or in packs.

• A travel-sized stick of deodorant. Don't be that person.

• A tiny jar or tube of Vaseline or Aquaphor, and a tiny bottle of cornstarch-based dusting powder for skin chafing.

• Menstrual products. Even if you don't have your own uterus, it's cool to carry some for the people around you who do, just in case you can be a period hero.

• Condoms, for similar reasons as above. Safe sex is more important than ever nowadays, for a whole lot of reasons.

• Consider a fresh pair of underwear, in a baggie. Just in case.

• EXPERT LEVEL: if you were not equipped with outer-facing genitalia, and you'd prefer to wee in the urinal instead of trying to cover or hover over the hole... there are devices that are like fanny funnels that you hold between your legs to direct the stream into the urinal. They do involve a learning curve, and bringing cleaning equipment in the box with you, usually wipes or a water bottle.

And in that backpack:

• Water. If you don't have a water bladder-style backpack (I got mine from Aldi probably 12 years ago now), get yourself a good, functional water bottle, whatever that is for you. And make sure you know where the refill stations are, especially since some places will make you empty it before entering, to make sure it's not vodka.

  • PLEASE remember that a lot of mental health medications make you incredibly intolerant to heat, and make you sweat excessively, to the point of faster dehydration. You will need more water and more rest if you're taking these medications.

  • There's been a lot of discourse about the actual health benefits and risks of drinking electrolytes lately, and while I am a fan of a no flavor, no sweetener, low sodium daily electrolyte supplement, summer festivals and theme park trips are a place where the real sugar, high sodium brands like Liquid IV are actually appropriate. You'll want to throw your favorite powder stick brand in your bag, as well. Or single-serving packs or small bottles of raw sugar and Himalayan Pink or Celtic Sea Salt.

  • Also, while you will likely be eating from food vendors the whole day, you'll still want fortifying snacks on hand like GORP, dried fruit, jerky, etc. You'll be burning more calories than your body is used to.

• Sunblock. And you need to be applying it every two hours. Put an alarm on your phone. Have sun and water accountability buddies. Pack after-sun, just in case. If you wear makeup, look into a makeup fixing spray with SPF coverage you can carry around for re-application.

• Medications.

  • For needed & emergency medications, make sure you have very obvious, laminated instructions for administering your medications in a life-threatening event where you go non-verbal attached to your meds, and keep them in a very obvious place in your bag (possibly in your cross-body).

  • For OTC meds, bring your favorite pain medication, favorite allergy medication, and favorite bad stomach medication. Depending on where you are, you may also want a small bottle of bug repellent, and those ampules of medicine you use on bites and stings to take the pain and itch off.

• Blister Pack. They can happen, no matter how you prepare. Pack bandages, alcohol swabs for cleaning the skin for the adhesive to stick to, and an extra pair of socks.

• A rain poncho.

• A charging bank + any charging cables or batteries/packs you may need. Remember to charge the bank the night before any outing.

• Any of the following: a hand fan, a battery-operated fan with or without a water bottle mister attached, a clack fan, a neck fan, a cooling towel, etc.

• A digital or film camera. Whether you use it as your main, or a backup for your phone, it's nice to have two places to record from.

• A spare bathing suit. YMMV, but if the area is near a beach, the after-party host has a hot tub, the hotel has a pool, the theme park has a water park area, etc, you'll be glad you came prepared to get wet, even if you don't intend to get wet while walking out the door.

• A Turkish towel. Go ahead, make your Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy joke now, get it out of your system. Okay, so you can use a Turkish towel as a towel to dry off after a rainstorm or a swim, or to fold up to sit on a wet seat without getting your butt wet, to cover a skin-blistering metal bench or leather car seat, as a picnic or beach blanket, as a sun-blocking light layer over your skin, etc, etc. It's genuinely useful to carry, for such an easily portable thing.

• Will you be out past sunset? Will you want to bring a sweatshirt or a jacket? Check the weather for the upcoming 12-16 hours or so to make sure.

• A head lamp or flashlight, yes on top of the one on your phone. Don't fall in a hole in the dark.

• EXPERT LEVEL: a backpacking chair. You can find these from just about every outdoor outfitter brand. I know those inflatable sofas that you kinda hold open to the wind to fill have been pretty popular for event seating, too, but you do have to steak them down if you're not weighing them down, they're basically huge balloons.

• NEURODIVERGENT LEVEL: ear plugs and ear muffs, stim objects, camphor or essential oil inhalers, sour, minty, or spicy candy, anything that can help to make the noise manageable, and bring focus back to your body if you start to panic or disassociate.

And with that, go out and enjoy your summer!