Travel Styles

Basecamping

The base, a temporary location where you have assembled your resources for a stay on weekends up to a week, either a camp or Airbnb in close proximity to the place of exploration.

Start exploring from there and return to base by evening or in less than 24 hours, usually. The short duration allows for extremely light packing on the exploration, usually just water and snacks to sustain the day after a big breakfast, and going even more into the method and carry nothing, with water and fuel at intermediate waterfalls and small hamlets or villages on the way. The light packing enables use of less energy and hence more exploration under the physical limits, optimising time and distance in the outdoors.

Usually employed by weekend warriors and outdoor enthusiasts.

The safety net of basecamp being just hours away makes it the most common method of exploration.

Timeline: Hours to 1 day.

Physical Capability: Starters to Medium fitness.

Alpine style

Taking on a highly technical and long route with extremely light packing, only the essential specific tools for the route, the important characteristic being highly skilled and physically ability to converse the long and tough route, especially in a short duration of time of less than 24 hours and as much as 48 hours and longer in one continuous stint.

The technicality usually involves different techniques en route, like rock climbing, swimming to cross a waterbody, glacier crossing, rappelling, etc.

Usually carried out by professional endurance athletes.

The highly technical skills and physical ability required make it a niche that only a fraction of humans are capable of.

Timeline: 12 to 48 Hours and longer

Physical Capability: Professional, Elite.

Alpine style camping/travel

A combination of base camping and alpinism, taking the best of both worlds by packing extremely light to cover longer routes and camping in between in the valleys, near rivers, and in small villages and hamlets on the way to take rest and refuel along the way.

A very minimalist and sustainable way of exploration, putting the timeline of more than a week to almost a lifetime, a vagabond and nomadic lifestyle.

The sheer amount of technical skill and physical fitness needed to pull this off makes it the rarest to be tried and fewer succeed in the long term owing to other factors of society and choices.

And this by definition resembles process-oriented versus the result kind.

Timeline: Days to Infinity.

Physical Capability: Ultra.

Notes:

1. A subjective explanation, so it depends from person to person on context, the circle of competence in the outdoors for a specific route for one person is not identical to other, and the same can be said about the matter of physical fitness.

2. A non-exhaustive list of travel styles, and mostly viewed in the eyes of offbeat travellers and trail runners.