Filling the downtime

[andrewbish]

Inspired by Moondog's recent advice to take books, games, etc on a camping trip to pass the time when tent-bound, I got to wondering what sort of things other people do when you're stuck for a while.

Obviously whether you're with company or not will have a big impact on your options.

I'll listen to music, read a paperback novel or read and re-read maps and route guides.

What do you get up to?

(If you're into boardgames and the like, which ones?)

[Mark F]

I though the walking was the down time!

When solo:
I always review the day considering what I could do better, navigational issues, etc
Review what I expect to do tomorrow - maps route notes etc
Make any preparations for the night/tomorrow morning
Stare in wonderment at the stars if turned on (them, not me) - this can take an hour or more.
Make unrealistic plans for getting up really early tomorrow.
Then music or book if there is any time left before sleep.

[Happy Pirate]

Inspired by Moondog's advice to take books, games, etc on a camping trip to pass the time when tent-bound, I got to wondering what sort of things other people do when you're stuck for a while.

Obviously whether you're with company or not will have a big impact on your options.

I'll listen to music, read a paperback novel or read and re-read maps and route guides.

What do you get up to?

(If you're into boardgames and the like, which ones?)

The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse.
Have you read it? I haven't, but I keep trying every time I'm stuck in a tent. Ulysses by Joyce does it too.
Whenever I'm in a situation where I KNOW I'll devour ANY reading material (I once memorised the ingredients of all my food supplies when I was stuck in a tent for 24hours without a book) I bring something I wouldn't otherwise tackle.

Because I mainly walk solo, board games would be a bit silly.

Steve

[andrewbish]

The Glass Bead Game: "In the remote Kingdom of Castalia, the scholars of the Twenty Third century play the Glass Bead Game. The elaborately coded game is a fusion of all human knowledge - of maths, music, philosophy, science, and art. Intrigued as a school boy, Joseph Knecht becomes consumed with mastering the game as an adult. As Knecht fulfils his life-long quest he must contend with unexpected dilemmas and the longing for a life beyond the ivory tower."

That's some absorbing reading, Steve. Haven't got to it yet. Have had a few goes at Ulysses.

[Onestepmore]

angry birds

[norts]

Always carry crosswords and, sudoku, I cut them out of the Examiner, carry them in a clip lock bag. Not much weight and plenty of mental exercise . Another mental game for me is listing the us states, did this once for 5 days while waiting for a river to go down, didn't carry the above then. That's why the zip lock bag is always packed now.

Roger

[doogs]

dodgy books, abc radio and whatever app game I am temporarily addicted to!

[cooee]

Uno.

[Jason68]

I go looking 4 wildlife, star gazing and then fall asleep to a little music or an audio book

[Moondog55]

I usually read, something light if I need to relax but maybe I should look for a PB copy of Gibbon, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire or similar
J Joyce I have never been able to read, Tolstoy confuses me with all the Russian names. I really prefer popular science books on esoteric subjects like the origin of DNA based life or what happens when the universe ends.
I did sit out a severe blow in Cleve Cole one week reading old climbing magazines and a selection of Alistair McClean

[wayno]

extra sleep. contemplate the scenery and my navel..., sleep,
books, sleep, ipod, eat, try not to feel too sorry for myself if i'm tired or sore.... try not to feel like too much of a woos about the rest of the walk to be tackled...

[Lindsay]

Afer I have looked at my surroundings and contemplated nature for a while I read. Recently my kindle has been a massive boon.

[Clusterpod]

It almost never happens here in WA

...but I always have a loaded Kindle anyway.

[puredingo]

Outdoors, Stare at the fire and hum the tunes of the little river band.

Tent bound, Picturemag?...Hey, don't be so quick to judge, it's got puzzles, crosswords and all that other crap.....And if all else fails you can start a fire with it.

Hibrow snobs!

[Tortoise]

I remember a trip in the pre-mp3 days. We were going as light as possible, so didn't take the cards or books. Got stuck in White's River hut with the Rolling Ground clagged in - a rather luxurious spot to be stuck. Someone had left some sheets of A4 paper, so we spent a good while making ourselves a pack of cards out of one of them, and a good while longer using them. We also collaborated on a rather spiffy piece of poetry, relevant to the area, which included Ted Winter, a great character of the mountains.

Another tent-bound day was spent writing linguistic skits - I seem to remember 'The hills are alive with the sound of phonemes' in 4 part harmony. That was fun. I don't s'pose there are too many other phonetic nerds who like singing around here though... Oh, and we learnt a really cool song in Zulu on another trip.

These days though, especially if I'm on my own, I often appreciate just being rather than doing.

[andrewbish]

..Picturemag?...Hey, don't be so quick to judge, it's got puzzles, crosswords and all that other crap.....And if all else fails you can start a fire with it.
Hibrow snobs!

Picturemag? Snigger. Oh, please! I failed to mention above that when I don't have any reading material, I like to compose sonnets or conduct reenactments of obscure Shakespearean scenes.

[DaveNoble]

You can always play the map game.

A good book, a pack of cards, an iPod Nano, a small radio (Radio National has some great programs), a few cryptic crosswords.....

Oh - and the map game? One person starts. They spend some time looking at a map, and then announce a place name or feature on the map (usually some obscure place). The first person to locate that place name on the map is the winner and they choose the next place name.

Dave

[Onestepmore]

Alright, I'm in trouble already
There was a suggestion above to cut out and keep crosswords and Sodoku etc from newspapers, and store them in a ziplock bag 'for emergencies'
Certain male members of my household above a certain age (n=1) have now since accosted me, wondering why various pages have been torn out of this week's 'The Australian'

hangs head in shame....
(but I'll do it again!)

[Mutley]

Dependent on charge state, the iPod gets used for a few hours each night. Podcasts are great to listen to when cooking dinner. There are some interesting hiking podcasts out there - mostly American though.

After dinner, I usually spend a few hours reading. The kindle always comes along. It's about the same weight as one book, but capable of storing hundreds. On the last trip I tried to battle through Zen and the art of Motorcycling, but ended up finishing a very funny little book, "Brains- A Zombie Memoir" and a great, relaxing read, "The things you find on the Appalacian Trail". For the dog lovers out there, try "A Big Little Life" by Dean Koontz. Sorry, this wasn't meant to turn into a book review, but they are a great way to chill out at night. (Zombie book got a bit scary out hiking solo in Far East Gippsland)

[pazzar]

I take my kindle. It's not that heavy, and I have endless books to choose from. I just finally managed to start the Song of Fire and Ice series whilst tent bound at Junction Creek on the weekend. A few card games were also played, but these tend not to work so well on a solo walk.

[sim1oz]

I think Mark F summed it pretty well for us. Other than walk maps and notes, I take my trusty packet of indestructible plastic cards, paper and pen, and occasionally a book. If we walk from dawn to nightfall, I tend to be too tired to do much but set up camp, eat, get ready for the next day and collapse. I've been thinking of getting a kindle for multi-week walks - which are in planning stage but still some way off. I've also decided to cut back on the chocolate unless everyone agrees to help me eat it on the first day. Carrying over a kilo of choc did not give me much joy on my last walk in the Vic Alps

[TerraMer]

Bird watching, writing waka, haiku, prose and shi or sketching out some short stories, macro photos, identifying scats and tracks so I know what to expect during the night, meditate, chant, whistle, skip flat stones over water, lie in a cold creek until it hurts, read paperbacks, stretch, update SPOT, talk to plants and animals, swat tomorrow's topos, read hut logs, day dream...

[andrewbish]

Bird watching, writing waka, haiku, prose and shi or sketching out some short stories, macro photos, identifying scats and tracks so I know what to expect during the night, meditate, chant, whistle, skip flat stones over water, lie in a cold creek until it hurts, read paperbacks, stretch, update SPOT, talk to plants and animals, swat tomorrow's topos, read hut logs, day dream...

Damn, you're productive!

[ferozious]

Juggling - I sometime carry three juggling pins in my hiking pack (obviously this is onley useful if you're into juggling).

Once whilst camped on the Colo, we invented our own game where we drew circles in the sand and had turns at throwing rocks closest to the circles from a distance.

I would love to learn to play the harmonica and bring one along with me.

Extreme ironing perhaps?

[north-north-west]

Solo walker, so anything that requires more than one person isn't an option (unfortunately, and get your minds out of the gutter).

Take sudoku & cryptic crosswords (from the Oz, usually) and Kindle. Pore over maps (on longer walks, having three or four maps is brilliant) and guidebooks. Write - anything from 'poetry' to long-winded trip reports. Eat chocolate. Sketch book is too heavy but have been known to take a few scraps of paper to do a bit of sketching. A bit of yoga or resistance-based exercises if there's enough room in the tent (the Nallo's great, the Akto doesn't allow much more than push-ups and sit-ups). Sing to myself while doing any of the above (another good reason for walking alone).
Get bored. Swear at the weather (a lot). Eat more chocolate.

[andrewbish]

Extreme ironing perhaps?

Hell yeah!!

[Happy Pirate]

The Glass Bead Game: "In the remote Kingdom of Castalia, the scholars of the Twenty Third century play the Glass Bead Game. The elaborately coded game is a fusion of all human knowledge - of maths, music, philosophy, science, and art. Intrigued as a school boy, Joseph Knecht becomes consumed with mastering the game as an adult. As Knecht fulfils his life-long quest he must contend with unexpected dilemmas and the longing for a life beyond the ivory tower."

That's some absorbing reading, Steve. Haven't got to it yet. Have had a few goes at Ulysses.

Even though it's based on sci-fi that's really only a medium to postulate some difficult mental gymnastical ideas. I've got through the first chapter a couple of times and I can say it's definitely one to read on a solo hike when you're happy in your own headspace. It created for me a very surreal mental state where you can sense big concepts, on the verge understanding, approach and then dart away like fish, hinting at what a much greater intelligence than mine may contemplate (don't read this on challenging walking tracks, you don't need the distraction).

The other thing I've found is great, not just for downtime but for solo walking too is a voice recorder with a clip-on mike I attach to my shirt collar. As someone who attempts to write on occasion this device is better than a notebook because you can just stream your ideas without having to stop for paper and pen; even though it requires transposing afterwards. Good for narrating the day's walk in the tent at night.

cheers
Steve

[roodeny]

What to do , well ive got my knife , some paracord and time soo ill do some whittling ( dead wood only ) make a spoon ,a peg for the tent or toggle for the tarp and look i have kindling for the fire . Or do some plating of the cord make some thing useful . the there is the sowing kit something always needs to be repaired or patched . Next .

[Happy Pirate]

What to do , well ive got my knife , some paracord and time soo ill do some whittling ( dead wood only ) make a spoon... .

I'd love to learn how to whittle a spoon from paracord

Bot 'av yer everr lerrnd to ty yer lases wiv wurm lever?
http://www.bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13470#p178923