Spend longer time
going on a backpacking trip and you will find out that something always finds a way of going amiss. More often, things that go wrong are so small issues that just happen to cause annoyance -assembling for backpacking tent when it suddenly starts pouring, batteries running low or forgetting salt. Most trips last just for a day or two probably during the weekend when the presence of a car, its shelter, dryness, safety and warmth is nearby so nothing really goes wrong and you might not really tell the real problems that come with long-term hiking trips. But, during long distance trips, enough and some more planning is needed so that you can try imagining what is likely to go wrong and plan for its solution so that your
trip can be as success and you at least have a chance of completing it.
Long distance backpacking trip has always been your dream and finally the time has come and you are very eager to do this. Permits are ready, the vacation date and time has been set, tickets have been booked and probably you have spent hours and days arranging your gear to ensure it is perfect and you have all you need. You have taken several tours to prepare for the big trip. Practice; they say makes perfect so you are trying to perfect the skills for the tour and getting your body and mind used to it. The day has finally come and you take your flight anxious for the trip of your dreams, confident that you have made perfect preparation for the adventure. What could go wrong?
I hope that you took this question seriously and planned for what could probably go amiss when planning. The same things that make long
distance adventures fun like the remoteness of an area and the long distance to cover are the same things that can pose a challenge to the trip. Falls, injuries, lack of enough food (have extra supplies) severe weather and other factors that can even be life threatening. But these challenges can turn out being the things that make the adventure memorable; it depends with how every situation is handled.
For such occurrences, the one thing that can beat experience and planning is being innovative. Did I select the correct backpack fit? If you chose a backpacking tent that needs to be held with poles and one pole breaks, be innovative, improvise a pole from the trees that are surrounding you, but what if the area has no trees or the trees around are too short. What will you do if you lost the lighter and you want to start a fire? Using the ancient method of starting a fire with stones could come to your aid. The wind seems to be too strong and your shelter may be losing its ability to withstand the storm, set the shelter somewhere among trees to reduce the wind reaching you.
