Nice move, Roosh! I've had the chance to spend a lot of time in the forests of Northern Europe during Covid season, and it's great. The sun, the natural movement, the sights, the plants and animals and fresh air. Doctors actually prescribe nature walks as therapy around here, because it's proven to make people less anxious and more happy. It's a great chance to improve the connection between God, yourself, and nature.

Once I was deep in the forest, and I'd taken some magic mushrooms. Then the forest people appeared. They had a sort of eternal, constantly shifting shape. It felt peaceful and comforting to have them around. I've never experienced anything remotely like that even if I'd taken shrooms in as high or higher doses a dozen times before. It was quite a change from my online professional computer life. The funny thing is people have been saying there are forest people in the Northern European forests since ancient times. I'd pack some shrooms in that bag for when you've truly found a great place. You won't regret it. Maybe you'll meet the American forest spirits. :)

Reply 4 Likes

Roosh - prepare a good kit in a good bag! This guy on YT gives excellent advice about what to pack - this video is an ultralight bugout - obviously you can carry more, for more comfort, but start with these core ideas. You can use your time to practice survival techniques like map reading/navigation, water filtration and purification, maybe even shelter building and trapping!

Practice your photography too and be sure to share the pics with us here as you go (without giving away you location too much of course)

Good luck!

PS - this was his first video which shows more kit items and explains their purpose in more detail - check this guys channel, all great stuff, he's an ex green beret.

Reply 2 Likes

I have a car camping setup that's amazing. Portable flush toilet with a small tent that serves as an outhouse. The outhouse tent also serves as a shower tent. I have a propane powered instant water heater for hot showers and dishes. I have a generator. Finally, I have a tent that attaches to the back of my SUV, with a nice memory foam mattress in the back of the SUV that's like sleeping on a normal bed. I have a propane heater as well. It wouldn't be safe to use it if I just slept in the back of the SUV, but with the tailgate open and a tent attached to the back of the SUV, there's enough air circulation to use it safely.

All the comforts of home, at a fraction of the cost of a camping trailer, even in a wilderness location with no power, water, or bathrooms.

I got this setup so I could go star gazing with my telescope in remote, dark sky locations. After star gazing until the wee hours, I don't want to have to pack up and leave. Also, it gets cold in remote areas in the middle of the night, so I can go inside my warm tent and control my telescope with my laptop to get star pictures.

Reply 9 Likes

This is a good time of year to spot Sasquatch.

Reply 1 Like

I salute you for trying something new and challenging yourself. Here are some ideas to challenge yourself and test your mastery

I was a Scout and a scout leader. One basic skill we taught and tested was starting a fire. For the basic award, you were limited to 2 matches. For the merit badge, you had to do it two ways without matches. For example with a flint, magnifying glass, spindle, steel wool

Setting up a shelter like a tent or tarp and knowing how to use your gear is another skill. Cooking over a fire is another skill. First aid.

Some advanced skills would be hiking, hatchet and ax use, purifying water, knots and ropes. These aren’t advanced in the normal sense. I use advanced to mean that I would start with the others first, and then challenge yourself to learn these.

There are lots of YouTube videos on all these topics. However I find a lot of the popular camping channels are they want to review gear that you don’t need and it’s very expensive or show skills that you will really need. If you prefer a books to YouTube, you can find used merit badge books on Amazon or eBay for about five bucks, less if you buy them as a lot. These are oversize pamphlets that fairly thoroughly explain the topic and identify a level of mastery. You might want to check out camping, cooking, hiking, backpacking, wilderness survival, first aid.

Reply 3 Likes

Pictures from the road:

Reply 15 Likes

Pictures from the road:

Love the slippers! Must be a treat to do a solo trip where you can experience everything for yourself.

Also, an old joke goes that if you see a bear in the woods and plan to take out your pistol , make sure you shave off the front sight first :)

Reply 1 Like

I recommend hitting the the western NC leg of the Blue Ridge Parkway; west of Asheville, all the way to the end. From there you can go back north into Tennessee. There is a small camp ground called "Pinhook" near the intersection of the BRPW and NC Hwy 215, on 215, south of the BRPW. It's beautiful. Some nice scenery if you go on down 215 into Balsam Grove, there are some great camping & fishing in that area too. Some amazing overlooks on that leg of the BRPW too.
Devil's Court House, despite the name, is one such over look with a 10 or 15 minute hike from the parking lot.

If you stray off the path a little farther south to the towns of Rosman or Brevard, NC, you might see some white squirrels. There is a concentration of white squirrels there and Brevard has used it as a mascot for decades. Nice little town too. Plenty of camping sites across that whole area too.

Enjoy your travels and be safe man!

Reply Like