camping

Hiking in the Dolomites maybe? Heard very good things about hiking there and september seems like the perfect time / weather. I have never hiked myself and i'm not sure about hiking towards a destination, i cycle tour and for me it's really always about the path, not the destination. The dolomites are very spectacular and of course you get to hike to places where you don't get to drive a car or whatever. I took note of the new "rifugio passo santner" and "bivouac fanton", for when i am in the area, i think they look fantastic, but no tent needed for those.

There are a LOT of waterfalls in Iceland, that much is true, there just wasn't any point on that trip where I had the slightest inclination to go camping - a lot of it is very exposed with very little in the way of natural shelter or facilities. Our typical day when we went was four or more hours of driving with maybe two or three amazing points of interest en route. The vast open space in between was stunning in it's own way too, but there's a lot of it.

There may well be some part of Iceland that's ideal for backpacking, the West Fjords maybe now I think about it, but then you'd be missing out on what the rest of that incredible place has to offer if you hop in a car.

Most of my camping experience is in the UK. If you're lucky with the weather, wild camping in the west of Scotland is extraordinary. After a two day drive and a ferry crossing we once had the most magical night camping at a white sand beach on Vatersay in the Outer Hebrides on what was supposed to be the first night of an epic bikepacking adventure... The next day the rain was so bad we aborted the trip. Back on the mainland the NC500 is legendary.

Alternatively, we had a great backpacking trip once interailing around Europe. No camping, just cheap accommodation in towns/cities en route. If you're young an interail ticket is quite economical. We did Paris, Zurich, Milan, Nice/Monaco, Barcelona and Toulouse among other smaller towns on a 10 day trip.

On my bucket list is to bikepack mainland Europe. There are some quite famous routes and the vycle paths in countries like Netherlands and Germany are very good quality.

Boat hopping and wild camping around the Croatian islands is another one a friend of mine has done and enjoyed.

So many options, not enough time - even for us based closer!

You will ideally be splitting the weight between the two of you, but most of the weight will be in the tent body so you will probably have 3lbs of tent and your partner will have the rest. 3lbs for a shelter is pretty good.

Backpacking weight is a big deal because it is far more miserable to hike 5 miles a day for 5 days with 40lbs than that same distance with 20lbs. If you are only going a mile or two a day for two days, then weight can be higher, but you will pay for it if you aren't conditioned for it. Now add the consideration that your lady will be introduced to backpacking with whatever gear she has to carry. If she has a miserable time because of the weight and distance, she will be less likely to want to go again.

Going lighter is always better, except for your wallet. First time backpacking I had close to 35lbs of gear dry and spent like $200 on everything, miserable. The second time I had $400 worth of gear at 25lbs dry, wasn't that bad. By the 3rd time I had about $800 worth of gear with a 20lbs dry weight and had a great time. Now my pack is about 15lbs dry with the luxury of a camp chair and wish I could use my $1,000 worth of gear more than maybe once year lol.

The month leading up to the trip the two of you should take a few progressively longer hikes on a nice flat trail with your full pack including water and simulated food weight. You will learn what you need to adjust on your packs, condition your bodies some, and learn what gear you need to change for lighter/better stuff.

It wasn't too heavy for me, but I'm a pretty stocky dude. I don't regularly backpack, but I have backpacked with mine. 5lb 5oz plus footprint. Honestly I might not be the right person to answer that question considering I'm the type that even brings a 3lb ax backpacking. If it takes up too much space in one pack, you can split it between both of your packs. Poles and footprint in one, rest of the tent in the other.