Bushwalk Australia

Why do trampers freak out when they get lost? An expert explains

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300025 ... t-explains

Very good article Wayno. Thanks for sharing.

Good and interesting article.

I've been playing a survival computer game during COVID ISO called 'The long dark'. Your dropped in a cold, mountainous forest in Canada, with only hours to find warmth, shelter and water before you die from exposure.

It does a great job of capturing the fear of the lost while in a unknown and unforgiving environment. The first few hours and days are brutal at just the standard difficulty level. I've died of exposure alone in the dark several times. When you find shelter and gather some food/water it's a huge relief.

Challenging and highly enjoyable.

Do not forget the title of Paddy Pallin's book: 'Never Truly Lost'.
Or Daniel Boone's reply to a Q: "I've been a mite confused for a few days".

Lost is mostly an attitude of mind. Sure, I may be technically 'lost' at times because I could not give you my grid reference, but that really means little.

Novices freak out. Experienced walkers sit down and make some coffee.

Cheers
Roger

rcaffin wrote: [...]Novices freak out. Experienced walkers sit down and make some coffee.

Very, very true!

An old friend would address this question by pointing out that one is never lost.

His attitude was that you always know where you are, but the whereabouts of your camp, car, whatever, may be in question for a little while

This is a really interesting article, thanks for sharing.