I would love to go on a trip like that,
how did you manage it?

After returning from our NFCT (Northern Forest Canoe Trail) trip the phrase we have heard the most has been “I would love to go on a trip like that” and our response has been “well you could do” then we get a stream of “reasons” why they have not. In some instances we have questioned some of these “reasons” and found that it is possible to overcome most, if not all of them. In this article we will highlight some of the common “reasons” given and how we overcame them.

So what have been the common “reasons”?

  • Money

  • Job

  • Family commitments

  • Don't know what to do

  • Got no one to go with

  • Don't know where to start for a trip like that

Money

Let's start with the big taboo one, especially for us Brits. Before we go any further, we are aware that we have been in the privileged position of having two engineering salaries and no dependents, which has made our last big trip much easier. It is undeniable that at the moment with the worldwide cost of living crisis there are many people who are struggling to make ends meet, and such a trip seems as attainable as a trip to the moon. For us it was three years of careful saving and focused purchasing. During those three years there were many other opportunities or paths we could have taken which would have made it so we would have been financially unable to go on such a big trip. However in the past we have not been able to put so much money aside for such activities and still had some amazing adventures closer to home on a shoestring. The book, “Grand Adventures” by Alastair Humphreys has suggestions for how to do bigger trips with a relatively small budget.

Work

If you don’t ask you don’t get. It was surprising how open our employers were to us having time off. By using holiday and TOIL (Time Off in Leiu) it was possible to negotiate the time off. While on longer trips we have met many people that have found ways to work with their employer to get extended time off. One of the most extreme solutions to this problem we have come across was if an employer was not willing to give the time off, their solution was to find another job. They interviewed for another employer prior to their trip and told the new job they were not available until after!

Family commitments

This is a tricky one, especially for longer trips. For us it was more about ensuring open and honest communication with family and ensuring communication lines were open during the trip. We used Garmin inReach devices so they could see where we were and message us even when we were without any phone signal. If anything big did crop up, we were only a few days away from being able to get back.

Don't know what to do

Well what do you enjoy doing outside? Follow what energises you and gets you excited. What have you enjoyed doing and wished you could have done for longer? For us we enjoyed spending time on the water and camping, so we looked for an adventure that took us in that direction. We focused on the ideas that appealed to us and looked for activities which we could build around those.

Got no one to do it with

Don’t be afraid to go it alone. For example, there are many people that go on adventures like the NFCT on their own - we even bumped into a couple of them. It is worth discussing your adventure plans with people that you have done the activities that you enjoy. If you are looking to find others that like the activities you do, there are likely to be organised groups that go and do it, join them and see who you meet. For us we were paddling regularly with friends and floated the idea out to them on a whim.

Don't know where to start with a trip like that

This is not as hard as it first appears. The general process we follow is; decide on an activity, decide on a location, figure out a rough budget, research (all of the research!), figure out a rough route, establish logistics, find out what equipment will be needed, firm up the budget, and refine the activity if it is found to be too costly. Once happy with the budget, it is time to make local connections and splash the cash by purchasing equipment, booking locations, and paying deposits. Don’t worry if this is all sounding a bit vague, we plan to write knowledge articles on all the topics regarding planning a trip.

And the one people don’t ask about…

There is one barrier that people never ask about, and this is priorities. When thinking about bigger trips, it is not just the time it takes to do the trip, but also all of the time that you have to put into it before you even head out the door, and the opportunity cost of not doing other things. If you want to go on a big, self-organised trip, you have to be prepared to put the time in. The way that we managed preparations for this trip was putting aside one evening a week to research and planning. It is surprising how over even just six months of consistent effort you can sort so much out. For us it ended up being a year or two, so we were well prepared for our NFCT adventure!

If you found this interesting then please stick around for more knowledge sharing.