How Do you Get Out When you Have no Time???

swmalone

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I have realized that over the past couple of years my wife and I have been spending less and less time hiking and backpacking. The time that we used to spend doing these activities has primarily been replaced by some activities we have chosen, such as raising chickens, bees, and a large garden, and other items we haven't chosen such as fairly major home repair projects. To stay active my wife primarily runs on a treadmill and I jump on the road bike and spend a bit of time on local roads.

The question I have for everyone out there is how do you get the most out of a limited amount of time you can spend hiking, camping, backpacking, etc. I live up in Box Elder County to let you know what is around here. I'm looking for tips on how to pack things for quick getaways, places that can be accessed with short drives. I would like something like a short over night backpacking trip, but at this point it has been so long since I've been in a tent outside of the backyard that any kind of camping would be a step up.
 
A buddy of mine keeps a lot of outdoor stuff in the back of his Subaru permanently. He's basically always ready to go birding, hiking, running, or whatever. Another friend pre-packs his outdoor meals sometime during the winter, so anytime he wants to get out for a couple days he can just grab three breakfasts, lunches, dinners. I tend to do better when I leave a half-packed daypack sitting around the house, just fill a few water bottles, grab some bars, and go. I also tend to be pretty ready to blow off household chores or a day of work in order to get out. It all comes down to priorities but I'm guessing you knew that already.
 
First step is to quit your job. You will now have plenty of time.

Second, your house, unless paid for, gets foreclosed. You now have no choice but to live in the backcountry.

Problem solved.

I know this isn't very helpful, but it's not really possible to be domestic and still have enough time to really get out, unless you only work part-time, if that. Even working part-time, it's hard. So, will it be kept bees and fresh veggies and eggs, or gorp and wildflowers with wild bees?
 
I know this isn't very helpful, but it's not really possible to be domestic and still have enough time to really get out, unless you only work part-time, if that. Even working part-time, it's hard. So, will it be kept bees and fresh veggies and eggs, or gorp and wildflowers with wild bees?

I work full-time and think I get out quite a bit. You have to make it a priority in your life, though.
 
When I last had a full-time job, I would be ready to leave town at 5 p.m. on Fridays right from work. Sometimes I didn't return until early a.m. Monday and went straight to work, but my house was full of cobwebs and dead flowers. Priority or obsession, either one works.
 
I appreciate the advice. We often think of perhaps getting rid of the bees and chickens and other pets, but we both enjoy having them around. I think one of the other issues is that we really aren't spur of the moment type people. We obsessively plan and prepare for pretty much anything we do, this makes the whole idea of just taking off without a plan somewhat terrifying most of the time.

I think I am going to try packing some items in the trunk of the car in the hopes that it might encourage us to at least go out for a hike if we are out and about. We have also been trying to shift errands and other such things off of the weekends and to the weekday evenings so that we can hopefully free up more time on the weekends. I also think that I'm going to have to re-evaluate and begin to look at trips that are a lot shorter and closer to home. Things that can get done if we take of Friday evening and have to be back by Sunday evening.
 
I understand - I have a couple of rescue cats, and there have been lots of times I didn't go anywhere because I didn't want to leave them or couldn't find anyone to check on them. I still have to consider them when I go anywhere, though right now I have a good petsitter. I would rather not go than leave them in bad hands or not well cared for. There have even been times when I just took them with me. It's a balancing act between the things that enrich your life.
 
Such an interesting and important topic. I apologize in advance as this is going to be a bit of verbal diarrhea. But it's something that's very important to me and I've worked hard to dial in my approach so I get out more. For context, I work between 70 and 80 hours a week and am heavily involved in the leadership of my church. So even though I don't have kids, most days, I get up, go to work, come home, and collapse directly in bed. If I'm gonna get out there (which is crucial for my sanity), I need to be prepared.

So, the tips:

1) Plan way ahead of time. For me, that means sitting down several months ahead of time and planning weekends to get away. For example, in May already, I planned the last weekend of June, the second weekend of July, the last weekend of July, and the first weekend of August as my designated "backpacking weekends". I was going backpacking. I put down on my calendar at work that I was leaving promptly at 4pm, no matter what's burning down (knowing, of course, that 4pm usually turns into 5:30).
2) A portfolio of options. I really enjoy trip planning and I can do it when it's snowing or raining outside. So I put together a good half dozen caltopo routes and store them on my account. I was planning to do something off-trail in the Uintas the last week of June. Obviously the snow didn't allow it, but because I had a portfolio of potential trips banked, I was able to switch, week-of, to a different trip in the Bear River Range that was less snowy. Once you've got the portfolio, you just need to pick the option that works for you a week or two in advance, and your beta is all there waiting for you.
3) Week-of rituals. When I backpack, I turn down commitments the week of the trip in order to adhere to the rituals of packing up. Tuesday, I put together any remaining beta/driving directions and send them to myself to print at work. Wednesday, I go grocery shopping, come home, and do laundry to make sure my hiking clothes are clean. Thursday, I pack up all my stuff and put it in front of the front door so I don't forget anything. Friday, I get up, drive to work, bring my pack inside (so it doesn't sit in my car all day and melt my food), print off my maps, and leave directly from work. It's generally either a car bivvy on Friday night or a mile in and crash along the side of the trail.

I do want to plug the sub-24 overnighter. I've done several of them this summer already, It's pretty rare that I get a free Sunday, but that doesn't impede me from taking Friday night - Saturday afternoon/evening trips. These microadventures are worth so much to me, just as much as a big week-long trip, because they offer a respite in an otherwise loud and clamoring world.

For more on the subject:

http://prettyeasytoremember.blogspot.com/2017/07/brief-interludes-of-sanity.html (sorry, shameless plug of my own blog)
http://prettyeasytoremember.blogspot.com/2015/12/beyond-lake.html
http://blog.gossamergear.com/weekend-warrior
http://thetrailshow.com/the-trail-show-15-the-uht/ (starting at minute 59)
 
This is a great topic, as it's something almost all of us deal with. I work full-time and have a 4 kids ages 5-newborn, so I would dare say I'm about as busy as anyone could be. I find my outside time fluctuates wildly depending on the year. For example last year I got some pretty significant miles on the trail but this year it's looking like I will get less than half the miles I got last year.

First thing is to have a supportive spouse, in your case the spouse sounds like she likes to get out to, so that's a win. My wife is incredibly supportive of my adventures, so even though we have a bundle of small kids she still let's me run away for some long weekends through the summer. It's really just making it a priority, there is always something that needs done around the house or some other emergency, but you just go anyway. I usually feel a bit guilty running away and leaving my family but I figure it's only a fraction of the days of the year, and I try to make up for it by really being there when I am there. Helping my wife as much as possible around the house, and being there for my kids (ie not checking out and playing video games anytime I have a free second).

I have also found I have to be flexible. Hiking is my first love but it really does take a lot of time. To up my exercise and outdoor time I found a biking route that I can take to work that takes me through some nice areas. So I get a little blast of outdoor time before and after work most days of the week.

I also sometimes do a quick overnighter in the nearby mountains. For example tomorrow night I am going to run up American Fork Canyon after work, hike about 5 miles to a spot I have picked out, and spend the night up there. Then hike back out early in the morning and go into work. Get's me a night out and I don't have to take any days off work.
 
There is some great information coming out from everyone. Prior to moving to Utah we knew all of the quick getaway spots because we grew up learning about them. I have been finding some around here, but it seems that the ones I know about are the same ones that everyone uses to try to fit in a quick hike or overnight trip. I love the idea of the sub-24 overnighter. We used to do those a few times a summer and I think that is going to be what we have to do to get back into the swing of things. I enjoy cycling and it works wonders for clearing out my head if I can find a road where I can just start getting into a steady cadence and not worry about getting taken out by a car, but it just doesn't have the same affect as a little trip away from civilization.
 
The Wasatch and even the Uintas are pretty busy these days, but I still find it pretty dang easy to find places away from the crowds. Last Saturday I went on a little known hike up American Fork canyon and saw only a handful of people. If I had gone on one of the popular trails I would have passed dozens or even hundreds of people. You just have to do some exploring and sometimes even just a small amount of off trail travel will get you far away from the crowds.
 
We typically head up Logan Canyon if we are trying to get a quick trip, but that area is pretty busy this time of year as well.
 
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