The final section of PTO: Prioritize Time Outdoors describes the basics of how to have a terrific time on a day trip, camping in a campground, or actually traveling into the backcountry. It’s written for people who might have a wealth of practical life experience they can draw on – just not as much of it among the trees and trails. It’s intended to make the outdoors approachable, not to make the reader an expert. It offers relatable, real-world context; gear suggestions; and a bunch of do’s and don’ts designed to get people over the hump and out the door.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 14: “Backcountry Outings“:
“DO pay attention to gear weight…but not too much. If you’re through-hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, yes, a few ounces here or there will absolutely make a real difference. If you’ll just be out there three or four days, those few ounces really won’t be felt, at least not enough to spend an extra $200 on uber-specialized gear. Wait until you’ve decided this is going to be your new thing before you start sawing the handles off toothbrushes.
“DO remove the phrase “just in case” from your packing vocabulary. Unless you’re assembling a first aid kit or stocking some weightless iodine tablets for water treatment, this is not the time to pack extra stuff as insurance. Here’s my rule of thumb:
If there’s very low chance you’ll need it or eat it,
then friend, I’m afraid you’ll just need to yeet it.
“DON’T bail once you’ve set out, unless you encounter an injury or illness. I get it: It’s new, it feels a bit like work, and the immediate exhilaration might soon wear off. We all have that “what the hell am I doing out here?” moment. But keep going.
“In a sense, I compare it to reading Faulkner. William Faulkner’s works have many, many devotees. Several years ago, the Usual Suspect guys decided to read one of Faulkner’s best-known novels as a group. And this novel would become the greatest reading challenge I’d ever embarked on – maybe a greater challenge than all the backcountry trips I’d previously taken combined. From the moment I picked up this little masterpiece, I found myself battling prose that required a machete to cut through. Page after page, I sought out punctuation like Diogenes searching for an honest man. Each night I would rip through entire swaths of text, sometimes completing as many as three or four pages in a single sitting. Friends, this was Type 3 reading. When I finally, triumphantly, completed the first chapter, I set the book down with a huge air of relief.
“And I never picked it back up.
“Despite his hordes of literary fans, I doubt I’ll be returning to Faulkner, even if it might eventually be worth the effort. Backpacking is like that. It won’t always be breezy and light, but it’s richly rewarding. Just remember that if you decide you’re done backpacking after the first couple miles and turn back, there’s a pretty good chance you won’t pick it up again. You’ll be missing that critical sense of accomplishment – that thing that washes away the rough memories and keeps you coming back – and in its place you’ll just feel defeated. Let’s not do that.”
Erik Lien 