About
So what is wisepacking? Choosing the clothing, footwear and equipment to take with you for a day out, a weekend away, a week or a fortnight as a summer holiday. If you’re planning on a longer trip, then that’s fine by me, because the principles, products and techniques can be used on just about any length of trip. I may not have all of the answers, but if I don’t I’ll either say so or give pointers to where the information that’s required can be found.
What’s my background? Over a decade in the tailoring trade, nine seasons as an outdoor instructor, ten years working in outdoor/travel clothing, footwear and equipment shops and around 25 years as a writer on adventure travel, camping, climbing, cycling, hillwalking, rambling and travel for a variety of magazines and newspapers.
My name is Keith Rickaby and yes, I’m over 50, but I’m not over the hill just yet! At the risk of sounding like Troy McClure from The Simpsons, some might know me from magazines such as Adventure Travel, Camping, Climber, Country Walking, Cycling Plus, Lakeland Walker, Outdoor Pursuits, The Rambler, Rambling Today and YHA Triangle. If you blinked recently, you may also have seen the name on The Guardian’s website.
This blog will develop in the coming months and it will feature products, stories, suggestions and techniques. There may well be references to popular culture thrown in for good measure and some personal opinions too. I hope that you like what you see!
wisepacking 
Thank you so much for leading me here! The Internet is a strange thing that makes it easier for paths to cross, which would previously be impossible! I’m still learning how to even use all of this technology. I just glanced through your blog and I can tell it will be a favorite. I have always said that I wanted to travel around the world and write about it, majored in Geography, and now I find out that people actually do just that! This will be interesting. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks very much!
Never finished my Geography course at A level thanks to my parents upping sticks and moving to an area that used a different syllabus thanks to the school using a different examination board!
Picked up some more info though when I started working as an outdoor instructor after several years in retail and used to spend hours pouring over maps for either work or for personal walking or cross-country skiing trips here in the UK or Norway or Austria.
Now a traveller after surviving a stroke, but still get out there when I can (sometimes it’s a 13 mile walk, sometimes it’s a 3 miler…).
Writing came along in the mid-1980’s, initially as a music writer and then as an outdoor writer when I became an instructor. Other things were written about as well, but the blog came about last year as the magazine and newspaper scene had changed somewhat.
Doing stuff on Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forums has just been for pleasure – answer what I can, when I can.
There are plans for the future as both Caroline and myself have fairly significant birthdays coming up in the next four years so it may be the case that the flights aren’t around Europe (Caroline’s got a fear of flying) and that a few preventative jobs etc may be needed for one or both trips!
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