Me: “why did you pack a tea-towel?” Her: “you told me to”Me:??? And then we laughed about how my suggested checklist with optional trek towel had been misunderstood.
I read a post recently about ultra-light traveller who didn’t even take toilet paper and just used leaves or bark or anything else available to do their ‘business’. I’m not quite ready for that yet but i do carefully analyse my pack each time i empty it and if an item hasn’t been used it doesn’t go next time. (The exceptions being toilet paper, raincoat and first aid kit). When I lead Duke of Ed hikes the kids pack their own packs but are subjected to scrutineering if their pack weight is over 12kg. I’ve confiscated some funny items including a 600g hammer! ‘You can bring anything you like, as long as you carry it’ but remember that ‘nothing weighs nothing’ and being a packhorse isn’t much fun.
Find my 2 day hike packlist – http://bit.ly/2pV7MCjPACKLIST
In desperation I traded my soul for a packet of olives on the Larapinta Trail last year….When you are away from the conveniences of home it becomes a real struggle to balance nutritional needs, practicality and comfort food.
Here are tommy’s tips:
- Weight everything (veggie stew is hearty but mega heavy)
- Pack some treats for when your spirits sag and you need some extra motivation
- Carbs are your friend (think pasta, rice, potato, chocolate)
- Packet soups and hot drinks are good evening time-fillers
- Make breakfast easy (e.g. shakes and bars) so you can hit the trail earlier
- Back Country/Campers Pantry meals might be cheating but they make life easy (no dishes to wash!!)
- Bring cash – no joke, random stores do appear in the oddest places and there’s nothing worse that watching someone else gulping an ice cold beverage.
tommy the travelling turtle 