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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   1769 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for September 25, 2024

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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How do you come to terms with the immense amount of suffering in the world?

First, I'm curious if most here would agree that the sum of suffering in the world is greater than the positives of existence, assuming we're just summing up the valence of every second over every human lifetime and not imposing a post facto judgment about purpose or meaning making it all worth it or somesuch. I mostly conclude this from 1) the commonplace observation that pain is more intense than pleasure and 2) despite living an immensely fortunate life, comparatively, I don't find it all that easy, so I can only imagine that what 99% of the world experiences.

And even if you don't agree that the balance of human experience integrated over time is negative, surely no one would disagree that there is, overall, tremendous suffering, and much of it is utterly pointless. There is no need, I think, for me to belabor the cruelties visited upon man by nature and by his own kind. (And that is even before we get to the suffering of animals.)

Here are the possible responses I can think of:

  1. don't think about it
  2. declare that I only care about the suffering of myself, those close to me, and my descendants, which might be more manageable
  3. admit that the world is an awful place, and get on with my own life
  4. religion
  5. devote my energies to reducing general suffering, e.g., by being an effective altruist

None is very satisfying. (1) may be the pragmatic thing to do but it's an intellectual cop-out. (2) seems to be a popular sentiment in these parts, but I find it spiritually unsatisfying - not enough somehow, even if correct. (3) seems to lead to the conclusion that if offered the chance to press a button to make the world vanish, I should press it, but it seems most are revolted by this idea so I assume that most don't subscribe to it. (4) I am constitutionally unsuited for. (5) seems unlikely to make a difference to the big picture, and in any case I'm too selfish for that. Maybe we're back at (2). Which now feels like a post-rationalization rather than an actual attempt at a good response.

[religion] I am constitutionally unsuited for.

In the same boat, but even if I don't have it in me to believe in any religion, I firmly believe that something outside of crude reality that we inhabit is necessary for any of this, including suffering, to make sense. It's basically what people mean by spirituality, that there is a larger context we have no direct access to now, but in which we and the rest of the world are embedded.

For those of us who can't simply have faith, what we can rely on boils down to humility&hope.

Your assumptions are wrong. The happiest people I know had a life of struggle, but improved it through their own dedication and competence. Being fortunate makes you less, not more, happy. Not to mention that imo modern-style living makes generally less happy since we are adapted to something else entirely, but that's another discussion.

But also, I think happiness is just not very important, nor do I think suffering is intrinsically bad. Hell, I don't even think they're opposites.

Edit: Also, since it always gets brought: No, putting yourself through pointless suffering/struggle doesn't help, especially if you yourself don't believe in it. It needs to be necessary or at least helpful for a purpose you yourself consider meaningful.

I think response 2 is directionally correct, but it can be combined with other approaches for a more beneficial outcome. You can only focus on a very small amount of the world's data your lifetime. You have to focus on things that are relevant to you. For instance, if you thought about every food (down to the specific plant/animal) in the world before deciding what to eat then you would starve to death because it is too much data to process. With suffering it is just not relevant to focus on most of it, and doing so will drain you of precious resources that you need to address the much more localized suffering.

It is axiomatic that an individual human can only impact a very limited amount of suffering. Once that boundary is chosen it becomes much more manageable. You can do local things that will have an impact on alleviating suffering for others and for future generations (e.g. helping preserve a piece of public land). Also, don't intentionally do things that will cause suffering for others. There is only so much you can do, and the rest of the suffering is out of your control.

You can also expand on response 1. There are techniques that allow you to think about suffering without being as bothered by it. Those include meditation, therapy techniques, Stoicism, psychedelics, and teachings that help you focus on appreciating the present moment (e.g. Letting Go by David Hawkins, or The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle).

Finally, the suffering might serve some purpose that you don't know. Maybe it is needed to teach new people a lesson that they would not be able to learn if the suffering was eliminated. Maybe the suffering is needed to motivate humans to take actions that will lead to a better future world. Maybe suffering is needed so that non-suffering can be properly appreciated.

Mix of 2, 4, 5 in my opinion. The way I see it: First secure maximum "least suffering"-ness for yourself and those close to you, then devote the rest of your energy to reducing general suffering in whatever way appeals most to you.

declare that I only care about the suffering of myself, those close to me, and my descendants, which might be more manageable

This is what I did. when Effective Altruism made it clear that spending a thousand dollars on myself was the equivalent of letting a random African child die of malaria, I had a choice of either becoming an EA and donating 10% of my income towards mosquito nets or admitting that I did not actually care about Africans; I shrugged and chose the latter. I have enough on my plate just trying to care about the suffering of me and mine, anyway.

I'd just like to thank google for being such a responsible company. Specifically youtube.

Today I was mindlessly watching videos, and saw that some new movie trailers have come out. I'll normally get sucked into watching half and hour of movie trailers pretty easily, even if I've seen half of them already.

Well google has finally managed to break through adblockers with server side delivered advertisements. I had a minute long advertisement about a specially designed earwax cleaner in front of the video that I was going to watch which was basically entertaining advertisements for movies. It took me ten seconds to realize what was happening, three seconds to get disgusted at the pictures of earwax they were showing me, and another 5 seconds to decide I didn't want to wait for the advertisement to end. I closed youtube and had no desire to open it back up.

It is really touching that in this day and age that a large tech company like google would be willing to help me break any addiction I have to their products by forcing a disgusting minute long advertisement in front of what would otherwise just been some mindless video watching on my part.

It could be worse. Couple of days ago I sat down to watch my daily dose of old comedies on Hulu (T-mobile gives it to me for free, so why not make use of it?), and what do I get instead without any warning if not a visage of a certain presidential candidate spilling the bullshit right in my face. I decided to avoid Hulu at least until mid-November.

Oh, they're finally rolling that out to more people?

I've noticed that selective rollouts mute opposition to anti-customer policies, and I'm sure they have too. A/B testing+user data gives you a lot of tools to boil the frog slowly by never hitting a critical mass of resistance.

As an annoying side effect, it also slows down helping people affected by updates. When YouTube rolled out forced AV1 encoding to 1% of people and their old laptops started roasting from the strain, 99% of people told them "what? I'm not seeing any problem. It's probably on your end".
I've had to walk several people through forcing vp9 who are tech-savvy enough that they could have googled/reddited a solution themselves if the change had been sudden enough to hit popular awareness.

Sidetracking a bit - I’m really impressed by ublock origin efforts to fight Youtube ads. And they don’t take donations to boot. A group of indie devs really managed to put up a good fight against Google’s anti-blocker department.

For me, using brave + privacy badger I haven't seed utube ad for ages.

The internet was a far better place 15 years ago. The accumulation of all traffic into the hands of 5 companies would lead to even more issues. I have yt premium since I am from India even though I am in chiang mai, you get it for 3 dollars a month for a family of 5 but they will surely jack up the prices here too.

safely and temporarily reduce or eliminate male libido

Masturbation

Unfulfilled libido, while distracting, is actually helpful in terms of augmenting male drive and motivation. It adds a certain dynamism and vigor to your tasks. The downside is the distraction, but there's a balance to be had in there. There is nothing shameful about masturbation, and the risks involved in chemically messing with your sex drive (and downstream effects on general motivation) just aren't worth it in my view.

There is nothing shameful about masturbation

Within reason.

"Ballpark six to eight?"

Why on earth would you want to do that? It's one of the best parts of being a man!

I've seen this request multiple times over many years. Libido is basically seen as a distraction for a certain type of guy (autistic/hyper focused) and just another problem to be solved for maximum lifestyle efficiency.

No safe way around it. You can jack off regularly to reduce the effects of male urges but any other treatment is you messing your hormones which isn't good.

Perhaps mindfulness and you being around more sexually arousing things may dessensitize you.

May I ask why?

The causality arrow is not unidirectional.

Your desire for sex will increase your odds of a good-paying job, house, muscles, etc... It will especially increase your odds of meeting women.

Maybe instead of looking to decrease libido you should try to increase it? Despite the messaging, men and women both prefer men who have strong agency. This is deeply tied in with sexual libido.

In the mean time try to get over your shame at masturbation. But curb your porn use if you feel yourself getting addicted.

This is a tale as old as time and saltpeter. Your reasoning is sound I suppose (get rid of the urge then I can focus on being a chad) but only if the world worked in considerably more simple ways. Start messing around with hormones and you dance with the devil, and, to quote Joaquin Phoenix in 8mm, "When you dance with the devil the devil don't change. The devil changes you."

You won't magically switch off the sex urge and then still have the same vigor. The surging testosterone is meant to man you up, to use a well-worn, much-maligned, and favorite phrase. So use it.

A good-paying job and a house and muscles don't just turn up at a certain age. You have to work consistently and tirelessly. There are many, many resources (more than in the History of the world) to help you toward one or all of these goals. Self-castration (even if chemical) seems an ass backwards strategy.

Don't get me wrong. I do not look back with warm nostalgia on my days as an 18-yr old who thought about sex nearly constantly (I really should have put more effort into swimming). And the slow lessening of libido as I get older is not entirely unwelcome (lessening, but by no means eradication). But that's the natural course of life in a way.

How is it a waste? You should use that energy and drive to improve yourself so that you can attract a mate. Killing it seems counterproductive as it would likely passify you further.

Just FYI, even if you succeed in killing your sex drive, you'll still like and desire girls.

SSRIs

Fasting will do it.

I failed on three separate occasions in my little birthday goal of hitting 32 reps (16 per hand) of push press with Erica, my 44kg kettlebell. I wanted to do it before my 33rd birthday, as I have a horror of asymmetric workouts.

The first attempt on Saturday, failed at 31. Thirty fucking one. Just could not get that last rep out.

Ok, Tuesday is the last day. Take my time, warm up, pump up Judas Priest. One rep shy, no problem. Miss it by five this time.

Gotta take another attempt. I know I can do it. Think about the problem: compared to prior kettlebell workouts, the weight means missed reps just kill me. Where with the 28kg a missed rep is just a missed rep, with Erica I'm instantly struggling to regain control, it takes a lot of energy to get her recentered before I can get back to the workout. There's a certain element of panic that sets in when almost dropping 97lbs from overhead, and I'd imagine that wasted energy too.

So maybe if I rejigger the rep scheme? Up until now I've been trying to do 10R10L6R6L. On all unilateral exercises my right arm is stronger, but my left arm is smoother, so I was thinking finish left because bad technique as I fatigue would kill the set. But maybe the three hand switches were too much. I had divided them because ten reps with Erica were tough enough that my tris get pumped. But what if we do it straight, 16R16L?

I try it. The right hand set goes up like butter, catching it at the bottom of each rep smooth, core is tight, legs are loose through the motion strong going up and tight at the top. Then the left hand is a disaster. I'm just not getting enough push with my legs, and the catches are sloppy. I pushed it hard, but I finished two fucking reps shy. R16L14 for a total of 30.

Now I'm stuck. Do I go straight to 34, or do an uneven workout for 33(bleh)? Do I push a harder training block and try for 40? Do I just let this one go and try something else?

Fuck, man, so close.

Maybe I'm missing something, but you can't do 32 so far. So why is 33 or 34 even an option?

Update. Got 34. My left hand is a traitor. Did it essentially to near failure left to start, then run out the right, get to 17 left, finish right. My right hand didn't let me down. Painful and stupid, but done.

32 had to be done while I was 32, now it has to be at least 33, but due to my horror of asymmetric workouts I'd probably round it up to 34. Given additional weeks of training towards the goal I may be able to achieve additional reps.

Are these numbers entirely arbitrary? Yes. But only in the sense that setting a personal goal is more arbitrary than allowing some Frenchmen to set the distance you are running or the weight you are lifting.

To addend that, any actual time goal on a run or lifting one rep max is also going to be effectively arbitrary in the sense that the goal is pretty much always just, "better than yesterday". Setting something that you know is completely unrealistic is silly, setting something you can easily accomplish is pointless. No one else is ever going to care all that much about a level of physical accomplishment that is good, but nothing special. Looking at graphs of how many people finishes races at round number is pretty funny. Running a sub-3 (or sub-4, or sub-5) marathon doesn't actually matter to anyone other than the people doing it, but you set a number that's hard but achievable and go from there.

Reread the Holy Words

"When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you."

Do people routinely give weight room equipment names or is this a brand? Or, as I suspect, is this an obsessive thing like naming a volleyball Winston?

Let this one go. By uneven workout you mean uneven number? That doesn't matter. Also consider: Injury from injudicious increases in reps is not something you want.

It's odd and maybe I need coffee, but if your username weren't written right there I'd have not imagined you as the author of this. Striking how little I actually know of Mottizens despite my occasional suspicions otherwise.

Do people routinely give weight room equipment names or is this a brand? Or, as I suspect, is this an obsessive thing like naming a volleyball Winston?

I've always named, in my head, the lighter warmup weights (95-135) on a barbell for girls I dated who weighed that much, it amuses me to imagine the weight I'm lifting as a person. After ex girlfriends come the classic UFC weightclasses (155-170-185-205).

Erica was, when I dated her, about 97lbs, so when I got a person-sized KB it naturally took her name.

Brilliant. I'm putting this in a story.

What mitigations can you enact if you know that you have an unavoidable stretch of sleep deprivation and intense physical exertion coming in the near future? I'd like to avoid doing anything that would run a afoul of US federal law, but otherwise I'm pretty open to suggestions.

Blue collar workers use copious quantities of nicotine and caffeine.

Way ahead of you. I've got a 24 pack of five hour energy sitting in my trunk.

It's not exactly hard to convince a doctor to prescribe you stimulants for "your adhd" and then you're in the clear legally. Not trying to delegitimize real diagnoses/legit use of the meds (e.g. my own), but the fact remains

Import Indian modafinil? It's only skirting law, I believe, and the package might get stopped, but it is legal. Or find a source for the hepatic prodrug armodafinil, I think that's unregulated if you don't mind the QA issues.

I'm going to endorse this. I previously asked the question, got this answer, and you know what? It works. I can skip a night of sleep with few or no ill effects.

Some people report it fucked up their sleep cycle. I did not have that experience. I can typically choose to fall asleep at any point by standard tricks, and certainly within a day or two I'm back to normal.

Modafinil and armodafinil are both scheduled, but enforcement is practically nonexistant for quantities below a kilogram. See gwern's modafinil explainer for details.

If I were buying I'd stick to unscheduled adrafinil to be on the safe side but risk is probably minimal either way. Absolute worst case scenario you get a letter from customs telling you to stop importing unapproved drugs.

The first thought that comes to my mind is take a lot of naps and sleep during the day as much as you can. This is the routine that is used by many professionals who must be vigilant for tens of hours without break. I would take a long walk before or even better do a little jogging (depending on your physical condition) to prepare body for the effort. I may also suggest Wim Hof breathing but this one is more esoteric.

I will leave Chiang Mai this or next week and I am a little bittersweet about it. I have been sorta working in startups for close to a year without any progress and will go back home and work on a prototype for a tool for developers. This will be the first time in my life that I will be working without direct supervision and get an apartment in a different, smaller town, away from my parents if I can. My role in my previous startups was non-technical and that was not as helpful. My responsibilities were not fixed plus I did not develop any skills as a programmer at all. My depressive episodes and malaise stem from a lack of skills, routine and clear path towards something meaningful. There is not much point staying in Chiang Mai on my roommate's dime since I do not have a job, I came to assist him on his startup but we both fell out. I will help out my friends with their e-commerce venture (they have this alongside startup stuff) part-time to get a regular income and then work on my own on my startup.

In hindsight, I should have just started working on my own thing a year ago. Being a janitor in a startup where the speed of shipping is not very fast is not ideal and I am a little scared about posting this stuff online but I just want to let this stuff out for once. But that is what I was, a janitor.

Chiang Mai was good. My first time ever out of the nation. I met some really cool people. This jacked middle-aged Russian dude named D who worked as a programmer and read a whole bunch of classic literature. He clicked very well with me and in broken English would tell me a whole lot about life. His analysis of me being someone who needs a strict routine and some meaning in my life to work on more, and how I try to "sell" myself to others in attempts to get them to like me instead of being who I am more freely. I met guys like this dutch ex party head who now runs e-commerce in Africa, a Russian girl who works for a gambling organisation, and a rich Thai guy who abused every drug known to mankind and now has black feet from it.

Pieter Levels, the most popular digital nomad often recalls his early days nomading, stating that he'd meet super interesting people, like this one Aussie guy who would travel to Thailand with just his laptop and charger, buy clothes when he would touch down and donate them all before he left. D of all people left a big impact on me, making me start working out again and how daily callisthenics is enough, and more importantly, how daily physical exercise is more important for the mind more than anything else. I saw this movie named The Island, a Russian movie about regret and of all I would miss him the most.

I have not had irl friends since 2016 in a sense. I would have close friends on the internet and meet them occasionally but never irl friends who I meet daily without scheduling meetups, organically and learn a lot from. I dont want to leave chiang mai but I am at this point a burden on my roommate, and even if I were not, I would have had to return anyway to get a hang of the e-commerce stuff and learn some cs topics to help with my startup. Leaving is bittersweet. I actually had fun. I actually liked hanging out with people after a while. Learning about literature, music, movies and just life in Eastern Bloc and so much more. Back home, people would find my tendency to say hi to everyone and try to talk to them a weird low status thing whereas the expats here are happy to talk. They all have a story to tell. Sure they are not world beaters but neither is anyone I know of, more importantly, there is more to life than just what you do. People around me have this faux superiority complex where everyone is looked down upon unless they are like fucking silicon valley billionaires or conquerors like Alexander but if you are someone who is that good, you probably would be fine talking to most people since everyone is below you in the hierarchy anyway.

Truth is, I liked meeting good people irl. People who like me for being who I am. I was a hermit for a decade, yeah I would visit uni and stuff but I never could connect with anyone since people in uni hated me for a lot of petty reasons. Most nomads are not perfect and I don't want to be one long term but I wish I met more of them. I finally felt feelings for a girl, tried a bunch of narcotics, finally partied like a normal person and got to experience life beyond what a guy my age experiences in a small town. I hated Chiang Mai when I landed and my roommate would get angry whenever I would say hi to random people but since I stopped working with him on his startup, I have been able to take time off, make friends who I connect with and finally take an adult vacation for the first time in my life, ever. Up until this point, I had never explicitly taken any days off. They would mostly be me having some anxiety in the back of my mind whilst not getting any work done but for the first time in years, I finally took a week off completely and loved every single second of it. I kept posting about wanting to meet girls and got to cold approach nearly a hundred girls, all attractive tourists from various nations. My oneitis which I could not get over for years became an afterthought a few days into a normal vacation spot. Most of what I knew about girls came from the internet or from stuff others told me but I had never experienced what talking to them was like beyond my small town and it was amazing. Rajasthan or any city in India does not display what life holds, it is all little leagues and scarcity. Despite being somewhat better looking than the average guy from where I am from, I had loads of girls tell me that they found me attractive and wished to spend more time with me. I had guys come up to me and tell me that they liked hanging out with me a lot in a non homo way lol.

I look forward to the next few months. Finally on my own and doing something really hard, I will resume weekly updates so that I can have accountability. My skills as a programmer are at best noob tier and the idea I am working on is itself based on a strong hunch a good wise friend of mine had who himself wished to work on it before, 2 years ago but could not due to tech not being good enough which it is now. I am sorry for writing these long winding posts but I have no one else to talk to about this stuff. My friends will judge me for writing about them online and I cannot be weak in front of my parents who already have gone through a lot.

Things I experienced are not unique or special. By my own faults and laziness, I fucked my life up where I got to be this manchild by age 24

This jacked middle-aged Russian dude named D who worked as a programmer and read a whole bunch of classic literature. He clicked very well with me and in broken English would tell me a whole lot about life. His analysis of me being someone who needs a strict routine and some meaning in my life to work on more, and how I try to "sell" myself to others in attempts to get them to like me instead of being who I am more freely. I met guys like this dutch ex party head who now runs e-commerce in Africa, a Russian girl who works for a gambling organisation, and a rich Thai guy who abused every drug known to mankind and now has black feet from it.

There’s a book in this, dude!

D, the Russian guy, sounds like a very good person to have met. I wish someone had analysed my like that when I was younger (feels spot on for me too…)

I guess I’m looking forward to your weekly updates.

Do tell me about the book, what it's called and what it talks about.

I as a person try to avoid anyone who says anything nice about me and actively try to not listen since I can only see the bad in me. More than that I don't want to be like one of those ig models who think they're the prettiest things ever only to have their world break the moment someone better looking enters their life.

Even with girls, whenever I talk to them, I try to avoid paying attention to the good they say as I'm afraid I'll be a guy who gets hooked onto positive interactions on the surface level and never grow beneath that.

I look forward to posting weekly updates too :)

I believe he means the book is there to be written, like David chiseled from the granite.

Ahh, yeah lol, my bad. I'm glad to have had these experiences, share them and get feedback. I'm very lucky.

Exactly as George said 👍

Dude, 24 is a fine age to start over. Have you tried being an impractical romantic? If you see every relationship as transactional people can sense that and you'll never have a good time. Life isn't about what you can get from people, it is about what you can give. If what you're doing isn't working, try doing the opposite.

Yeah. I don't see them as transactional things. You meet people, you try helping them, they try helping you and in the process life becomes better.

I spend my free time just hanging out with people here and it's really fun. My hatred for screens and internet is more active because I know what's out there, even the little things in life are great luxuries compared to being online.

The Russian guy was having some issues recently and was extremely appreciative of me and sometimes my roommates staying over and talking to him and just hanging out. It felt amazing, to simply be and experience life this way. Even in the tiny things where just me being here is helping out someone who I am good friends and respect. I will not be able to do this again with him since I'll leave though life's long, doing well would mean me having good relations with others like him who I'll meet soon.

You hate screens and the internet but isn't this your bread and butter in terms of your desired career? I may be misunderstanding.

I despise them as primary sources of entertainment. Ofc it's my career but I'm agaisnt people spending their lives using these devices to surf mindlessly

I've finished a four day hike through beautiful Abel Tasman here in New Zealand. This was my first time camping outside probably for over 20 years so it was a bit of trial and error but I am interested in doing more. Some thoughts -

The Walk

The route I took ended up being close on 70km. Abel Tasman has very well maintained paths but just about every beach has a big headland separating it from the next, and while none of them are that high you still end up spending nearly half your time going uphill. By the end I was very glad to be done walking, I had blisters on my feet. The second day was the hardest - I tried to cross the Torrent Bay Estuary in the rain with shoes on, and got them wet, and then had to walk eight hours, by far the longest day. Crossing the Arawoa Inlet was less pleasant - with no shoes the water is very cold and the inlet is covered with sharp, tiny shells, but I had company to share my misery with, which makes a great difference.

The Fauna

At this time of year the park was very empty. I probably saw more weka than humans, and when you see so few people you're genuinely happy to talk to them. The weka are cute, but mostly just pests that hang around hoping you'll drop a piece of food. There are seals at Separation point, lazing around on the rocks. The beaches also have sandflies, which give me horrible swelling. My insect repellent didn't seem to bother them, but I was given a tip - 50/50 Dettol and baby oil. Would that actually work?

The Weather

It is still early spring and so far a pretty cold spring on South Island. Temperatures were a damp 3 degrees at night and going up to 15 in the afternoon, but it still feels very warm going up hills and in the sunshine. Only a light rain on the second morning. Around Whariwharangi the wind is much stronger than elsewhere, since it comes off Golden Bay. I never felt cold past the early mornings, while wearing affordable polyester base layers. My cheap raincoat from my old job and over trousers kept me dry through the rain, but it wasn't much of a test.

The Accommodation

I wanted to try camping, which was my choice - but it was saddening to walk past some very comfy looking huts and pitch my tent. My tent is very easy to set up, but more difficult to sleep in. I am tall enough to brush one end with my toes and the other with my head, and I only had a thin foam mat to sleep on, so slept poorly, though the sleeping bag I got for a song was very warm.

The Food

I elected not to pack a gas cooker and just eat cold dry foods. Cheese, crackers, nuts, chocolate were the menu. I also filled a container with a mix of milk and protein powder and made milk along the way. I had some caffeine and electrolyte powders to have in the morning. I was quite happy with how little I felt hungry. Taps are common in the park, but according to some health and safety regulation, you are officially instructed not to drink from them. I did, and the water was clear and without taste, and suffered no harm.

The Pack

With my tent and mat strapped to the back of my pack and 65l of space, I'd hoped to have plenty of room. Unfortunately my dirt cheap bedroll took up a vast amount of that space, forcing me to squash nearly everything down the sides.

The Lessons

I think I definitely need some kind of inflatable mat, and maybe a more compact bedroll. This would free up space for a book and travel chess set. Everything else I think I'm happy with. I will definitely take more advantage of huts in the future - perhaps one per walk.

I pooh-poohed inflatable mats for a while, but they're a significant upgrade. Weirdly expensive, however. They both insulate and cushion. An inflatable pillow is also an amazing luxury.

A hot meal during a cool night in shoulder season is amazing. I splurge on the dehydrated foods bags that are like $14US, but provide an immense amount of calories and protein for multi-day treks. You can also just do Ramen or instant mashed potatoes.

I really didn't miss hot food and certainly didn't miss the hassle of cooking and washing up. Maybe I will try some overnight oats or something more substantial.

The big issue with inflatable mats is that they're very prone to leaks.

I definitely believe you. For a 1-2 night thing in good weather especially.

The meals I use are like so and require only a spork and boiling water, no cleanup. However you can see the price is... Not great and they can be bulky. After a 4,000 calorie day in the cold they're a treat for me.

The inflatable pads I've used do not leak in the many nights I've used them, but are also expensive and I HAVE destroyed one quickly with a rolling bike tire while bikepacking. I don't think a $200 model is necessary, my $70 equivalent was more than up to the task even if it didn't pack down as tightly.

In any case each person's camping gear journey is their own. Camping enough with basic gear and food will lead you to appreciate the improvements you make in the future, if any. Today's compact comfort technology is absolutely insane.

Yeah, I think every person needs to iterate to find what they can and can't live without. To me food has never been a real treat, just a chore. If anything, it's quite liberating to have an excuse not to cook hot food and just eat like a degenerate student again.

Nice. I think a self-inflatable mat, a bigger tent and a fancier sleeping bag should help you feel more comfortable next time. I would also pick a zip stove if I were you. They are much more lightweight than gas stoves, burn wood debris and I can't imagine myself hiking in cold weather without some hot food to eat after I set up camp.

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