Normally I really like a good spontaneous trip; having a kit , including food, so dialed in from practice that it becomes second nature and is essentially already planned. Especially for short excursions, it kinda always boils down to fortified oatmeal for breakfast, snacking from a known list of efficient snacks, and a freeze dried/prepped ziplock bag meal at night. During normal day to day, I essentially use the same recipes for the ziplock bag meals for lunches. I like the combinations of couscous w/ chicken + dried soup or a curry, pesto or alfredo Tuna w/ instant rice, and dried chorizo w/ unflavored instant oats + dried fruit. Usually I fortify these with olive oil and a fiber of some sort like spinach or psyllium. My favorite type of spontaneous trip is one with an evening hike to a nearby shelter, w/ overnight, comfy morning coffee and leisurely hike out. I will sometimes just throw these in on a week night when I am feeling stressed by work/life.
@@macmurfy2jka Interestingly (at least to me 😂) is that I find a big reduction in anxiety from the act of planning, itself. When life gets me generally wound up, my sleep usually suffers, but I find that just getting the planning started puts me at ease. I believe in my follow-through, so if I start a plan, I believe in myself enough to drop the anxiety levels, and I find I sleep well, again. So, in some ways, my detailed planning is often just a coping mechanism 😜
@@ShortGuysBetaWorks I mean, I still have to “plan” these overnighters. Where do I wanna go? How long is the drive? Where do I park? How cold will it be? What’s the hike in? Shelter or bivy? At least out here on the Appalachians there is plenty of just this to fill that need for the a planning phase. Gathering materials also usually requires a trip to the local supermarket for something. And I don’t keep my bags packed, so there is still making a lists and packing out of it.
I did a week long Ski Mountaineering trip out of Cham a little while ago. That was my biggest single trip that I did. It involved a number single day excursions and a few nights in the mountains. It’s kinda funny to here you going through all the same steps that was going through. I definitely found the food situation to be the most challenging. My party decided to buy food in situ in Geneva Just finding a proper food market that also sells the types of foods that were good for the days out on the mountains was difficult. They sold way fewer packaged and ready to eat food or were mostly full weight items. There weren’t many Knor Pasta Sides type products and even less freeze-dried meal option. Heck, instant oaks were tough to get. In hind sight, we would have done better stocking up in Chamonix, but I guess you live and learn. I ended up living off of chocolate, dried sausage, fruit and nut mixes, and packaged pastries for meals in the mountains. And the food served at establishment all seemed to lack an appropriate amount of ruffage/veggies to balance out. The lack of vegetables definitely surprised me. How do they stay so skinny out there eating like that!? It must be the smaller portions and less processed junk food.
To your point, when I came off Denali, what I craved most was just a salad. I've learned to supplement the food I can get in-country with things that just work for me, stuff I know I like and that sits well with my digestion. The hard part is getting the balance right: how much "supplemental" stuff to bring when I don't know exactly what I will be given when I get there. In some ways, my trips that haven't used any outfitter or other in-country services at all have been easier to plan because it gets simple: if I want it, I have to bring it; if I don't bring it, I won't get to have it.
@@ShortGuysBetaWorksbingo! While it’s more work up front, outfitting one’s self entirely does often seem the easiest! I’ve done full multi day trips like backpacking in the Canadian Rockies where the only thing I didn’t bring was fuel, bear spray, and the local paper map. Way easier. Just step off the bus and away I go!
There is not enough advice online on how to pack and travel with your gear for a big trip. I did 3 weeks in Peru and spent a few days going over and pairing down what I wanted to bring. Asking questions like "are 2 trekking poles really necessary for me or can I get away with 1?" and "I always bring tons of wipes, but will I really use all of these?". Then, packing sharp objects into bags and packing fragile lightweight jackets around those sharp objects takes some strategy. I ended up taking a 40L duffle and my summit pack as carry-ons and having my helmet, boots, and critical gear in the 40L bag. If my other stuff didnt make it to Peru, I could have gotten away with rental tools and pack.
@@blindsaint2 These are some very good points. I go through similar thought and packing processes. Maybe my next expedition, I will film a bit about that portion of the process, as you suggest! 🙏💪
Normally I really like a good spontaneous trip; having a kit , including food, so dialed in from practice that it becomes second nature and is essentially already planned. Especially for short excursions, it kinda always boils down to fortified oatmeal for breakfast, snacking from a known list of efficient snacks, and a freeze dried/prepped ziplock bag meal at night. During normal day to day, I essentially use the same recipes for the ziplock bag meals for lunches.
I like the combinations of couscous w/ chicken + dried soup or a curry, pesto or alfredo Tuna w/ instant rice, and dried chorizo w/ unflavored instant oats + dried fruit. Usually I fortify these with olive oil and a fiber of some sort like spinach or psyllium.
My favorite type of spontaneous trip is one with an evening hike to a nearby shelter, w/ overnight, comfy morning coffee and leisurely hike out. I will sometimes just throw these in on a week night when I am feeling stressed by work/life.
@@macmurfy2jka Interestingly (at least to me 😂) is that I find a big reduction in anxiety from the act of planning, itself. When life gets me generally wound up, my sleep usually suffers, but I find that just getting the planning started puts me at ease. I believe in my follow-through, so if I start a plan, I believe in myself enough to drop the anxiety levels, and I find I sleep well, again. So, in some ways, my detailed planning is often just a coping mechanism 😜
@@ShortGuysBetaWorks I mean, I still have to “plan” these overnighters. Where do I wanna go? How long is the drive? Where do I park? How cold will it be? What’s the hike in? Shelter or bivy? At least out here on the Appalachians there is plenty of just this to fill that need for the a planning phase. Gathering materials also usually requires a trip to the local supermarket for something. And I don’t keep my bags packed, so there is still making a lists and packing out of it.
@@macmurfy2jka Sure. You are making the right distinction, though: there is planning, and there is PLANNING.
I did a week long Ski Mountaineering trip out of Cham a little while ago. That was my biggest single trip that I did. It involved a number single day excursions and a few nights in the mountains. It’s kinda funny to here you going through all the same steps that was going through.
I definitely found the food situation to be the most challenging. My party decided to buy food in situ in Geneva Just finding a proper food market that also sells the types of foods that were good for the days out on the mountains was difficult. They sold way fewer packaged and ready to eat food or were mostly full weight items. There weren’t many Knor Pasta Sides type products and even less freeze-dried meal option. Heck, instant oaks were tough to get. In hind sight, we would have done better stocking up in Chamonix, but I guess you live and learn.
I ended up living off of chocolate, dried sausage, fruit and nut mixes, and packaged pastries for meals in the mountains. And the food served at establishment all seemed to lack an appropriate amount of ruffage/veggies to balance out.
The lack of vegetables definitely surprised me. How do they stay so skinny out there eating like that!? It must be the smaller portions and less processed junk food.
To your point, when I came off Denali, what I craved most was just a salad.
I've learned to supplement the food I can get in-country with things that just work for me, stuff I know I like and that sits well with my digestion. The hard part is getting the balance right: how much "supplemental" stuff to bring when I don't know exactly what I will be given when I get there. In some ways, my trips that haven't used any outfitter or other in-country services at all have been easier to plan because it gets simple: if I want it, I have to bring it; if I don't bring it, I won't get to have it.
@@ShortGuysBetaWorksbingo! While it’s more work up front, outfitting one’s self entirely does often seem the easiest! I’ve done full multi day trips like backpacking in the Canadian Rockies where the only thing I didn’t bring was fuel, bear spray, and the local paper map. Way easier.
Just step off the bus and away I go!
There is not enough advice online on how to pack and travel with your gear for a big trip. I did 3 weeks in Peru and spent a few days going over and pairing down what I wanted to bring. Asking questions like "are 2 trekking poles really necessary for me or can I get away with 1?" and "I always bring tons of wipes, but will I really use all of these?". Then, packing sharp objects into bags and packing fragile lightweight jackets around those sharp objects takes some strategy. I ended up taking a 40L duffle and my summit pack as carry-ons and having my helmet, boots, and critical gear in the 40L bag. If my other stuff didnt make it to Peru, I could have gotten away with rental tools and pack.
@@blindsaint2 These are some very good points. I go through similar thought and packing processes. Maybe my next expedition, I will film a bit about that portion of the process, as you suggest! 🙏💪