I have been giving a lot of thoughts about what my summer plans should be lately…

I have my big jacked up truck with good tires and the electrical system fixed so it should keep the lights burning well into the night while camping. I will have my full-size spare tire, and I’m going to pick up a new jump pack some time this week, in case the automatic battery shutdown fails to do it’s thing (which is less likely now that the voltage regulator is putting out the proper voltage at idle). At some point I may be due for brakes, but that’s a minor thing. I will replace them once I hear or see evidence they need work. So things are going good.

Yet, this year I’m thinking of doing things differently. Not so many weekend trips (except when it’s real hot – heading up to the Potholers), and not so many week-long trips. Instead, I am going to do more long-weekend trips, e.g. 3-4 day weekends throughout the summer.

Two-day weekend trips

Two-day weekend trips aren’t bad and they can be a lot of fun. But they also are a lot of work between packing, unpacking, and shopping for groceries. They also tend to cost on average between $50-75 when you figure in gasoline, food, drink, and supplies. They certainly aren’t free, even if camping out in the woods doesn’t cost anything per se. These trips aren’t bad, but they do get tiresome, especially if I go out every weekend.

During periods of extreme heat and humidity on weekends I will still head up to the Potholers. But in moderate summer weather, or when it seems like the weekends are going to be rainy, I am pretty much going to stay in town.

Week-long trips

Week long trips always sound like a good idea on paper. They are necessary for longer trips, like out to Western NY or Pennsylvania. But the problem with week-long trips is you kind of stuck with the trip, once you start them. You’ve committed to five days off from work, and nine days in the woods. If you forget something you need, you kind of screwed. The camera stops working, well then you miss out on pictures all week long. Shorter trips avoid these problems.

The long-weekend is the solution

Long weekends give you the best of both worlds. They aren’t as much work as packing for a week long trip, and they aren’t such a major commitment of vacation time. If you decide not to go away for a long-weekend, and you only lose a day or two of vacation time. If things get screwed up or you leave something home, your not as screwed as you might be if your leaving for a full week.