Tall Girl Adventures... FOMO?

Hey Tall Girl!

Does anyone else get to the end of summer and suddenly spiral into thinking about next summer? Like, "Wait, did I actually do all the things I meant to do?!" Then I start mentally mapping out next year’s camping trips, biking trails, and gear upgrades... all while still pulling burrs out of my socks from this season.

Being tall in the outdoors comes with its own set of quirks. On the plus side, I can see over crowds at trailheads, snag the last granola bar from the top shelf in the store, and never need help hoisting my gear into an overhead rack or onto my back. And I won’t lie—having a longer stride on the trail is a sneaky superpower, I can ford the river with ease. Because of my bigger frame, I can carry more gear... but wow, do I also have to carry more. My shoes, sleeping bag, extra layers, they all just take up more space and weigh more than the average-sized gal’s setup.

Speaking of sleeping gear, what are your favorite longer bags? I have a super old one I stole from my brothers ex, Cats Meow size tall, it's old an cold now though. I even made a nice down one for my husband and now I’ve totally stolen that too, I love that thing. (maybe I should talk about my sleeping bag thievery in therapy...) Full disclosure though, I haven’t backpacked to a tent site in a loooong time. I seem to be a hammock girl these days. Anyone else out there prefer to rock to sleep instead of sleep on on a rock?

Even though it’s not all sunshine and tall-girl perks. From pulling out my best ninja skills to avoid low branches, fighting with jackets that think my arms are two inches shorter than they are, the struggle can be real. That said, I love being able to leap across a stream with ease, step up onto boulders to get a better view, or step over a log in the trail with grace (haha! it's never graceful). But it is always fun, maybe type 2 fun, but it's so freeing and invigorating to fill my lungs with fresh air, and pour dirt out from my boots at the end of a fulfilling day. I wouldn’t trade tall-girl trail life for anything. The views are better up here, right? 

What's your next adventure?

Cheerfully,

Suzi