Tips for city people travelling outdoors
Comfort, security and access to goods are within easy reach of city people. Roads are designed for smooth travel, public transport, and ease of access.
Emergency and other essential services can reach people in the cities easier than anywhere else. Infrastructure also tends to be focused on cities: from electricity to cellphone networks, people in cities expect these to function efficiently.
This leads city people to take for granted all these benefits when they decide to venture into the wilderness.
Let’s consider what city people should do to make their transition easier.
What wilderness?
The first step is to know what wilderness we’re going into. Whether it’s a calm, serene farmhouse in the middle of South Africa or the snowy farmlands of Sweden, we must know the difference and what’s required of us. We should begin by researching the climate – from there we can make the best decisions, regarding packing. This doesn’t just mean knowing the temperature. We must know about emergency service availability, how clean the water is, cellphone reception and so on.
A good way is to contrast what will be missing that we’re used to having, while living in the city.
Language
If we’re travelling to an outdoor location with fewer services and access to, say, the Internet, communication will be key. This is why it’s important to know the language. City people don’t need to learn an entirely new language but can pick up books highlighting essential terms and phrases. This helps put us in better standing with local people, who can aid us when our cellphones or computers can’t. In a guide to learning languages quickly, one travelling expert notes: “You only need a short period of time to master a few key words and phrases. And no, you don’t need to be a language genius to pick up the basics fast.”
Accommodation
Travelling to the outdoors doesn’t necessarily mean tents. It can be luxury self catering accommodation or merely four walls and a roof. We should learn what’s available, then work according to those parameters. We could be forced to purchase items we otherwise would never use in the city, such as solar-powered stoves or motion-charged batteries.
Transport
For many travellers to the outdoors, cars will be the main method of transport. However, sometimes we might be travelling to areas city cars simply can’t handle. It could be that four wheel drives will be required to cross particular terrain or perhaps cars as a whole won’t work. This is important to find out and we should plan accordingly – whether hiring a better suited vehicle or finding someone to take us around. Unlike the city, transport will not be a smooth process, despite what city people are used to.