Great Inclinations > Essentials (and the not-quite-essentials) for overnight hiking Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Great Inclinations is your go-to source for diving into the world of casual hiking in and around the Lower Mainland. Because hiking’s not just for assholes anymore. ow you pack for a day hike is wildly different from what to bring on an overnighter. There's a lot to account for, even if you'll only be in the wilderness for 12 hours. Here are a few things you need to consider, plus a few non-essentials that will just make your life easier. First off, you'll need a tent. Chances are if you already own a tent, it’s not one that’s suited for overnight hikes. Cheaper, more common tents tend to be bulkier and heavier—and when youre carrying everything you need on your back, those few added pounds make a big difference! Unfortunately, the extremely lightweight tents—we’re talking one or two pounds—cost up to $500. However, you can still snag some of the lighter ones for $150 to $200. They're also quite durable and will last for many seasons. Next, your sleeping gear. Some campgrounds have tent pads constructed out of wooden planks; other campsites will just have a dirt or slightly rocky ground to sleep on. Regardless, it’s a good idea to have some kind of cushion or padding to make sleeping on the ground slightly more enjoyable. Sleeping pads are easy to inflate and provide a nice cushion of air between you and the ground, which also helps keep you warmer. They’e also light and compact, whereas traditional foam cushions are larger and harder to transport. Sleeping bags are an obvious necessity but you don’t need to bring a pillow. Just fill the case your sleeping bag came in with extra clothing to make an impromptu one. Another item that I’ve never regretted bringing on an overnight hike: A few plastic bags. They're light, squish down so they don’t take up precious real estate in your pack and can be used for almost anything. Use Photo by Jacey Gibbs them to store food scraps or garbage, or to keep wet clothing from soaking your dry items. Most hiking campgrounds also have a “pack in what you pack out” policy, so keeping an ongoing garbage bag is super handy. Just chuck the whole bag as soon as you get home. When you hike for several kilometres, you end up burning through drinking water quickly. Thankfully, there are a few options for how to stay hydrated on the go. Boiling water is always an option—a rolling boil for a minute or two, depending on your elevation—but it’s time-consuming and can waste a lot of fuel. There are also water purification tablets which purify water but also take anywhere between 30 minutes to four hours to completely take effect. For most overnight hikes, I prefer to use a LifeStraw, which comes in a tube about the size of an EpiPen and acts as a straw. Simply dip the LifeStraw into any sort of freshwater and suck on the non- submerged end. Water is filtered through the straw so that by the time it reaches your mouth it’s been purified. My advice: Pack a regular water bottle and once it’s empty, refill it from a nearby water source like a stream or lake. Then use the LifeStraw to drink from your bottle. My last packing suggestion is a pair of water shoes. After hiking for hours, it feels downright luxurious to pull off your boots and slide into some water shoes. For starters, most are made out of a light fabric and are more compact than regular shoes. They’re also more comfortable than hiking boots, while still being durable enough for wandering around a campsite. You can also snag water shoes for really cheap—like, $10 cheap. Pack some water shoes on your next overnight hike and thank me later. Like any new hobby, the cost of gear for overnight hiking can add up quickly. Try borrowing some of the aforementioned supplies from friends or family members to see if you even like overnight hikes before dropping a few hundred dollars. Just remember to clean everything and return it in the exact same condition they lent it to you. Don't be THAT friend! ‘You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)’ retrospective > Taking a look back on Felicia Day’s life-changing memoir Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor I September of 2015 I wrote an article recounting my initial experience reading Felicia Day’s memoir You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). Seeing as Day will be one of the many celebrity guests attending Vancouver's Fan Expo 2018 this October, I thought it prudent to revisit the novel and pass on some of my experiences post-preliminary review. I'll preface this by saying I read a lot—like a lot, a lot. Out of the many books of the many varying genres | have stumbled across, I can count on one hand the number that have affected me in any sort of life-changing way. This book is among those very few. If you haven't read this book—which T highly suggest you do—among the many hilarious pages, it also details Day’s struggles with anxiety, listlessness, depression, perfectionism, success, and being socially awkward. Essentially, for me, it affirmed my belief that although we have differing experiences, none of us are ever really alone. However, after I read it—and after I wrote the initial article in 2015—my mother was interested in reading it, so I lent it to her. I will keep the backstory to a minimum, since it’s rather uninteresting. My mother and I didn’t have the best relationship growing up. The majority of my pre-teen and teenage years were spent at constant odds with her. This was mostly due to both of us being in denial about our own mental issues. My mother and I both suffer from anxiety and depression, but at the time neither of us would admit it. Eventually, as I got older, we both got help and we were able to actually formulate a deep, meaningful, and understanding relationship. However, we never really revisited what had gone on in those bad years. After reading Youre Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), I found myself able to relate to Day and her struggles growing up. It wasn’t until my mom and I sat down to discuss the book that I realized that her experience with the novel was vastly different. She began by saying that she found the book incredibly hard to read because in reading Day’s memoir she finally started to understand what all those years had been like for someone like me—and it hurt to realize that it hadn't been clear enough earlier. She knew now that anxiety and depression didn’t vanish despite the constant companionship that the internet provided (as she presumed it had), but instead adapted and evolved to being just as isolating as the conditions always had been. That the “teenage laziness” she so often accused me of was actually sometimes paralysis in the face of rejection or not obtaining perfection. These were struggles that my mother was all too familiar with—she just needed someone to translate them for her, so she could recognize their more modern iterations. Fortunately, this book did that. It started a conversation that allowed us to forgive each other for our misunderstandings, and helped to bridge a long-standing rift in our relationship. Looking back, that is probably the thing I am most thankful for. YOU'RE NEVER ver Oe falmo