Mad Marmot: Category Lightweight Backpacking

There is more to life than code.

Luke Ludwig — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:34:00 -0500

Many skilled programmers are good, in part, because it is all they do. At work they code and they can't wait to get home so they can code on their own project. The world of programming is a large turbulent pool of knowledge, ideas, and skillsets too vast and changing for any one human mind to conquer. For many people this world of code is their primary passion in life. Programmers get sucked into an hour-gobbling vortex that leaves little time for other activities. Tired of sitting at your desk all day? Followed by sitting in your car as you commute home, and further by sitting in front of the tv or computer at home? Sit, sit sit, its what Americans do, especially lazy but passionate-about-code programmers. I think it is important for the health of the human psyche to have at least one hobby or activity, unrelated to work, that gets you excited, and why not make it a physical activity since the majority of your life is spent sitting on your bottom?

Physical activity? Most people are turned off just by the thought of it. Physical activity is usually set aside as one of those healthy things you should be doing, but never have time for. Like flossing your teeth. Occasionally inspiration hits and you'll go for a run every other day or hit the weight room. But if you are like most people, this usually lasts for only a week or two before you are back on the couch. You wouldn't want to miss an episode of Heroes. The problem is that very few people actually enjoy running or lifting weights. What you need is a physical hobby which excites you as much as the latest cool programming language. If you are passionate about excelling at a physical hobby, then your own self-motivation will drive you to stay in great shape, just as it drives you to stay on top of the latest programming trends.

There are many physical hobbies to choose from, such as road biking, mountain biking, whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, geo caching, backpacking, and various forms of martial arts. Find one which you are excited about and get started! If you need help choosing, then let me convince you to take up lightweight backpacking. Especially if you sort of like nature, or at least you don't hate it and could maybe grow to enjoy it. The lightweight backpacking movement shares several similarities with the agile programming movement. Both are about constantly improving and excelling at their respective topics. Both embrace simplicity. Agile practices are often described as lightweight since they attempt to eliminate complexity and unnecessary waste in the software development process. One of the well-known agile methodologies is actually known as Lean Software Development. A lightweight backpacker similarly eliminates waste by only bringing essential items.

Just as the best programmers are agile, the best backpackers go lightweight. The amount of weight one carries while backpacking plays a huge role in your comfort and enjoyment while on the trail. A traditional backpacker typically carries between 35 and 60 pounds, travels between 4 and 8 miles a day, and honestly dreads time on the trail. A lightweight backpacker typically carries between 15 and 25 pounds, travels between 8 and 30 miles a day, and thoroughly enjoys their time on the trail. Whereas the goal of agile programming, produce better software on time and within budget to maximize value, is simply about becoming better at software development, the goal of the lightweight backpacker varies from person to person. Many lightweight backpackers enjoy perfecting the art of wilderness travel and strive to cover as many miles per day as they can. For others, backpacking lightweight may allow them to carry other gear such as photography equipment, enabling them to get shots that normal outdoor photographers dream about. And some lightweight backpackers simply want to enjoy their time in nature, and instead of pushing themselves to cover miles they travel in a more relaxed manner without the burden of a heavy pack.

Backpacking can be a challenging hobby. Their are many skills to refine, including orienteering, regulating body temperature, staying dry in bad weather, wilderness first aid, physical fitness, hanging your food pack, and caring for your feet. Many of these skills relate to using your gear, and gear research and selection prior to trips is a large part of the lightweight backpacking hobby. Lightweight backpackers keep gear lists, which have every piece of gear they bring on trips along with their weight. Example Excel templates can be found at BackpackingLight, one of the best resources for lightweight backpacking. You'll find a healthy online community of lightweight backpackers at this site to answer your questions and to sell you their used gear for cheap. Backpacking lightweight does not have to be expensive, and the best way to learn is to jump right in and try it.

So stop sitting on your butt all day! Find something to do outside which you are excited about and start doing it, because there is more to life than code.

Inspiration While Kayaking

Luke Ludwig — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:23:00 -0500

One Thursday afternoon in early May, I decided to leave work early at 3:30 and go kayaking. Adios manager Chris. After a boring hour commute home to lovely Woodbury, Minnesota, I tossed my kayak on top of my truck, drove to nearby St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park, launched, and was on the water by 5:00. My kayak is a yellow 17 foot long Current Designs Caribou and is designed for "seas" as it is a sea kayak. I paddled across the wide St. Croix river to the Wisconsin side and headed downriver along the shore. Out for exercise, I was planning to paddle about 8 miles in a moderately strenuous manner. The planned 4-mile turn around point is where the St. Croix joins with the Mississippi.

I soon got in a rhythm and began thinking about, what else -> backpacking. If you were to just meet me and ask what I do I would say "I backpack, paddle, and write code" [1]. Certainly you were expecting an answer more like, "I work as a Simulation Engineer at BAE Systems in Fridley. We make the biggest guns in the world, aka howitzers, for the army." Backpacking, paddling kayaks and canoes, and writing code are my three main... passions or hobbies? If I just call them passions then I have to make the standard disclaimer about my wife Becca being my first passion. How about passion-hobbies.

So I was thinking about backpacking. Specifically the 2 week, solo, 240 mile trip I was planning for late summer in the Cascades. I don't just backpack, I backpack light. Similar to not being a traditional backpacker, I am not a conventional programmer. I am an agile programmer. Both lightweight backpacking and agile programming are movements in their respective worlds that have been expanding in popularity in the last 5 years or so. While expanding, agile programmers and lightweight backpackers are certainly still minorities. My inspiration, while out kayaking, is that the guts behind each of the movements are incredibly similar. What was I to do about it? Write of course. There are lots of websites about backpacking and even more about programming, but hopefully I will have the first ever website on both backpacking and programming. Does this make sense? I don't know. But I will be sharing similarities between the two and how ideas from both of them can be brought into everyday life. Maybe I'll be able to convince a few programmers to take up lightweight backpacking. Somehow I doubt I'll be able to convince any backpackers to take up programming!

I turned around shortly before reaching the junction with the Mississippi and headed back up river and into the wind. I concentrated on using my torso instead of just my arms to propel my body and kayak through the water. The river being straight here, I spotted on the distant horizon what I thought was the take out. As I neared it I realized I was mistaken and was only half-way back. Since I was paddling hard this was a bit disheartening. No matter. A short time later I was observing a bald eagle being harried by a smaller bird a few hundred feet overhead. While under attack, the bald eagle suddently dropped its feet, opened its large talons and dove down to the water. I was expecting a big splash in the water, but wow, this baldy barely got its toe-nails wet. Its prize was a small sunfish, wiggling in the eagles death grip.

As I neared the real take out I noticed a big fishing boat towing an even larger fishing boat back to the public launch. As a kayaker this makes me smile. Simplicity is one of the primary properties underlying lightweight backpacking, agile programming, and kayaking. Kayaking is one of the simplest ways to enjoy being on the water. There is no outboard motor to fail and leave you stranded. You travel via your own power. I need to remember to always bring my tow rope with me. If I had, and the other fishing boat wasn't around, I literally would have towed this boat, family and all, back to the launch[2]. This would have brought an even bigger smile to my face.

[1] This concept of answering "What do you do?" by describing what I'm passionate about instead of what I do for a job deserves a reference, since I saw it on a short film last week about a guy who skis (he works as a waiter in case you are wondering) while watching the 2007 Banff Film Festival at Midwest Mountaineering's Spring Outdoor Adventure Expo. Not much of a reference since I can't remember the guys name.

[2] Skeptical about a kayaker towing a boat? Don't be. It has certainly happened before. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a lot of work, but it is more doable than it sounds. Once you get momentum going I imagine it would only be strenuous work (as opposed to completely exhausting).