Ten Tips to a Fun Filled Trekking!

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you know little about the outdoors, hiking gears and equipments, or proper physical conditioning and fitness for mountaineers but has a heart full of determination to learn and enjoy the outdoor, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the top ten tips I wish someone told me before I went to my first trek.

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1. Hike an easily accessible outdoor place. If you are a newbie at trekking, start with a “fun climb”. Fun climbs consist of a 5-6 hours of day hike, on well established, easy trail, under a canopy of forest trees and with water sources every 2-3 hours hike. A great camping site at the end of the hike suited for various outdoor activities (swimming, spelunking etc) would be nice but not necessary.
2. Find an outdoor buddy or join an outdoor group. It could be anyone-your special someone, your friend or any adventure group in your place, for as long as you share the same attraction for the outdoors.  You can build memories during climbs, learn new hiking stuff from friends and more often than not rely on your buddies for your safety.
3. Get the essential  hiking gears first. A good hiking shoes, a durable day pack and 1-2 sets of hiking dri fits. If your not comfy first or is not familiar with any hiking stuff yet , borrow some of these from seasoned hikers and see what” fits” you. Never buy hiking gears which you don’t have any idea how to use and maintain it.
4. Shape up!  Enroll in some form of regular physical fitness program, like jogging or swimming. Regular exercise makes it easier for you to train for more difficult climbs later on. Remember, its no fun hiking when all your worried at while trekking, is running out of breaths.
5. Get active on your  advocacies to drive your enthusiasm. Tree planting during fun climbs goes a long way in preserving the outdoor place you go to often.
6. Read about the the outdoor life. Subscribe to this blog. Join online forums, or sift through voluminous materials in the net. Outdoor magazines, outdoor TV programs like  Nat Geo, Planet TV or Discovery channel sometimes perk up your outdoor enthusiasm.
7. Save money for your first hike. While mountaineers are known to be uber thrift and street smart with their money, you will still incur transportation and food expenses. While buddies and group hikes can reduce your expenses significantly, nothing beats when you have pocket money of your own.
8. Think like a hiker, live like a hiker. Mountaineers are bare essential advocates and most are highly organized individuals. They pack their stuff according to need, neatly matched and rolled, with the most important and emergent stuff on top and with waterproofing!
9.  Create a monthly or year long hike schedule. While we love this hobby, we don’t sacrifice time for our families and professional work just so we can go out and trek. Put a priority list and schedule it relative to your family time, work or vacations leave. Sometimes, you can even insert hiking in between business trips or with your family. Its just scheduling time accordingly!
10. When the opportunity to hike comes, go grab and enjoy it. Trek and experience the fun of going outdoors. An invitation is always an opportunity to discover something new. The fun is always in the hike and with the people your hiking with.
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