2月 7, 2024
Are you considering your first multi-day adventure? Nervous because it seems, well, hard? This article is here to address those doubts and reassure you about what multi-day adventuring really means.
Yes, the magazines and adventure sites are filled with epic, long-day, long-distance expeditions littered with imagery of cycle tourers exhausted at night-time snack stops and hikers reaching accommodation after a three-hour detour. But that’s because extreme stories are easier to sell.
Multi-day adventures don’t come with a minimum difficulty rating. Only want to hike or ride for four hours a day? Go for it. Only want to do short distances? Sounds great. It’s up to you. Multi-day adventures are as easy or hard as you make them.
Yes, if you take on a challenging route in limited time, it’s going to be stressful. But if you plan a perfectly doable route and distance each day, multi-day adventures can be quite mentally relaxing. You don’t have to do anything each day but get from A to B and find some food along the way. Completely separated from your normal day-to-day activities, there’s no multitasking, utility bills, or emails from Kevin in accounts to reply to.
Even if you’re riding or walking fairly short distances through gentle landscapes, it’s still physically tiring to be moving outdoors for hours at a time. Because there’s nothing else to do aside from making forward progress, lunch and snack stops become doubly pleasurable, particularly when you come across a great cafe. When you retire for the evening in your tent, B&B, or hotel, you appreciate climbing into bed even more than after a normal day at work.
The big adventures are inspiring and fantastic fun, but all multi-day trips are adventures. Don’t feel as though you need to do something ‘impressive’ or let that pressure stop you from going at all – there will always be someone doing something ‘more impressive’ – look at Chris Hadfield, he made YouTube videos from space. Nobody’s beating that.
Fancy a multi-day hike? Check out our tips for planning your first.