Living With Less, Doing Much More
I haven’t been posting much lately because I’ve been out in the world, and living with much less while doing it.
Over the month of September I spent a total of 10 days at work. The first half of the month was spent biking through Iceland, and the last week was spent backpacking along the Superior Hiking Trail on the North Shore of Lake Superior.
The common thread of the trip was trying to travel as lightly as I could. My flight to Iceland was the first time I’ve checked baggage in years, but that was just to bring along my bike. As you can see in the picture above, I went with just two panniers. I also packed just a tarp and a sleeping bag, rather than a full tent. The sleeping bag provided the warmth, and the tarp protected me from the rain (which was nasty some nights). When I met other bikers on the road, they were all carrying at least twice as much gear as I had. Carrying a lighter load made it much easier to cover greater distances without getting as tired or needing as many breaks.
Camping on the Superior Hiking Trail was my first trip without carrying a big pack. I brought the bare minimum of food, which was a mistake, as I had enough for meal times but didn’t account for mental needs. The food plan will definitely be reevaluated before my next trip. Other than that, I brought just a hammock, sleeping bag, and tarp. Those, plus clothes, were all that I needed for 5 days of camping. Traveling lighter was fantastic; I could move easily and the strain on my legs and shoulders was noticeably less than other trips I’ve taken. I will definitely be continuing to explore ways to lighten my load.