Inspirational Outdoors E-Book

Daniel Vilhelmsson Wesén

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 75

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

There are no musts when it comes to outdoor activities. However, there is much that is good to know. Here I share with you attitudes, philosophy and sound advice that can help you shape an outdoor life that suits you.

Leseprobe

To my beloved daughters

Inspirational Outdoors is about adventures, great and small. Our purpose is to inspire and help you get outside. Explore your surroundings in a new way, connect with people, create social networks and open opportunities for the future.

― Daniel Vilhelmsson Wesén

Table of Contents

Reconnection

With ourselves and mother nature.

Wings & Roots

The importance of having both wings and roots.

Fatherhood

Magical and challenging moments.

Treading lightly

My mindset and mentality.

Warm, dry & fed

Three basic pillars to live by.

Campsite

Things to reflect upon before deciding to stay.

My relationship with fire

A place to meet, cook and share our stories.

Sleep well outdoors

Useful tips that could help you.

How to fit a backpack

My thoughts on how I choose to adjust my pack.

Footwear

Some considerations and helpful tips.

Clothing

How to dress in layers while out in demanding weather.

The pursuit of less

The reasons for smaller and lighter equipment can be many.

Winding road

I learn things as I go like most others but I’m usually a little more prepared these days.

Planning and preparation

Some advice before heading out on your endeavor.

Travel & safety plan

The basics to get you started on your own plans.

Daily risk assessment

A simple checklist to go though before each day begins.

How do you know?

Ever wondered if it’s time to stay in camp or move on?

Trail games

Playful games that you can do while waiting for others or just for fun.

Fuel your adventure

Few things nourish the soul more than cooking outdoors.

RECONNECTION

It is said that we’re supposed to walk on Mother Earth leaving as little trace as possible. With this book I make a conscious decision to do the opposite; to leave one. My thoughts in writing.

At some point in life we all need to sit down and write notes on paper to sort things out. In my case I guided myself through a mist of thoughts and feelings with help from others. I rediscovered myself, I started to take myself seriously again and in the end I found peace in some way.

Today in economic terms, a tree is worth more dead than alive. With my book I hope and wish we could enjoy being outdoors a bit more and that my collected writings could help us reconnect with nature and ourselves and see the true value in our surroundings.

THE REASONS WHY

Gratitude, happiness and friendship. I know I’m on the right path when I point people in the right direction and see them connect with their surroundings, with themselves and with each other; when they feel happiness and, for instance, meet the gust of a cold wind with a smile instead of hiding amongst their clothes with an empty look in their eyes.

Regarding my business. Imagine a peach. The outer skin is what I do (guiding, presentations etc), the flesh is how I do it. The core of everything, the answer to the question why? can be found in the stone. To be a juicy peach, or for me to have a healthy business, we need to pay attention to all of the above.

I give you the opportunity to see the details in your backpack and the surrounding nature while traveling with me. I help you to raise your head when you’re tired and in return I have someone to appreciate the scenery, the wind and morning coffee with. And that, my friend, is why I do it.

BEING HUMBLE

Through time nature has given me so much: wonderful scenery, the whitest snow, the purest water, lovely days in our archipelagos, magical mountains, wildlife to admire and grass perfectly bent by the wind. It also presented me sunsets and firewood, tailwinds to enjoy and headwinds to endure, rain that made me damp and wet, but also sun that made me dry and warm. Above all, nature taught me to appreciate things the way they are and to work with them, instead of against them. As a father I want to be able to give my daughters the same and, therefore, I took a stand and decided to keep my air travel to an absolute minimum.

Even if we remove the environmental aspect from the debate of whether to fly or not, my answer would have been the same. I want to have time to leave the place where I was, leave work physically and mentally, let go of thoughts and everyday life. I want to have time to sit on a train, change focus, meet people and look out the window. By allowing the transfer from pre-adventure to the adventure being a process, I get more in tune with the adventure and myself.

WINGS & ROOTS

The reasons for studying to become a mountain and wilderness leader can be many. I spent a year and a half at Malung’s Folkhögskola in Dalarna, Sweden. The days were filled with adventures, great and small. I already had plenty of adventures in my backpack before going but still learned a lot. The importance of having both wings and roots is one of them.

Sarek in autumn colors

During school we were four who, among other things had an adventure through Sarek as one of our major focus areas. We wanted to see the Rapadalen Valley when the autumn colors were at their strongest and while first snow settled on the peaks.

We had rented a car and driven to the Sourva dam where we now stood and put the finishing touches to our gear. With determined steps we crossed over to the south side and gained some elevation before pitching our tents. Our dinner was eaten on a rock as the extra height enabled us to look out over the treetops and the view towards Saltoluokta Mountain station turned out to be magical. Reindeer meat and red wine has never tasted as good as it did then.

The leaves were golden yellow and red. The iconic peak Slugga stood magnificently on the horizon and we looked at each other and smiled. We had arrived at just the right time. We slept well that night and in the morning we happily walked up the rest of the hill and above the tree line. The wind was cold and the terrain was wet. We talked about the importance of staying "warm, dry and fed", a motto we try to live by, one we learned the importance of at school.

When we had passed Slugga and were approaching our camp-site for the evening, we quickly lost altitude and came down into difficult terrain. My boots got really wet before we realized the mistake and took action. We found elevated ground for our tents close to an old reindeer herder’s cottage. We ate our food and the smiles quickly returned. During the evening, two of us examined the possibility of fording a nearby river on our way back. We decide that it was a big risk and that we should walk the same route out. Back in the tent we talked about the day's highs and lows and took a quick look at the map before we went to sleep.

It snowed lightly and we rested our eyes upon a snow-sprayed Äphar as we passed another reindeer herder's cottage and set course for the lakes north of Låddebakte. We sipped coffee while on top of a small hill before beginning the climb upwards, closing in on the lakes. The lakes had ice on them and the wind was chilly. When we had built our camp we pushed on further and climbed Låddebakte's highest point. The last sunlight of the evening spread over Rovdjurstorget (predator square) and on the horizon we could see Nammatj. We climbed the peak and took some time to look out over this fabulous landscape, something I warmly recommend while accepting that we are not all designed to walk down in the light of a head torch on slippery rocks — an adventure in itself.

The last day before walking back towards the Suorva dam and civilization, we decided to walk a little bit more in the Rapadalen valley to visit Axel Hamberg's cottage. Just before descending below the tree line we lay down in the grass and once more looked out over the valley for a long period. We talk about life and why we like adventures. The gusts of wind in the valley made the leaves dance around us and we followed them with our eyes. We cooked some food at a rest area near the cottage and some of us took the opportunity to take a dip in the icy water. The main subject of our conversation was Axel Hamberg and what he had been doing in the area.