Last night Andrew and I hosted a 55-minute tutorial on trip planning. If you joined us, thank you. If you didn’t, you can watch the replay below. Please join us for our next discussion at the end of the month about the ways in which backpacking is fundamentally different for women than men.
Topics we discussed included:
- Why trip planning matters
- Defining trip parameters: where, when, with who, and why?
- How to research likely conditions, such as temperature and bug pressure
- How to select gear
- Planning an itinerary
- Food and resupply planning
- Creating and collecting navigational resources
- Assessing and gaining the appropriate skills and fitness
- Completing a final systems check
Resources
We mentioned several planning resources including:
- Tutorial: Plan a backpacking trip in these 7 steps
- Backpacking trip planning checklist
- Trip planner template
- Template: environmental and route conditions
- Trip planning research: My go-to resources
- Backpacking Gear List Template + 3-season Checklist
Watch the event:
Posted in Planning on March 7, 2024
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Watched the live yesterday and now I am thrilled to find all of the links to the great resources you covered available here….thanks a million….!!!
Very helpful and informative. I’ve been using your info for my trip planning for a couple years now, and having everything in one place is super helpful!
One section you may consider adding is “Contingency Planning”, especially for more ambitious trips. I know you all do this, with some elements interspersed throughout the existing template, but calling it out as a dedicated section I think is good practice. I usually do this by stepping through my itinerary from start to finish, asking myself “what if” questions around things that could go wrong, and trying to develop a contingency for each. This is especially relevant for possible adverse environmental conditions, tight logistics points, or elements of the trail/route where I may be pushing my limits. It may also lead to planning alternate routes or identifying additional gear required.
Help me understand what you are proposing: Add “contingency planning” as a dedicated section of what?
As an additional step in the 7 steps. There is some mention in Step 2 “Research the conditions”. I’m just suggesting a dedicated Contingency Planning step once the initial five or six steps are complete.