Slow Travel

I take my hat of to you… it sounds brilliant… if only I could convince my boss to give me 3mths holiday a year I'd be there … or is that part of the problem?!

It seems to me that too much of the focus of ultralite backpacking is on carrying less so that you can go farther and faster. Since I've lightened up, I haven't travelled much farther in a day that I would have before; I just enjoy the trip more and arrive in camp less exhausted. I stop frequently for breaks to take photos or just to sit in a beautiful spot. I can take small hikes away from camp since I have energy left over.

I don't think that speed, in itself, should ever be the goal in backpacking. The folks who are in such a hurry that they urinate while hiking are missing the point, I believe. Can you really enjoy yourself if you can't even stop to pee? How can you possibly take in the sights and sounds? I suppose to each their own, but I really feel like those folks are missing something. To me, the purpose of going into the woods is to get away from the "rat race" of society, not take it with me!

Growing old and out of shape, I have no alternative to slow backpacking, but I have always appreciated this approach. I thoroughly enjoyed the article. It is insightful and well written.

[Editorial note for future revisions: in the fifth paragraph it should be, "…entire load of my partner and ME." Sorry, but this is one of my pet peeves related to the current trashing of the English language.]

Don

Thank you Simon for taking the time to write such an insightful piece. I remember first reading Basho nearly forty years ago; that was after I read Thoreau. Their ideas and sensibilities definitely colored my outlook on the world, and I had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century. Still not fully there. Anyway, when I first came to UL and read the exploits of fastpackers here on BPL, I had to ask myself "why are they doing that?" Seems to me that they were missing out on the moment.

So much wisdom at such a young age! Also, very "dangerous" reading for me (he-he).

I wouldn't assign exclusive blame (or credit) for the emphasis on the fast in fast&light to Ray Jardine. Light strikes a chord with adventure racers, JMT speed record seekers, "alpine style" mountaineers, folks with short available time and all folks feeling a desire for speed.

The rest of us can smile knowingly and enjoy the snail's pace less burdened by pack weight. Myself, I can read or not read the discussions about speed as I see fit and still benefit from discussions about weight savings without feeling like I'm in the wrong place.

Doesn't hurt at all to occasionally point out that there's more than one reason to lighten up though.

Nice article. I'm convinced the only reason my wife and I can still go backpacking is that our base weight has evolved from about 35 lbs to about 8 lbs. At one point most of the UL sites I looked at were maintained by the 50 plus age group. I can still do what I used to, I just carry a lot less.

Twenty-five years ago two hiking buddies and I christened ourselves "The Slow Brothers" because we were always passed on the trail by the swifter hikers. It is not that we didn't want to move more quickly, we were just carrying so much junk that we couldn't go any faster. With 40-50 lb packs it is hard to speed down the trail.

Now we are all older and maybe a tiny bit wiser. Our packs weigh a third of what they used to and we could go faster, but we are still "The Slow Brothers." We take our time to listen and to look and to reflect. We have discovered that snippet of eastern philosophy that says "the journey is the reward" and after 25 years we have begun to understand it. Being slow just makes it easier.

Slowly,
-Mark

I see I'm not the only Greg here with a Mal.

Edit: Now I see the blue eyes so maybe it is a Siberian?