View Full Version : Bloging during your Thru-hike
Anybody have a blog during your thru-hike? How hard is it to find computers along the way and keep it updated, or do use another device like an Iphone?
Slo-go'en
11-12-2011, 15:47
Not exactly a blog, but go to www.trailjournals.com (http://www.trailjournals.com) to find many, many trail journals. Blogspot seems to be a popular place for actual hiking blogs to be found.
You can find an internet connection at most every hostel, every motel and libary along the way. But since your on-line time is limited at these places, more and more hikers are using thier smart phones to both keep and up load thier journals. As long as your battery lasts, you can update pretty much everyday.
Monkeywrench
11-12-2011, 16:09
I kept a nearly daily blog during my '09 thru-hike. At the time I was using blogger, and currently I use Wordpress. Both of those -- and I assume others -- allow you to set up an email address to send posts to such that they automatically post to your blog. I carried a Palm Treo "smartphone" which I would turn on each evening to write and send my blog-post email, and to call home to check in with my wife. It worked well for me, and I liked the immediacy of writing about the day's events the same day, rather than writing a weekly summation whenever I was in town and had access to a computer.
I had a friend act as a transcriber back home. I wrote out my daily journals and every so often mailed them back along with my camera memory stick and he handled the rest. Sent them with "delivery confirmation" and never had a problem. I bought a dozen cheap memory cards on eBay- never ran out.
Worked like a charm and I didn't have to worry about wasting time in a library or hostel. Spent quality computer time emailing family and friends instead.......
Mike2012
11-12-2011, 18:19
I'm blogging already but not specifically for the thru hike and still planning and looking for ways to blog from the trail. Considering writing a journal and then photographing the pages and using pictures as my blog posts and then maybe transcribing the whole thing after the hike. I don't want to carry a phone so figure I will email from the trail off and on during town visits and upload my photos at the same time.
takethisbread
11-12-2011, 18:43
I'm sure this has been brought up, but hasn't the blogging /journaling thing gotten crazy?I started doing one and got bored and found it totally eating my time off trail, but beyond that what's the point? I mean cell phones we all have to call home. It's not like it's unusual adventure, I dunno I guess it just seems self indulgent. My experience is that nobody cares. Your family does to an extent and it's great to check in with your lLoved ones, but the only people who gonna really understand or appreciate your trials are the folks who are out there with you. Jmo, of course. Maybe it's just me
AndyBees
11-13-2011, 02:58
I had a friend act as a transcriber back home. I wrote out my daily journals and every so often mailed them back along with my camera memory stick and he handled the rest. Sent them with "delivery confirmation" and never had a problem. I bought a dozen cheap memory cards on eBay- never ran out.
Worked like a charm and I didn't have to worry about wasting time in a library or hostel. Spent quality computer time emailing family and friends instead.......
Wow! Spokes, I was reading the posts in this Thread and didn't realize that this was you until I clicked to quote! I read your entire journal in Trailjournals. It was just awesome. Well, the reason I'm quoting here is because I plan to do as you did, write everything down and mail it home for the wife to enter into the journal. As you stated, it will be a time saver for certain! I was hoping to be on the trail next year, but doesn't seem to be working out at the moment!
I have an android smart phone with the Blogger app. I installed swype (the keyboard app that lets you swype your finger across the keyboard to input words) and with practice, it makes writing on a phone a lot easier. The blogger app allows for photo upload and placement as well as text input. I'd think such a combo would be fine for short blog entries. Anything over a few paras and it might get a bit tedious. But, then, a few paras at the end of the day seems about right.
Wow! Spokes, I was reading the posts in this Thread and didn't realize that this was you until I clicked to quote! I read your entire journal in Trailjournals. It was just awesome. Well, the reason I'm quoting here is because I plan to do as you did, write everything down and mail it home for the wife to enter into the journal. As you stated, it will be a time saver for certain! I was hoping to be on the trail next year, but doesn't seem to be working out at the moment!
Can't wait to follow along AndyBees! Keep me posted.
I'm sure this has been brought up, but hasn't the blogging /journaling thing gotten crazy??.......
Isn't that what they said about Lewis and Clark for keeping all those notes?
Anybody have a blog during your thru-hike? How hard is it to find computers along the way and keep it updated, or do use another device like an Iphone? What is reception like on the trail? I assume in town you're good, but out in the wilds, how is it?I use wordpress for a blog, but it's mainly for family members who don't have Facebook, and my own rambling thoughts (although Hurricane Survival for Dummies got 1200 views in two days).My iPhone has a wordpress app. I can write an entry and save it as a draft until I get somewhere I can publish from. It will also support direct publishing of pictures with captions. The Keyboard is the real limit, the virtual keys get tedious. There is a Bluetooth key board available which weighs about half a pound or so. Batteries seem to last forever. Not sure how well it would hold up in a pack. Of course with all of this you would need a solar cell to charge your phone, but you may already have it if you are calling loved ones each night.
What is reception like on the trail? I assume in town you're good, but out in the wilds, how is it?
Depends on the carrier. I hear Verizon has good coverage.
[QUOTE]I use wordpress for a blog, but it's mainly for family members who don't have Facebook
I had my blog automatically updating Facebook notes. That worked sweet. I just got a message from Facebook that they're going stop providing that service.
@#$%^&!
My iPhone has a wordpress app. I can write an entry and save it as a draft until I get somewhere I can publish from.
That is a pretty good concept of operations.
The Keyboard is the real limit, the virtual keys get tedious. There is a Bluetooth key board available which weighs about half a pound or so. Batteries seem to last forever. Not sure how well it would hold up in a pack.
I am already packing so much stuff to support the droid and my camera that I can't justify this in my mind. That, and I have yet to find one with reviews that inspire me with confidence ...
Of course with all of this you would need a solar cell to charge your phone, but you may already have it if you are calling loved ones each night.
You might want to do a search on this topic. Up until recently, solar cells had a bad rep on the trail. Walking through the forest, you don't get enough hours of sunlight. But there are new portable systems that have promise. I picked up a New Trent battery pack from which I can recharge my phone and camera. Some suggest bringing extra batteries and charging them all in town to save weight ... Lots and lots of stuff on this topic.
Creek Dancer
11-13-2011, 16:52
Ikaluzi, I would be careful about posting a public daily blog that includes your exact whereabouts on the trail. Probably best to delay your posts by a week or so.
I had my blog automatically updating Facebook notes. That worked sweet. I just got a message from Facebook that they're going stop providing that service. ---------Facebook hasn't updated from Wordpress for me since they changed their look. I even deleted Wordpress and added it back to face book's acceptable apps, to no avail. I have to copy the link and paste into facebook.
takethisbread
11-13-2011, 17:33
Isn't that what they said about Lewis and Clark for keeping all those notes?I think we can comfortably scoff at any suggestion that these endeavors are analogous . AT hiking is really only an exceptional experience for someone who is doing it. I found to be a pain to journal. It's often an Impediment to to a enjoyable venture. And it is self involved. I mean who cares? Your family might care that you are ok, but they really don't care about the climb out of NOC or the bogs in Vermont or the burger at white house landing. Like I said maybe its just me, but it does appear to have this "look at me" aspect.Jmo
Slo-go'en
11-13-2011, 17:46
Ikaluzi, I would be careful about posting a public daily blog that includes your exact whereabouts on the trail. Probably best to delay your posts by a week or so.
Have you ever tried to meet up with someone you know on the trail? It's difficult to do. Even if they knew where you were the night before, it would take a really determined stalker to track you down. The chances of that happening is very, very slim. Just don't post a picture of yourself. If someone you don't know does come looking for you, it will tough if they don't know what you look like...
I used my iPhone to post to trailjournals.com/QiWiz and used PhotoBucket to upload selected pictures I took with the iPhone, then pasted html links from PhotBucket for these into the trailjhournals entries. Worked very well. Did not have a connection every day, but I don't think I went more than a day without one. (Amicalola Falls to Hot Springs).
Creek Dancer
11-14-2011, 10:26
Have you ever tried to meet up with someone you know on the trail? It's difficult to do. Even if they knew where you were the night before, it would take a really determined stalker to track you down. The chances of that happening is very, very slim. Just don't post a picture of yourself. If someone you don't know does come looking for you, it will tough if they don't know what you look like...
Yes, I have tried to meet up with someone on the trail, and it is not difficult to do. If you know where they are, their habits, where they are headed, and their approximate rate of hiking speed, one can easily estimate where to meet up with someone. All of this can easily be gleaned by reading someone's online journal and can be used to calculate how long it would take to get from say.... a shelter, to say... a road crossing.
Oh, and stalkers are determined weirdos. I personally feel safer if I am alone in the woods when no one knows I am there (other than family or friends).
I agree that the chances of someone actually doing this are very slim, but why take that chance? And of course, not posting pictures of yourself is a good idea if you are also posting a daily blog.
..... I found to be a pain to journal. It's often an Impediment to to a enjoyable venture. And it is self involved. I mean who cares? .....
Interesting. I found my journal experience meditative after a long day of hiking. A way to gather my thoughts rather than listening to a bunch of sniveling section hikers.
Who cares?
Perhaps your kids or grand kids will when they stumble upon your hike notes and marvel at your adventure or you will when you're old and you tell that pretty little nurse spoon feeding you Gerber baby food "Did I ever tell you about the time I thru hiked the AT......."
I think this is an "each to their own" thing. I personally blog daily on long trips, using a folding bluetooth keyboard and a smartphone; I cache journal entries until I have cell reception (and enough free time) to post the ones accumulated to date. Then I upload photos when I have more time (and good cell reception and a power outlet, i.e., almost always just in a trail town). My smartphone is my (only) camera on thru-hikes, which not only saves weight but means that the photos are already available on the device I'll upload them from.
I used this process on all three trails, so I have a pretty lengthy and detailed journal record which makes it easy for me to remember specific days/incidents/people/trail sections/etc; it's more like a public daily trail diary. Certainly this approach is not for everyone (!), but FWIW mine is on www.postholer.com/brianle (http://www.postholer.com/brianle)
This last trip (CDT) I also did more terse posts on Facebook, to connect with friends that for whatever reason weren't inclined to read my fairly verbose trail diary. I thought that the combination worked quite well.
I do recommend that anyone blogging via a smartphone consider postholer.com as their journal site; I found it to be much faster/easier to use as a journal site via a mobile device.
Monkeywrench
11-14-2011, 14:46
There is a Bluetooth key board available which weighs about half a pound or so. Batteries seem to last forever. Not sure how well it would hold up in a pack.
I carried a folding BT keyboard to use with the Palm Treo during my thru in '09. It lasted the trip with no issues, simply folded up and put in a stuff sack along with the other bits of electronics I carried. I put two new AAA batteries in it before I started my hike, and they lasted the entire trip with daily use.
14386
I had a folding Bluetooth keyboard by iGo. It was great, until it broke. The company is out of the keyboard business. Too bad, they were just a few years to early.
With Verizon there is usually a signal. With AT&T you are carrying a technological brick in your pack. Carry extra batteries over a solar cell. Recharge all your batteries when you are in town. Lots of people just updated on FB.