How To Backpack More Each Year And Every Year (video included!)
If you’re like me, you’ll get to the end of the year, look back, and wonder where it all went. I think that’s pretty common for everyone though. Life just gets going and before you know it you’re wishing you had done more with your summer.
That was and still is me. I’m getting better at it, but I too struggle with making plans to get out for some backpacking or even just a hike. What’s strange is that I’ll tell myself on Wednesday that I want to do something, but come Saturday, I’ve failed to make any plans and by Sunday I’ve botched the whole weekend. It’s an endless cycle but there’s a reason why this happens to us; we haven’t made backpacking, hiking, or any other outdoor activity a habit that we do without having to plan or think about it.
So with that said, here are a few tips and tricks to help you get out there backpacking and hiking more this year, next year, and every year.
The Pitfalls Of Not Having A Habit
A few years ago I was struggling to work out on a routine basis. I’d exercise regularly for a few months then just stop. After a few weeks, I’d get back on the bandwagon and eventually jump back off again. Looking back now it was because I hadn’t made working out a daily habit to where my mind didn’t have to think about it. If it’s not a routine, it won’t happen.
After finding a secret hack/tool/trick (probably not so much of a secret) working out is now just part of my day and I no longer have to think about it at all. That secret hack turned out to be a pretty powerful method of creating a positive habit in my life in a very short amount of time. It worked for me then and it’ll work for me now when I focus it on backpacking and the outdoors.
The Habit Hack For Creating Routine
Each year at my job I’d get this company calendar to put up by my desk. I never really used it until one day I looked over at it and wondered how many days per month I was actually lifting and working out. I decided one day I’d take it home and hang it in my home gym to find out. I kept a pen hanging on it and each time I did anything active, I put an “X” on that day. It started as me noting the muscle group I worked out on that particular day and morphed into an all-around activity tracker.
As the weeks went by I could see where my habits were and weren’t. By the end of the month, I had no other choice but to look at where I was falling short. Sometimes the month was full of “X’s” and others it was pretty slim. After a few months, something natural began to happen. I started having a competition with myself to see how often I could mark that calendar up with those “X’s.” When December rolled around, I counted up the days I worked out and noted them on the following year’s calendar.
My goal for the year was to work out more than I did the previous one and I’ll be damned if it didn’t work! Once I had a goal of beating last year’s count, I was on a whole new level. By the third year of doing this, I was doing something active almost every single day of the year. I remember looking at that filled up calendar and feeling like I had accomplished something.
Each one of those “X’s” didn’t mean that I killed myself in the gym that day, but rather it meant that I had established a healthy lifestyle. By the time the 4th year rolled around, I never touched another calendar again because exercise was now part of my day no matter what. I didn’t have to make time for it because there was nothing to MAKE time for. Working out was like coffee, breakfast, or anything else I routinely did during the day.
Backpacking Tip #1: Create A Backpacking and Hiking Calendar
If it worked for me to build a habit of exercising, then it’ll work for you when it comes to backpacking and hiking. Want to do more than last year? Keep a physical calendar in your office, on the fridge, or wherever you like that you can refer to time and again to see how often you’re heading out for a trip. If you need to, hammer out some dates in advance with your family and stick to them. Not every outing needs to be an epic adventure. Simply going for a hike in the morning or evening to stretch the legs, letting the dogs run, and snapping a family photo will begin to instill this habit you’re dying to have.
Before you know it, you’ll be more used to going hiking and backpacking than not. You won’t have to plan it anymore because it’ll be a habit that you and your family just do because it feels better than sitting at home watching the game on Sunday.
Backpacking Tip #2: Do More Overnight Trips
As much as I’d love to be out backpacking for weeks on end multiple times per year, it’s just not feasible. Maybe it is for some, but for most of us, we have kids, weddings, parties, and things to do which makes getting out for long periods of time extremely difficult and doing those trips a few times each year almost impossible.
I learned early on that overnight trips are amazing. They’re easy to plan, light, and you don’t have to go very far. The whole thing from start to finish is just easier than planning an entire week of backpacking and it’s often cheaper, but the benefit is that you get to go more!
You can leave work on a Friday, hike a few miles to camp, and hike back out the next day with a day and a half left to do life things. If you put these kinds of trips on your new fancy backpacking calendar, you’ll find that you can likely sneak in at least one backpacking trip each month and when you tally everything up at the end of the year, you’ll have a smile on your face knowing you had a few adventures.
Backpacking Tip #3: Set Realistic Goals and Expectations
Maybe this is more of a philosophy than anything else, but check your expectations at the door for what you’re able to accomplish in a year. I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the Pacific Crest Trail, but that’s not always going to be doable and if you’re the type to hang your happiness on how epic an adventure is or isn’t, then you’ll more often than not be disappointed because “epic” is just not something that happens every time you’re out there.
Have goals you can work toward, but have a healthy path to happiness in the outdoors before you get there. If all you can do is get out for overnighters then be happy you even go out and stop being sour on the idea that you weren’t able to section hike that long trail for two solid weeks.
Backpacking and hiking adventures should make you happy and you should be doing it for the right reasons. Be realistic about where you are in life, what’s available to you, and try to make the most of your situation. Do NOT compare yourself to others on the internet who seem like they’re living a life full of adventure because that’s just a fool’s errand.
Plus, if you’re always sour about what you’re NOT doing, then you won’t want to do what you CAN do and this whole thing falls apart at the seams.
Parting Thoughts On Creating Good Habits
Creating good habits isn’t easy. It takes time and it helps to have reminders. Give yourself and your family a goal to meet. If you don’t get out much now, set a realistic goal of doing something active in the outdoors once a month at a minimum. That’s only 12 trips to the mountains and I have a feeling you probably want it to be more like 24-30.
Start small and work up to it. Change it up from outing to outing. Go camping one weekend, hiking another, and backpacking another. Hike short distances and long distances. Bring food for a picnic on top of that mountain you’ve always wanted to go see the view of and if it’s hot out, invest in some water activities like a canoe or kayak (you can get them cheap on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace).
Don’t pressure yourself to be a badass outdoorsman/woman. Just do your thing and enjoy yourself. Don’t compare your trip to the one you might see on social media (because..yeah…it’s probably not like that in real life) and don’t get down on yourself if you didn’t get out as much as you had hoped.
Before you know it, that calendar you used to encourage and challenge yourself will be filled with notes of adventure and a head filled of memories. That’s what it’s all about anyhow, right?
