Why don't more people go Overnight Backpacking?

I still get out ~15 nights a year, but that is a shell of what I used to to do.  Having two kids that participate in sports year round pretty much consume my weekends (right now, for example, we pretty much have tournaments until July).  Work consumes my weekdays.  I do get to use some vacation time for backpacking trips, but since the wife and kids want to do something else rather than backpacking for vacation, I have to divvy it up accordingly.

I do however get every other Friday off now, which allows me to get in a good long (15-18 mile) dayhike with a loaded pack (for staying in backpacking shape) a couple of times a month in between dropping the kids off at school and picking them up.

“Having two kids that participate in sports year round pretty much consume my weekends”

It’s been music, math, and D&D with our kids (yeah, pretty nerdy), hence both kids knew they’d get their permit ON the 14th birthday and upgrade it to a driver’s license ON their 16th birthday.  My daughter (14-1/2 now) missed by a day because the DMW was closed on Labor Day. Point being, they’re going to be driving themselves around like our generation did and not sitting in the back seat texting with their thumbs until they’re 19.

But, more positively, there are many trips we take, summer and winter, BECAUSE we have kids.  Kristin and I make more of point to block out weeks and weekends and reserve remote USFS cabins in the winter because we want to do family trips.  Without that pre-planning, more weekends would get vaporized by yard work, puttering around and doing stupid things on the computer.  I feel kind of guilty driving an hour to a trailhead in the mountains just to hike with the dog for a few hours, but don’t hesitate when we’re doing it as a family (and the dog comes, too).

I feel kind of guilty driving an hour to a trailhead in the mountains just to hike with the dog for a few hours…

Luckily I have several Trailheads for the Cumberland Trail fifteen or so minutes away from the house, and one five minutes away from my son’s school.

The day hiking is about the social event, not about the hiking. At least not primarily about the hiking. I drove 2 hours one way this weekend to go for a day hike. It was great. So many flowers. Really nice people. Really pretty trail. Got some exercise. Good wholesome fun. We camped out in our new camper the night before. Just pulled over near the trailhead and camped out. Made dinner with the stove, made coffee in the morning. Used the outdoor shower on the camper after the hike. It was great!

Seems obvious to me. I wanted to get into it and have managed to get out thrice on foot and twice on bike over the past year or so.

1. It’s ridiculously hard to figure out government regulations on something that should be as easy as walking and setting up a tent.
2. The places within a couple hours often require reserving a spot 6 months in advance. Wilderness is ~4 hours away.
3. So much to do. For me this is the big one. There is rarely a weekend where I have nothing else planned. Bike races, cycling, weight training, going to see bands, hanging out with friends, brunch, city hikes, etc. Sure I could prioritize walking and sleeping in the wild, but there are millions of activities people could prioritize.
4. Since I don’t go every month I have to plan and purchase food for each trip. A plan of a route and location. Study terrain and weather. Then get home on Sunday evening with a dirty house and no clean clothes and a pile of camping gear. Sometimes I consider going out “next weekend” and before I know it it’s Friday night and I have weekend plans.
5. Many people don’t even own a tent and sleeping bag/quilt.
6. Most people probably don’t even consider that it is a thing to do. Even if they do consider it, they may just have no reason to (I love nature and I love exploring, but a lot of people don’t seem to care for either).

When I first read the title, I thought you meant overnight vs multi-day. My take would be distance first of all. Even being in Seattle, it is a 100+ mile round trip to trailheads and one night is a short time in the woods. But day hikes are even more of a road trip for the time spent in wilderness.

But I guess you mean sleeping out vs day hikes. Fear, equipment, lack of knowledge and skills, and opportunities would be my guesses. I read a guy’s post on Reddit about his fear of bear attacks and I checked the stats on bear population for his state and there are no bears there. 🙄

Too busy editing their YouTube content.