group, the two of us or solo?

Shared experience is what life is about.

Being in a group is fun. You can have a laugh around the fire, err, wood burner, at night about what mini disasters have happened during the day, or crap on about your close encounter with a difficult situation.

Minor hardships bind people together for lifelong friendships. Shared expertise and equipment help out in an emergency.

But man, have you ever tried to orchestrate a group?

Good luck.

Adults are way worse than children. People want to go too fast or too slow. Want to stay another night or just skip through. Etc.

Two people can be a blast. You can walk together, or not. You can just share the hut or agree to meet up three days down the track. Or just hang out together to share the laughs.

Then again, often, you just can’t get it to work out with someone else. They can’t take that much time off work. They just can’t fit your agenda.

You can meet up with strangers on your trip if you head down a popular track: Travers-Sabine circuit, Heaphy, etc.

Yeah, I know. You are much more likely to meet someone coming the other way.

And, well to be frank, not so many are out there on these lesser used tracks, some huts go months without resident guests.

Solo, you please yourself. You can travel with the world’s best company.

Want a 5 am start, no problem. Change your plan and spend another day, no worries.

Solo women? Can’t be so sure.

But there are a few of you out there, sometimes in obscure places. You seem to survive.

As they say: just do it.

training for tramping? Right → ← hunters and guns