MISTAKES I Made as a Beginner Backpacker! | Miranda in the Wild

what's up friends my name is miranda and in this video i wanted to share with all of you the things that i wish i had known as a beginner backpacker these are just like mistakes that i think beginner backpackers make as well as things that i didn't like even think to ask about so i'm hoping that by sharing with all of you you won't make the same mistakes or if you do i can say i told you so nothing but cold hard facts in this video no personality whatsoever this is my show gosh darn when i first started backpacking i was actually an employee at rei and i had all these like outdoorsy best friends that i could talk to back in the day but even with that there were still like lots of mistakes that i made and now i get to be your outdoorsy best friend telling you all of the things we just like cut out that awkward arm gesture nope first up on things that i wish i knew as a beginner backpacker is how to use my gear i think for a lot of first-time backpackers myself included there were things that i took on my first backpacking trip that i had not yet taken out of the bag i took it out of the packaging but it was like still in its stuffs act like i wish i had thought to set up my tent multiple times until i got like really comfortable with it before going backpacking also like knowing how to light your stove knowing if you need like a lighter to do that or if you're like me and you're gonna get one with a piezo and also like the fact that you should break in your boots when i worked at the rei in soho it was so common for people to come in to buy all of their backpacking gear to be leaving on a trip like the next day obviously if that's the situation that you're in just make the best of it but hopefully you give yourself enough time to get your gear set it up know how to use it be comfortable with it before you actually are out on the trail yeah knowing how to use my gear is like the number one thing that i wish i had known as a beginner backpacker so if you already know that you're way ahead of me and like half of the backpackers that i know makes me sound like a that's fine this is like one huge question that i get from people is like what do i eat when i'm backpacking and i don't mean this to sound like a super vague answer but really like whatever you want i think the only way you can go wrong with food is by eating things that you don't like or like testing out a new diet if you don't like pork and beans at home you're not gonna like pork and beans when you're backpacking you're the same person there have been times where i've gone backpacking trips and i've been like you know what i think i will like on this trip is grapes and then i am on the trip and i remember that i don't particularly like grapes anyway i've done that like recently so don't be me i went immediately to all of the like store-bought dehydrated meals which i actually think is great and i think that if you're like used to food like that or if that sits well with you then that's fine but if you're not like certain how your body's going to respond to something just like buy food that you know you like buy like instant rice you're still a backpacker even if you don't eat dehydrated meals training and also when i first started backpacking i actually kind of like swung one direction which was like not bringing enough food you're going to burn more calories than you do just like in a day-to-day life i'd recommend that you count how many additional calories they expect to burn and have plenty of food goldilocks your food right don't bring too much don't bring too little bring just enough plus an extra day's worth of food there's a safety precaution that is just like the safest bet as a big hitter backpacker i think i had it in my mind that i had to hit a certain pace and like accomplish a certain number of miles to be a real backpacker a lot of my first backpacking trips i was like the only woman in a group of dudes and i like felt like i had to like be the one that knew everything like i wish that i'd really thought about the fact that like resting is a part of this knowing when to like adjust my boots and like when to take a second and look at what feels like a blister rather than just trying to like power through and be like it doesn't matter that my foot hurts like doesn't matter that my knee is bleeding the best thing that you can do is is like assess what you need and what you want out of your trip rather than trying to do what you think other people expect boom life lesson be yourself your weird cringey self i have a tissue i wish that as a beginner backpacker i had known where and how to set up camp and the fact that like you can't just do it wherever one of my very first backpacking trips i got in a situation where i like hiked down to a river and then set up my camp like right next to this waterfall on just like an area where they'd asked people not to camp and i just didn't know and at that point it was too late for me to go anywhere else and i was too scared so i didn't get arrested by the waterfall police but i did feel bad about it so don't be me know where you can set up your tent know like the best places for that rei actually has a couple articles on how to set up your tent like how to pick a campsite a lot of these brands will have images of their tents like properly set up properly guide out trying to imitate that when you get to camp can be really helpful yeah [Music] penny so another thing that i wish that i had known as a beginner backpacker was how to deal with critters part of this was like knowing the bermuda triangle so if you're camping here you'll want to store your food like 100 yards downwind over here and you'll want to cook about a hundred yards downwind over here all the smelly stuff from your cooking and your food storage is being blown away from your campsite wind i wish that when i first started backpacking someone had just handed me a bear canister and told me to buy it i think i've like had a little love fest about my bear canister before like yes this thing is big and bulky and it takes up a lot of space in your backpack this is also the most convenient and easiest way to store your food and i love it i can sit on it it's so fantastic i love it so much this video is not sponsored by bear vault i just really like my hair canister i wish that i had realized that all smelly things have to go in your bear canister sunscreen lotions toothpaste food if it has a scent it goes in the bear canister not poop poop does not go in the bear cancer no poop goes in your poop tube speaking of stuff that smells i wish that i had known as a beginner that it's okay to stink like when you're backpacking you're going to smell bad after a certain amount of time so you can get antimicrobial clothing things like wool which will naturally repel odors but also just like owning up to your own funk everyone who's out on the trail smells it's like you're you're like backpacker grit like works its way into your armpits and stays there the things that i didn't think of as a beginner that i wish i had were to not bring deodorant and also lots of heavy like a really huge sleeping pad or like a slack line and also to like not bring a change of clothes now i'm not saying that you shouldn't bring extra closer layers it is really important to have extra insulation or like a change of socks in case something gets wet but you don't need to be changing your clothes every day that you're on the trail leave the change of clothes at home or better yet leave a change of clothes in your car i really love being able to change into clean fresh clothes when i get back to my car generally just like makes me more comfortable for the drive home so change clothes in your car not in your backpack as far as like things to bring i wish that i had thought about like having something to do at camp i think like a good idea is just to bring like one thing to do something that you know you like whether it's a book to read a crossword puzzle a whittling knife which is like my favorite thing to bring with me just have one thing that you can do when you get to camp oh no the last thing that i wish i had known as a beginner backpacker and i think is probably the most important is to ask a lot of questions as a beginner backpacker you're starting in the same place as everybody else we all start as beginners so ask a lot of questions don't be embarrassed or ashamed if you don't know the answer to something you know be curious that's really how we learn then you know the more that you learn the more you can share with other people the more that other people can share with their friends and so on and we just like create a community of well-educated backpackers if you are a beginner backpacker and you have a question that i did not answer in this video write it in the comments below and if you're an experienced backpacker read through those comments and see if there's anything that you can answer i think that this is a great place to start like you know communicating knowledge and helping people learn that's obviously the whole point of this show if you enjoyed this video hit the like button if you haven't already subscribe to our channel and i will see you all in the wild i'm really trying hard not to do crazy hands okay you're doing it that was a sick flossing you

Channel: REI

Views: 360,788

Keywords: rei, outdoors, sporting goods, adventure, miranda in the wild, rei miranda, mistakes backpackers make, beginner backpacker mistakes, how to backpack, beginner backpacking, how to camp, beginner camping, camping for beginners, backpacking for beginners, mistakes I made as a beginner backpacker, what not to do backpacking, what not to do camping, backpacking, camping, hiking, how to hike, hiking for beginners, how to start hiking, mistakes hikers make, first time backpacking

Id: 3oH2cwYGVKE

Length: 8min 52sec (532 seconds)

Published: Sun May 09 2021