It’s crazy to think since the start of this series I've walked around 300 miles. Even more shocking there has not been that much change of gear along the way. While not all these adventures have been posted yet and some may never be. It has been quite a journey so far.
Part of this series Switching Worlds goal was to get out into the real world and away from the computer. My health has never been that great and my weight is not so much either. It felt at the start of all this far more to gain than just all that time I spent behind a computer screen.
One thing I've not talked a lot about is the gear I've used. Thankfully it’s been quite simple for the most part. You don’t need a lot to just go out there and do things. This is also something you can end up spending way too much money on.
On almost every adventure I've been on I've had this backpack. I’ve either used it to carry water and emergency supplies or clothing. This backpack is quite old, and I'll be a bit sad one day when it’s time to retire it. I must have had this thing for over 15 years now and you would not think by looking at it.
The biggest feature for me is the massive side pockets. They can each hold 3 500 ML water bottles if I want to push it. That is more than enough water for any day trip I've done for myself and anyone else who joined in that adventure. Making me the water pack mule.
While yes, I do need to take the backpack off to get to the water bottles myself. I never have been the one to walk and drink water at the same time. I prefer to have my water while taking an actual sit-down break.
Inside the backpack tend to be just some rather basic medical supplies. Things like bandages, gauze, string, and a lighter.
Sometimes when I was going down different parts of the same trial on different days like West Orange Trail, I had a physical map. Many places like these have actual maps at welcome centers for free. They are quite handy to have just in case you lose internet connection or the app you are using is not quite lining up with the trail before you.
I would also have things like plastic bags. I had a waterproof container for my phone. While that is a bit overkill, my phone could more than stand some water and I'm sure be fine in the backpack. I wanted to make sure anything I was carrying could quickly be put into dry bags if I found myself caught inexplicitly in a heavy downpour.
I have also considered a couple of times the idea of upgrading my day pack. The issue is between the side pockets, padding on the back, and just so many pockets. Anything else, even when I go into outdoor shops, seems like an expensive waste, mostly giving me what I already have.
At best, they are a bit more lightweight and make it so single water bottles can be reached without having to take the backpack off. At worst, they are also trying to include their water system which I'm more than fine just using water bottles and nothing fancier than that.
The biggest issue with my backpack I noticed was around 200 miles walked. I noticed it was starting to feel a bit heavy even when empty. That is when I noticed the padding side was covered in a thick layer of salt crystals from all the sweating I had done.
I have never once washed a backpack before. It was a risk but one that needed to be taken. I put the thing in a pillowcase and dropped it into the wash. To my shock, it survived with just a little damage to some internal material that was flaking off due to old age already.
The backpack also has some hooks on the inside that you can pull out to hang on trees or off things. That made it easy to air dry it. Since putting a backpack into the dryer would have been the biggest risk of damage.
One thing I was expecting to burn though a lot of have been shoes. I used to walk so little a single pair of shoes might last me over 5 years. They would get replaced because the rubber on them became too hard to walk on from age and not from us.
I was lucky to come to access some shoes my size at an estate sale that were never worn. While I would not consider them the most ideal. I got them for next to nothing. I don’t think it would be unrealistic to expect to go through one to two pairs a year depending on the kind of trails I hit. Instead of a usual pair lasting me five or more years.
I have broken a couple of pairs of shoelaces. That was not something I was expecting to be breaking at the rate they had been. At least they are cheap to replace.
I have also been buying extra padding to put into my shoes. I have found since I'm a bigger person I prefer something with a bit more thickness and arch support. It has made sometimes going 12 miles in a single day feel rather reasonable on my feet.
Shoes are a spot I could splurge like crazy on. It’s tempting to want to get some Speedgoats hiking shoes. Many people swear by them I'm just not ready to pull the trigger on $150-200+ shoes every year.
Perhaps the biggest upgrade to my setup has been compression ankle support. On a lot of my earlier trips, my ankles were always an issue. I even had that one time when I had to turn around and give up. It took me weeks to fully recover from that experience.
These things are also super cheap. A couple of dollars per ankle. They have removed the ankle tiredness I was feeling a couple of miles in on every trip. My ankles have also survived some rather nasty trails and bad steps that would take me days if not longer to recover without them. I stopped even needing a day of recovery after a 5-to-10-mile trip. These things have been a game changer for me.
If it was not for these things I would have given up on this whole series at some point. Now any walking I plan on doing in a day on a trail or not I'm using these.
One thing I never thought I'd need and was not looking for was something like a Fitbit. After all, I have apps on my phone for steps, distance, and other metrics. Turns out this thing fits in quite well with a lot of things for me.
One thing I have struggled with is seeing stats displayed on the screen on a full sunny day. While I did eventually work out it was not on max brightness and increasing it helped sometimes. It’s not always the easiest to see with sunglasses on.
This Fitbit I ended up finding at a random place that sells Amazon and other store returns. I think I got it for $11 (they retail for $99) and there was nothing wrong with it. Even more shocking, I think it was only used once and for less than a mile before I got my hands on it.
I have found it to be more correct than other applications I use to track things like distance and footsteps on my phone. Even more so when I’m in a wooded area and my phone is not getting the best location data. I don’t know how many times I'll get some funky distance number in an application, and I know I have my Fitbit as a backup to compare it to when that happens.
I also really love the fact the battery on this thing lasts for at least 10 days with how much I use it. I’ll wear this thing when doing yard work or other tasks where I don’t want to be lugging around my phone. Getting a far better understanding of my daily activities even outside of my Switching Worlds series.
There are also more days than not where I'm just hitting up something super local to me and maybe only doing two or so miles. That is not something I'll take my backpack along for let alone a bulky phone. I’ll just slap the Fitbit on my wrist and go.
There have also been instances where the battery power on my phone was getting low enough, that I'd just start turning off power-hungry apps and not have them run in the background to extend how many hours I'd get out of my phone. I did not lose any distance data since I still had my Fitbit going.
Outside of sometimes having issues seeing the stat screen with heart rate and step count while out using it. I’ll sometimes forget to turn on Bluetooth to sink its data and have it saved to my device. I have lost data in the past forgetting to do so. Since after all, I don’t want to run Bluetooth all the time and burn through the battery on the phone. Despite these negatives, it has been a welcome addition to my setup.
Final Thoughts
While not all months will end up being like January where I walked almost 90 miles that month alone. With almost half that being done in a single week. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I can’t wait to write up my next adventures. While they won’t always be on trails or exploring a city either. They will be some type of adventure and me getting out into the real world at the very least.
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Photos were taken and content was written by @Enjar about my personal experiences in the real world away from the computer at home.
