making the most of your adventure time
The winter months are the best time to plan adventures for the insanity that is summer. I imagine summer is crazy everywhere, with kids being out of school, and everybody trying to fit in some sort of vacation, but when you live in a vacation destination, and you love where you live, combining your every day life- work, bills, vacuuming the car with your dream vacation that doesn't end for three months is a little exhausting!
Here are some ways you can make the most of your time, and not let work get the best of you:
dream
Look for adventures that inspire you, and save them to your list. Instagram, Pinterest, google, they all have their place in the dreaming space. plan them out. Pro-tip: I encourage quality vs. quantity. Scheduling and planning too many new adventures can get very overwhelming and stressful. Pick one or two, space them out appropriately, and plan well.
prioritize
What's important to you? A holiday weekend? A specific set of dates when you'll have company? Let me give you an example, berry-picking season and fishing the late sockeye run on the Kenai is a priority for me, and I have to block out certain dates so I can give those activities the time they deserve. Its kind of nice that Mother Nature doesn't follow the exact same schedule every year, because it keeps everyone guessing. Sometimes the sockeye run is mid July, sometimes it peaks in early august. So I have to plan to be around during those times, likewise with berry season, I typically don't fill up the calendar with other adventures when I'm spending my nights and weekends being a mad-picker ;) Save your time off and schedule it for the seasons that are most important to you.
plan your adventures
look at your calendar months in advance. I know this is difficult! How will I know what's going on next week? Let alone in six months?! There is always space for adjustment, don't let it stress you out too much that you're looking so far ahead. I like to plan my BIG overnight adventures 3-6 months in advance. Normally, this allows for me to reserve camping spots, public-use cabins, or identify any missing gear I need. For example, my girlfriends and I have an annual trip we take to an amazing destination in South-central Alaska, (you can see that on my insta) and it takes a ton of preparation. Our destination books up fast, so we have to book early, and to get there, we have to take a water taxi out of one of the busiest tourist communities in Alaska, so we have to plan ahead, as we get closer to time, we hash out details like which hiking trails we're planning on, who is responsible for which aspect of food, firewood etc. And that's only one weekend of the summer. See what I'm getting at about planning?
reflect
this step in the process is so crucial. Personally, I take the time during and after the trip to reflect on the details of my experience, and I typically do that through journaling. But sometimes, when I'm in a hurry and I just don't want to forget something, I type it (or lets be honest, talk-to-text it into a note in my iPhone.)
To help you reflect, I recommend asking yourself a few questions
-What was my favorite part of this trip?
-What was my least favorite part of this trip?
-What did I learn?
-What did I forget?
-What did I need more of?
-What could I have let behind?
Asking myself these questions has really helped me streamline my plans so I can focus more on enjoying the adventure, and less time trouble shooting or jerry-rigging things, or digging through all of my extra gear to find what I really need! I love adventuring with friends, because I pick up on some of their gear or pack-hacks, and also get to share some of my favorite things.
So, there are just some of my insights on making the most of your adventure time :) Feel free to drop me a comment or a DM on my insta if you have any thoughts to share!
Until next time <3
Erika
