3 ms·

Learn outdoor skills. Go camping, hiking, trekking, canoeing etc. It keeps you in shape, and is great to decompress and enjoy yourself.

ornornor 6y ago
How do you get started? I never did that as a kid and now that I’m older living in a beautiful place I’d like to try it out, but I have no idea how to get started. I own hiking shoes that I barely ever used and a Swiss Army knife but that’s it... no backpack, no tent, nothing. I wouldn’t even know where to go or what to do when the night comes. I live in Switzerland.
- Shared404 6y ago
  I would say start small. Find a hiking trail - a real hiking trail - withing 10-30 minutes drive, and walk it weekly or so. Once you're comfortable with that trail, broaden your horizons for where you want to hike. Eventually, you may want to do more/go on a hike further out then is a reasonable drive. At that point, find a campground near where you want to hike. If they offer rentals of some sort, great! If not, you may want to purchase a tent. If you do this, be sure to test it for a night by your house. Nothing quite as miserable as trying to figure out new gear in production (Yeah, the phrasings weird, but I couldn't figure out the right way to say it). Most of this I kinda rephrased from my time in scouting, so my apologies if I translated it to words badly.
  - Shared404 6y ago
    Here's a couple links. I glossed over them, and they seem like decent resources. https://www.tripsavvy.com/setting-up-a-campsite-498429 https://www.tripsavvy.com/setting-up-a-campsite-498429 - Setting up camp 101. Doesn't go over how to pitch a tent, but that'll get covered with the tents documentation. https://veggievagabonds.com/camping-for-beginners/ https://veggievagabonds.com/camping-for-beginners/ - Camping 102, bit more in depth. https://thebackpackinghiker.com/hiking-and-wild-camping-in-switzerland/ https://thebackpackinghiker.com/hiking-and-wild-camping-in-s... - Assumes experience, but covers Switzerland specifically, so you may find it useful. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/destinations/swiss-national-park/ https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/destinations/swiss-natio... - The Swiss National Park appears to have campsites and hiking trails. I've had good experiences with the US National Parks, but haven't been out of the states (yet).
    - Shared404 6y ago
      The answers from 082349872349872 and BoiledCabbage are better then mine. Go with their suggestions.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  In switzerland, you can easily work up from day hikes to hiking refuge to refuge to pitching your own tent. (for your first hikes, shoes and a portemonnaie will suffice; in accessible areas the general rule is "if there is a view, there will be a restaurant.") trails: https://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=en&photos=yes&logo=yes&season=summer&bgLayer=pk&resolution=250&E=2631750&N=1189000&layers=Wanderland https://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=en&photos=yes&logo=yes&seaso... https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 (TIL that trail maintenance is refuges: https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/ https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/ We don't usually bother with trail maps (as everything is well signposted and difficulty-graded[1], and we do dayhikes so rarely leave a drainage) but they're readily available in analog and digital formats. PostAuto allows you to do through-hikes as well as loop-hikes or there-and-back-agains. I find Swisscom to have the best backcountry coverage, if that's important to you. (if you'd rather learn in a group, I'm sure you have a local hiking club.) a short guide to the types of people you're likely to encounter on the trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDSHMQWvXA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDSHMQWvXA Finally, if you start hiking you'll be able to start participating in the Swiss National Sport: guessing where people come from based on their trail greetings. (guessing is easy mode, hard mode is playing what in the States is known as the Mennonite Game: figuring out a possible personal connection to people you've just met) [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 TIL hiking trails were recently added to the Constitution by referendum. https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html#a88 https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/...
- BoiledCabbage 6y ago
  Better advice is probably to either find an outdoor store near you and ask them about local hiking groups, so you can learn from others rather than needing to study it all from scratch. Or look online and find a local hiking or outdoors group for their advice.

ornornor 6y ago

How do you get started? I never did that as a kid and now that I’m older living in a beautiful place I’d like to try it out, but I have no idea how to get started. I own hiking shoes that I barely ever used and a Swiss Army knife but that’s it... no backpack, no tent, nothing. I wouldn’t even know where to go or what to do when the night comes. I live in Switzerland.

Shared404 6y ago
I would say start small. Find a hiking trail - a real hiking trail - withing 10-30 minutes drive, and walk it weekly or so. Once you're comfortable with that trail, broaden your horizons for where you want to hike. Eventually, you may want to do more/go on a hike further out then is a reasonable drive. At that point, find a campground near where you want to hike. If they offer rentals of some sort, great! If not, you may want to purchase a tent. If you do this, be sure to test it for a night by your house. Nothing quite as miserable as trying to figure out new gear in production (Yeah, the phrasings weird, but I couldn't figure out the right way to say it). Most of this I kinda rephrased from my time in scouting, so my apologies if I translated it to words badly.
- Shared404 6y ago
  Here's a couple links. I glossed over them, and they seem like decent resources. https://www.tripsavvy.com/setting-up-a-campsite-498429 https://www.tripsavvy.com/setting-up-a-campsite-498429 - Setting up camp 101. Doesn't go over how to pitch a tent, but that'll get covered with the tents documentation. https://veggievagabonds.com/camping-for-beginners/ https://veggievagabonds.com/camping-for-beginners/ - Camping 102, bit more in depth. https://thebackpackinghiker.com/hiking-and-wild-camping-in-switzerland/ https://thebackpackinghiker.com/hiking-and-wild-camping-in-s... - Assumes experience, but covers Switzerland specifically, so you may find it useful. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/destinations/swiss-national-park/ https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/destinations/swiss-natio... - The Swiss National Park appears to have campsites and hiking trails. I've had good experiences with the US National Parks, but haven't been out of the states (yet).
  - Shared404 6y ago
    The answers from 082349872349872 and BoiledCabbage are better then mine. Go with their suggestions.
082349872349872 6y ago
In switzerland, you can easily work up from day hikes to hiking refuge to refuge to pitching your own tent. (for your first hikes, shoes and a portemonnaie will suffice; in accessible areas the general rule is "if there is a view, there will be a restaurant.") trails: https://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=en&photos=yes&logo=yes&season=summer&bgLayer=pk&resolution=250&E=2631750&N=1189000&layers=Wanderland https://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=en&photos=yes&logo=yes&seaso... https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 (TIL that trail maintenance is refuges: https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/ https://www.sac-cas.ch/en/ We don't usually bother with trail maps (as everything is well signposted and difficulty-graded[1], and we do dayhikes so rarely leave a drainage) but they're readily available in analog and digital formats. PostAuto allows you to do through-hikes as well as loop-hikes or there-and-back-agains. I find Swisscom to have the best backcountry coverage, if that's important to you. (if you'd rather learn in a group, I'm sure you have a local hiking club.) a short guide to the types of people you're likely to encounter on the trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDSHMQWvXA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDSHMQWvXA Finally, if you start hiking you'll be able to start participating in the Swiss National Sport: guessing where people come from based on their trail greetings. (guessing is easy mode, hard mode is playing what in the States is known as the Mennonite Game: figuring out a possible personal connection to people you've just met) [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/hiking-switzerland/45239794 TIL hiking trails were recently added to the Constitution by referendum. https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html#a88 https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/...
BoiledCabbage 6y ago
Better advice is probably to either find an outdoor store near you and ask them about local hiking groups, so you can learn from others rather than needing to study it all from scratch. Or look online and find a local hiking or outdoors group for their advice.