Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[sjm9876]

If you can walk 40 miles a day with 30-40kg on your back

Having skim read I missed this, but yeah, that's damn ridiculous. With a pack that weight (which you really shouldn't ever reach) you can't reasonably expect to travel > 20 miles in a day, unless you travel for the entire 24 hour period which clearly you don't. A good walking speed if you aren't a serious walker with a 15-20kg pack on level ground tends to be about 3-4 km/hr, which means in an 8 hour day you can cover about 25km (~15 miles)
As for wild camping, whilst it is technically illegal without the landowners permission in many countries (and almost all land is owned) very little notice is paid as long as you camp out of the way on any settlements. (generally out of sight of buildings/roads will be absolutely fine)

[Meph]

Skandinavian countries have the "everymans law" btw. You may camp one night on any persons property, regardless of what they say about it, as long as you are a certain distance (100m or so) away from their house. Now obviously you dont want to be an ass about it and force yourself on other people, but in Skandinavia, free camping is absolutely legal.

In addition there is a law that says "if you ask someone for drinking water, they have to give you some".

Luckily its not even necessary to have these laws, because people are super friendly and allow you to camp, or invite you for a meal anyway.

PS: I once camped on a tank training ground of the danish military. I was woken up by some loud noise, and there was a jeep with some officers parking a few meters away, watching the tank manouvers. They were very friendly to me as well, wishing me a good trip.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[sjm9876]

Huh.
Another reason to add to the list for visiting Scandinavia

[Meph]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam

More info, since your "huh" indicates you hear about it the first time.

In short:

Today these rights underpin opportunities for outdoor recreation in several of the Nordic countries, providing the opportunity to hike across or camp on another's land (e.g. in Sweden for one or two nights), boating on someone else's waters, and picking wildflowers, mushrooms and berries. However, with these rights come responsibilities; that is, an obligation neither to harm, disturb, litter, nor to damage wildlife or crops.

[Glloyd]

As for camping somewhere, I don't know all that much about Europe, but I've been hiking and biking and hitchhiking all across Canada, and for the most part if you ask nicely enough, almost any farmer will let you camp on the edge of one of their fields for a night. Some will even let you stay in their house or in a shed/barn/hayloft. The only province that I had someone say no was in Alberta, but that's the most conservative province by far, and it only happened the once. From what I've heard, I assume the same principle holds true in most places in the States and possibly Europe. Farmers/small farming communities are typically friendly about stuff like that, as long as you're friendly and honest about what you're doing. I should know, having grown up in one.

If you're uncomfortable with wild camping, then it's worth a shot, and you lose nothing if they say no.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Again, everyone-especially Meph-thanks for all your advice and stories. I have to think about this trip for a while, I don't really know what I want to do right now. In the mean time, i'll be locking this thread, potentially to be reopened at another date, but for now thanks all comers!