How To Become A Weekend Warrior

For a lot of outdoor enthusiast, that next big trip is always on the horizon. Sometimes it’s a week of backpacking in your favorite national park, and other times it’s a crazy 6 month thru hike on one of our country’s multiple national scenic trails. Regardless, it can be easy to get so caught up in a big trip that it’s easy to forget to add this sense of adventure in your every day life.

Adventuring shouldn’t be reserved for one yearly trip or a couple of random weekends. By adding it into your day to day life, you are able to reap a lot of the same benefits as a bigger trip – just much more frequently! So, try these tips, get outside this weekend, and become one step closer to becoming a weekend warrior!

Prioritizing adventure in your life is the first step – try to get errands or appointments done either on your lunch break or in the evening so your weekends stay free. Look at your calendar in advance and set aside certain weekends for adventuring. If you don’t purposely plan to get outside, plans are bound to happen that will book you up.

I personally think always having your gear ready is one of the best ways to effortlessly get outside on your weekends and days off. Having everything organized, cleaned, and in working order makes it really easy to be able to throw everything in your backpack and just go. It all but eliminates late night trips all over town to get fuel for your stove and it makes it so you won’t spend 2 hours pulling your house apart looking for your tent.

Instead of a “to do” list, make a “to hike” list of all the places that are weekend trip accessible in your area. My personal list is organized and subdivided into sections such as which state the location is in, how far it is from home, and what activity I would like to do there. Everything that is on the list has already been researched and looked into, however I have a separate column for locations I haven’t had a chance to really map out yet. Come up with your own system so that it’s easy to pick out an adventure when you have a change of plans or find your weekend has suddenly opened up!

Did you see one of your Instagram or Facebook friends went somewhere really cool last weekend? Or maybe your co-worker casually mentioned their favorite place to hike. Ask them the specifics and add it to your list of places to research so you don’t forget about it later!

Is your goal to visit all the state parks in your home state? Or how about every section of the AT or PCT that runs within 2 hours of your house? Establishing a goal gives you that much more incentive to get outside (even on those chilly Sunday mornings when it’s hard to get out of bed).

Depending on where you live, you may be able to check off most hikes that are within a weekend’s drive from your house quicker than you think. Trying some new outdoor activities will give you a much wider range of things to do and places to visit!