Have you hiked recently or are you planning to go? Wondering that hmm what should I bring with me and what not… Well, stay tuned, because you are going to get some neat tips before you’re going on an adventure.
Hiking is a great way to get hell out of your everyday life and enjoy nature! Of course, everyone has a different meaning for hiking:
Some of us like to conquer the mountains or walk 1000 km or more in 3 months.
Go to the wild and test survival skills…
Others, it just means going for a little hike (walk) a day or two to the seaside. Make a bonfire and drink beer.
We are more like the last ones!
Thanks to our crazy ideas we have found many things that we forgot to take with us… but usually, by then it was already too late.
Ok, let’s start
1. A Proper Amount of Water
This one sounds pretty logical, right? Well yeah, you can’t live without it.
We all have heard from our parents and from school that we can’t be without water for more than three days (some legendary people have gone up to 8 days). “You can forget food but not water!” Take water with you and don’t be like us…
We went for a hike and when we reached our start point, we realized that “Oh shoot, we forgot water!”
What we did, panicked?
Nope, we thought that’s okay, let fate decide our situation by simple rock-paper-scissors! As you might guess, fate decided not to go after water. We thought that we don’t need water, because we get hydration from our beers. At least we didn’t forget those, otherwise, there wouldn’t be any rock-paper-scissors – we would take our trip back to shop right away. At first, it was no big deal, but after we ran out of beer we realized that it gets us to dehydration faster!
Bottom line: As we have tested, it’s always better to take water with you!
2. Tools to make Fire
What is a weekend hike without a little campfire… We want to have full relaxation and the living fire is one way to have it! So taking something with you to start a fire is a good start. Well, you can also go full Bear Grylls and find a way to make fire, but it’s always easier if you have tools to make fire.
We have had many hikes where we have bought eating materials and also have already been on a track for a day and then we found out that damn, we forgot fire tools!
And we have to admit that it sucks when you can’t make a good BBQ (when you have a BBQ material).
How to make a fire? Here is a great link that explains it:
3. Something to sleep
“Who said nights were for sleep!?”
When you are hiking, we are pretty sure that you want to sleep.
Just like everything above then make sure that, if you are going to be away more than one day, then you need something to sleep!
Luckily, this is something we have never forgotten yet… but if you forgot to take sleeping stuff, then there is no other option than to build something for yourself. It is always good to know how to make a shelter. We have done that as well but as a purpose, to be more skilled when something unexpected happens.
4. Extra clothes
Hiking seems pretty safe: walking on the hiking trails, crossing rivers ( using bridge) – so it seems that it’s okay to have only one pair of clothes… But if you see the river and there is no bridge. You want to go extreme and jump over the river to continue your hike… Then there is an opportunity that you might end up swimming. After that, extra clothes are pretty handy.
When we see a river without a bridge then we try to jump over, but many times the landing zone has been water!
When you don’t want to go extreme then also the weather can change fast. We can’t trust forecasts 100%.
5. Camping Food
As we said in the beginning, don´t forget water. But food, as you know is essential as well. Take something to eat. If you are a skilled hunter and fire-maker, then no worries, you probably know how to get food and cook it. If you are like us, then it might be a challenge to hunt down some animals and also if you forget fire tools as well then it is not a good idea to eat raw food… then it might be a problem!
What to take with you?
It depends on what kind of hike you have. But if you are like us (weekend hikers) then BBQ meat, bananas, snack (muesli bars, dark chocolate), chips… something that makes you feel good. Do not worry about doing a cheat day! It’s worth it.
6. A good attitude
“A positive attitude will lead to positive outcomes”
If you are going for a hike then forget your everyday problems and just enjoy yourself! It is time to relax and have fun. One of the biggest reasons we have found ourselves hiking is that it takes us away from everyday life and gives us time to have a quiet time and there is no talking about work or money.
Take a boombox with yourself and listen to good old songs!
7. Hygiene products
In wildlife, when you’re not in an inhabited area, you feel like you don’t need that much hygiene. Well, it’s true and not. There are some things you can skip, but some things are just essential. For example for a two-day hike trip you don’t need care products for your body or hair – You can always wash yourself in a lake, river, sea, or whatever. You get bigger crap off.
But for us, it’s essential to have a toothbrush – it’s impossible to feel fresh without it. Coming off the hike and not having brushed your teeth is like that something bad has exploded in your mouth. You don’t socialize with others or go and have a date…they may pass out.
8. Some extra equipment
You can go hiking to just walk, eat BBQ, and go to sleep. But to have more fun, it’s better to have something with you that gives you a chance to do other activities. Taking football, disc, or something else with you, adds more activities to your hiking trip. We often take a football with us. Sometimes we play and sometimes not. You can just do passes or play footvolley. We are not experts on that, but it was fun.
9. Social Media – FORGET this one
When you go hiking then hike when you want to scroll social media then scroll it when you are back at home. Hiking is a great time to forget your phone or laptop – you don’t need to post anything or check what others do. You can just enjoy your day and be in the moment. When we have hiked then we don’t see ourselves scrolling, it’s more fun to be in the place and embrace the moment.
10. Your Crazy Self
I mean one thing is a great attitude and all the above essential above. Another thing is being a little crazy.
When you see the water go wild and lose your clothes and make the legendary jump ( first, just make sure in safety).
Live in the moment, sing, play guitar (if you can), tell stories, take unfamiliar roads!
Explore new places…
We never forget that one oh no, never! We are like little monkeys that are in the wild again!
Make your hiking legendary. Make memories and remember to have fun… shit happens you can’t control that! But I don’t mean that it ruins your hike.
Stay awesome!
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