Long Hiking Trips – Things to Have in Mind
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNkCazT_T4&feature=youtu.be
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Have you had the opportunity to travel (extensively, within your country, or even once abroad)? Can you relate to Twain’s sentiments? How does travel enrich us?
Pleasing The Taste Palate
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Today’s Culture with Travel guest post is by Tony Solomon
Even though it is an extremely powerful cardio workout, for a lot of people, this is more of a lifestyle than an exercise. In other words, aside from lowering your heart disease risk, boosting your bone density and making it easier to maintain your bodyweight, hiking is an extremely fun and fulfilling thing to do. Still, taking a short hike somewhere in your vicinity is a much different experience from going on a long hiking trip. With this in mind, here are a few tips for those who are willing to see what the differences are first-hand.
1. Choose the Right Hiking Location
The first thing you need to know about hiking is that it is all about the location. Sure, you may be inclined to choose those hiking trails that are in your nearest vicinity but there is always a chance you will get bored of them over the course of time. Once this happens, you might start planning towards a greater adventure, such as traveling the world in a quest for ultimate hiking locations. Here, you can find spots such as Everest Base camp trek or Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike. Be as it may, the final choice usually depends on your personal affections and dispositions.
2. Prepare Ahead of Time
In the introduction, we mentioned that hiking is great cardio, however, planning a long hiking trip on your first attempt might be a fatal mistake. In this scenario, the most likely thing to happen is for you to lose your breath during the first stage of the trip and completely miss out on the fun that comes later on. This is why you need to strengthen both your mind and your body for such a trip. To do this, you might consider including exercises such as jogging, biking and jump rope into your daily regimen but you also need to adopt the right mindset in order to enjoy your trip to the fullest.
3. Choosing the Right Company
When it comes to the overall safety, it is always better to hike with someone instead of going alone. This especially goes when it comes to long hiking trips or those in the remote areas of the world. Still, in order to get the most out of your trip, you need to find the right hiking companion. For this, you first need to look for someone with similar stamina. You don’t want to slow down your companions any more than you want to be slowed down by them. Additionally, you want to find someone who will appreciate the very act of hiking and the landscapes surrounding you as much as you do.
4. Think About the Packing
One of the most important things when it comes to long hiking trips lies in knowing exactly how to pack. First and foremost, you need to have the appropriate footwear, seeing how this alone will determine your risk of getting injured in the process. Next, you need some extra food and water, maps, the first aid kit, as well as few additional safety items.
The most difficult thing here is finding a middle-ground between being unprepared and over-encumbered. This is why you need to take only the most relevant items with you and leave all the rest in your hotel or a rented storage unit. For instance, if you decide to go on one of the amazing New Zealand’s multi-day-hikes such as Lake Heaphy Track or Milford Track, you might want to think about utilizing the finest supercheap self storage New Zealand has to offer.
5. Maintain Contact with the Outside World
Finally, even if you are traveling in a good company, it is always for the best to keep people aware of your intended route and your whereabouts. Luckily, in the 21st century, such a thing has never been easier, seeing how you can just IM people back home and tell them of your intentions. Keep in mind, however, that there are some remote areas of your hiking route where you might not have a signal, which is why you need to alert everyone before you head out.
Prepare Well and Enjoy Your Trip
By keeping just these five above-listed tips in mind, you are bound to make your trip a lot safer and therefore much more pleasurable. Otherwise, you would have to be so preoccupied with the issues surrounding your imminent safety, that you wouldn’t even be able to focus on all the beauty you can encounter on this amazing journey.
About the author: Tony Solomon is a writer from Los Angeles, California. Currently, Tony is one of the editors at MediaGurus, a website dedicated to sharing valuable information to anyone who owns a website nowadays. Lately, Tony writes about his experiences as a digital nomad and a freelancer, offering insight into the lifestyle from various perspectives. To stay updated with Tony’s latest blog posts, you can follow him on Twitter.
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