I’m usually not great at planning ahead. One reason I love Disney Land, but don’t have a big desire to go to Disney World, is it seems like you have to know that you want to ride Slinky Dog Dash at 11am on Wednesday three months in advance.
This time, however, I’m breaking my usual pattern. After being stuck in a house for a year, now that everyone is getting vaccinated, I want to get outdoors and do outdoors things this summer as much as I possibly can. The problem is, everyone else wants to do the same thing, and if I’m not careful, all of the places I want to go and things I want to see will be booked up. Here’s what I’m doing.
Prioritizing top places
Made a list of the top places I want to go and coming up with a plan to get there by the end of summer. These include Crater Lake, the Oregon Coast, and Silver Falls.
Researching alternatives
I’m lucky that in the Pacific Northwest there’s so many beautiful places you can go that aren’t one of those three to five most popular. I’m trying to find places which might be available on shorter notice, since placed like Crater Lake are likely to be booked out all summer.
Buying supplies when I see them
I have a list of supplies that either didn’t make it from California, or that I need to refresh. If I’m in REI, or wherever, and I see the thing I need, I’m buying it right away.
I knew I needed a new cooler, and wanted a nice one this time, so I made a point to find a Yeti I liked of the right size, and bought it. With the pandemic supplies are likely to be constrained for all sorts of things, and with lots of first time campers getting out there this year, things could run out.
