default.pb&j (simplicity)

I saw it all in my mind’s eye: my GoRuck filled with snacks and a GR2 field case with the medic patch and complete with tourniquet, bandaids, gauze and more! Everyone in the family equipped with enough water to hike all day and plenty of hats to ensure shade for all. The week’s dinner menu…nothing five star but plenty of great meals accompanied by snacks and treats to “fill in the corners” when needed, like proper Hobbits!

On our first day, about one-mile into our four-mile hike, I starkly realized we actually didn’t need gallons of water, the risk of serious injury is relatively low on flat and maintained hiking trails, and we’ll definitely be too tired for fancy meal-prep when we return to the AirBnB after the day’s hike (face-to-palm 🤦🏻‍♂️)! And I recalled all the other times we over-prepared and don’t understand how we didn’t learn last time!

On day-two your baseline becomes: water for those who can carry their own, stuff a few bandaids in your pocket, and healthy-enough snacks that don’t make you feel guilty for making PB&J (on toasted bread) instead of fixing that 4.5 star dinner!

You may also feel that most of life is synonymous with a good and arduous hiking experience, you over plan —> you slim down —> you finally land on that happy balance of just enough! Maybe you do need to rid yourself of excess and buy that slightly more expensive Last-Backback (see above if you wonder what mine is), or investigate healthier but more simple options for your menu, or to slim down your wardrobe (sometimes less is really more). With simplification comes internal peace which give you more to default.smile about!