RedDoug
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Post by RedDoug on Dec 25, 2016 1:18:41 GMT -8
I posted a thread on some of my challenges taking care of my aged parents. But hey, I am aged, too. I"ll be 68 in a week and there are some issues and challenges older backpackers face that they didn't face when they were younger.
I think a section for retired backpackers would be helpful and appreciated.
Just my opinion.
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Roger
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Post by Roger on Dec 25, 2016 8:50:12 GMT -8
I think we have more than enough sections. Yes problem and changes happen as we age but most of the problems are not restricted to the old they just happen more often. If we are talking about health problems there is already a section for that.
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Post by autumnmist on Dec 25, 2016 8:56:44 GMT -8
RedDoug, I think this was mentioned somewhere on another thread, perhaps along with taking care of older parents. There could be a lot of categories within such a new section, but perhaps you could first start a thread and we could see where it goes. From what I've read, most of us are in the age group where some parental care is involved so it would be nice to share how others have adapted to caring but also maintaining their backpacking plans, especially the multi-day trips, while still providing for emergencies with older parents.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Dec 25, 2016 10:15:09 GMT -8
Well, if enough people really wanted a Retirees thread, we could move this one to health & Fitness. There, it could be treated like the Road Bike thread, or the Good Morning thread. People could just chime in and it would be a single thread catch all.
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RedDoug
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Post by RedDoug on Dec 25, 2016 20:50:31 GMT -8
There is more to backpacking as a senior than just health issues. I remember when I had no problem hiking 18- 25 mile days in Colorado. Those days seem to be gone. I did hit 18 miles on one day this March on the AZT, but most days were like 12- 15 milers.
Realistic expectations need to replace what was once upon a time.
Also, I am going to have to take a new look at the gear I use. May be other issues that come up.
I don't know. Hey, I just think being out on the trail after 65 is sort of, you know, special.
Doing a section of the CDT in NM a couple of years ago I ran into a number of seniors on the trail. Sure, the majority of CDT hikers were much younger than seniors, but it was the seniors that interested me. Just a few years ago I really wasn't thinking of myself, at 64, a senior. But I have made the transition over the line now. I felt it on the Arizona Trail this March.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Dec 25, 2016 22:58:54 GMT -8
I'm not in favor of segregating the senior discussions. I think that hikers of all ages can learn from the adjustments and compromises we all make as we age.
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Post by absarokanaut on Dec 26, 2016 5:13:14 GMT -8
You are speeschul Doug, always have been.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Dec 26, 2016 5:40:41 GMT -8
I agree with the general sentiment. As we age, some things change. I hike slower, fewer miles per day, and have taken great effort to lighten my pack. 1st aid kit now includes a few things stronger than Ibuprofen. Adding Vitamin I may have been the first sign of aging. My knees and back talk more, so I sleep on a thicker mattress.
I think everyone would enjoy the trip more if their pack was lighter, their pad was more comfy, and Death Marches were banned forever.
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reuben
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Post by reuben on Dec 26, 2016 6:05:15 GMT -8
If we need a new forum, it'd be for the younguns so us geezers don't have to listen to how great their knees feel after a 25 mile day hike with 5,000 foot elevation gain.
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Deborah
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Post by Deborah on Dec 26, 2016 6:23:35 GMT -8
I'm not in favor of segregating the senior discussions. I think that hikers of all ages can learn from the adjustments and compromises we all make as we age. I agree. |
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Dec 26, 2016 7:30:17 GMT -8
A retiree section would make me really mad when I read it before going to work.
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Post by bikehikefish on Dec 27, 2016 6:41:01 GMT -8
Type louder so I can understand you.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Dec 27, 2016 6:43:44 GMT -8
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swmtnbackpacker
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Dec 27, 2016 6:54:09 GMT -8
The section with bold font size 18?
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davesenesac
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Post by davesenesac on Dec 27, 2016 9:39:46 GMT -8
The notion of creating a sub forum just for senior issues if structured in the usual way will probably only succeed in reducing the audience resulting in less participation.
From the early days of the Internet, there has been an attitude with those structuring web forums for elaborate trees of sub forums. Thus numbers of new forums were created with a few dozen sub-forums expecting people to visit, register and populate such forums but what more often occurred is that disappointing numbers visited a new board and only posted in whatever was the most used forum while the majority of sub forums saw few threads and over time became stale infrequently used. With popular old boards with thousands of active members and significant history, the below does not apply because there is already a critical mass.
The mistake is not realizing how important it is to have a critical mass of members, a community of active members, visiting forums. Lest members create threads in backwaters that few others see, much less post on. Thus the many threads in such places where one, two, a few, or none others post...BORING. Creating threads like that a few times and no wonder many then no longer bother and over time that contributes to people abandoning a site and going elsewhere.
The other forum structure strategy of just one or few sub forums has issues too especially if there is a lot of activity. What happens is there may be so many threads created that it pushes worthwhile threads off a first page and into a black hole where members don't see threads, out of sight, out of mind. Reality is many forum visitors rarely look on lower pages of listings unless they are looking for something that they posted on but disappeared. People like to post where other people are actively talking. Here on the Backpacker Magazine forums that was a huge problem years ago during political season and a prime reason those compulsively babbling about political and controversial issues including not a few obviously trolls, were banished to TPA to the considerable support of those like this person.
There is a simply fix though only a few forums are built so. One reason is Internet forums have been on a decline since the domination by social media sites like Facebook, so surviving forums have tended to be conservative with traditional processes. The key strategy is to provide new threads a large enough audience. Thus new threads might be entered into just one to a few well used forums and after a minor period, THEN move to whatever sub forum. When such a thread is created, it would have a sub-forum tag in its heading so members would know where it was going. Thus someone might post a thread about some gear like a trekking pole model in the main forum and a week later after a larger audience had an opportunity to comment would move to say the gear forum. There could be a link on the main forum at top that would just list where recent threads went.
Now there is an advantage to sub forums where few threads are posted. A thread will remain on a front page much longer so at least when members go to that sub forum, threads will have an extended period to be noticed. For instance if one creates a trip report from their visit to the Grand Canyon, it would first appear on the main board forum with its larger audience and then maybe a week later be moved to the Southwest Forum where other such trip reports would be listed going back several weeks.
So yes a sub forum for retiries could work if so structured.
David
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