Book for planning long distance backpacking trips

Having done three different thru-hikes now, I noticed that a lot of people spend a great deal of time, effort, and money in planning out their trips --- but then sometimes aren't able to complete the trip, sometimes dropping out pretty early on. The drop-out rates are surprisingly high for first-time distance hikers.

So I've written a book to talk about the planning and preparation steps that can make the most difference towards success, i.e., how to most effectively use your prep time and money.

Obviously this isn't aimed at all backpackers (!), but I do think that section hikers can get value out of it too. It's in Kindle format only for now, at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJ68TVW

That looks very interesting... and very reasonably priced, too.

Looks awesome, thank you for sharing the link.

I downloaded it to my Kindle yesterday and read it in the afternoon. I liked the book and will recommend it to anyone planning a trip more than a week.

I don't have a Kindle, but a friend does so I sent him the link and he bought it. Maybe if it comes out in another format I can buy it too :-) Contrats btw, Brian.

A lot of folks don't know it, but you don't need a Kindle to read Kindle format books I read them via my Kindle apps on my ipad and also my Nokia phone (a Windows phone). And you can read them via the Cloud Reader on your computer - Amazon lets you use all this for FREE.

Brian, will you be putting it up for free via Amazon's deal anytime soon? If you do, let me know and I'll get the word out. Having said that, I am off to share the link on my FB pages anyways ;-)

Hi Sarbar! How are things? Putting it up for free as a sort of promotional thing is an option that Amazon offers with some limitations. I might do this at some point. What I've read is that it's recommended that a few reviews be out there for a book before doing this, which makes sense to me. No reviews are out as of last I looked --- and I'm not inclined to ask friends and relatives or others to prime the pump with overly glowing initial reviews, I hate that when I see it for other books or other products.

If/when I do that I'll try to remember to post something here.

We downloaded the book - am reading it now. Thanks so much for writing it! I am really enjoying it- written in a similar style as your journals which I also enjoyed. You do a good job at making it clear that your "suggestions" are just what you have observed that give one the best chance of completing a long route. I appreciate that you do not say everyone necessarily needs to take this approach. Although you have not exactly used the word (as far as I have read), you impress on us how much "good judgement" is a big factor in success. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

I posted a link this morning so hopefully you will get soem reviews - waiting for that first review is sooo hard!
I need to pick up a copy

Thanks, Sarbar --- in fact, I have yet to buy version 2 of your book if it's out there (so give a plug in return please --- is there a follow-on to volume I of Freezer Bag Cooking?)
My copy of volume I is pretty well-loved from when I was prepping for my first long trip.

Thanks so much for your kind words, WD. Yes, "good judgment" is so important, and it is one of the things that at least *can* come with age. Or at least I think I'm prone to less foolish behavior than I used to be. The tough thing I think is to attain wisdom while still somehow maintaining a child-like joy in what we do.

The saddest part is I have 2 nearly finished manuscripts for 2 trail cooking books + one for a at home breakfast book. Having 2 more kids really disrupted everything - I plod along, having fun blogging and writing - and I'll get them done. Once I can sleep through the night...lol!

Thanks for the heads up on the Kindle Cloud, Sarbar. I should have been aware of it since I use Amazon a lot. A friend posted the NOLS book a few weeks back on our local forum and I downloaded it and then someone had a link on BPL for Brian's e-book yesterday, which brought it back to the forefront of my brain, and I bought it today. Looking forward to reading it!