Getting set for backpacking can be almost Zen. What’s important in your life? Do you focus on being prepared for every emergency and carry a fair bit of medical equipment? Do you focus on nature’s capriciousness and prepare for sudden changes in weather? Do you carry pounds and pounds of water, because water is what’s essential and natural sources may be inadequate? Or do you go superlight and trust to speed and agility under those circumstances to get you through?
I could go on. But look in someone’s pack, and I think you would learn a fair bit about the person.