How To Prepare For Your First Day Hike

Hiking is one of those activities
that doesn’t immediately fall into exercise, travel or hobby. It’s a rare
exception that combines all of these areas as well as enabling you to
strengthen your mind and spend time offline both solo or in a group. Time quotes
these benefits with Greg Braman declaring that hiking is a dynamic experience
saying, “There’s mounting evidence that, for urbanites and suburbanites, nature
experience increases positive mood and decreases negative mood.” Bratman is a
Stanford research fellow and co-author of a 2015 study on the
impact of spending time in natural environments with hikes of all levels
considered beneficial.

That said if you’re keen to get
into hiking, you needn’t immediately invest in complex hiking equipment or be
deterred by a night spent in the wilderness. In 2020, exploring our local
regions may well be the extent of the travel we do so it’s the ideal time to
kickstart your day hike skills. Before you decide where to go, here are some
more reasons to get into the outdoors beyond fitness. 

We’ve already touched on the
holistic health impacts of hiking above, with the combination of these going
far beyond standard exercise for your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing
as well as being able to take photos!

Right now it might not be
possible to travel internationally, so explore your backyard and home region
with all kinds of short and longer hikes.

Taking time with friends and
family on a hike is a low-impact shared activity or you can even join clubs and
groups.

Rather than staying indoors or in
a built up area, hikes take you through all kinds of terrain and seasons away
from screens or the need for equipment and your own lawn.

Hiking is a largely free way to
enjoy your time with the only ongoing overheads — beyond equipment basics —
transport to your location, investing in good shoes, and any fees to access the
hiking location.

Time out moving your body and
taking a breath can prompt flow
state, encourage inspiration, and foster creativity of all kinds.

Interpreting your location,
planning, and reading maps are very different skills to your normal day-to-day
and challenges you in practically rewarding ways.

Hiking literally takes you to
physically new places that you wouldn’t see on the poetic ‘travelled’ path of
roads as well as taking you out of your routine and habitual behaviour.

On a travel level, hiking extends
you, shows you sites that you can’t reach any other way, and ensures you leave
your comfort zone.

It’s not entirely clear when
we’ll resume large-group gatherings or visit cities en masse: this is a way to
enjoy places in a low-risk, socially-distanced activity.

Now you know the benefits, you’re
ready to plan your hike. This infographic, ‘How to Prepare For Your First Day
Hike’, from Gabor Shoes is
designed to help you get out on a trail and fight any intimidation you might
feel. From footwear comparisons through to essential items, use this graphic to
conquer your first day and take in the outdoors from a new vantage point. You
never know what you might discover when you explore your surroundings on foot.