Before you hit the road - before reaching the goal, collect information!

It is very important to collect the information about what is going to happen to us, you should not leave it up to the end of preparations for the journey of your life. Basic knowledge about our destination is just the beginning. If we go to the area rarely visited, in an unusual time of the year or we want to face the challenge as the first human being in the history, it will not be easy to collect the necessary information.

The first "information" step must be surfing on the professional websites, in case of the mountain hiking, it can be, for example summitpost.org. You should also try to get in touch with people who have already done something similar or visited a particular area. Thanks to that, we will avoid a situation in which we will be informed that this part of the route is impenetrable in this time of the year or we need special permission, which we do not have. Often, we have to wait even a month for such a document.

Systematically collected knowledge will enable us to focus on the logistics of the expedition. It may be simple, but it can also become the biggest difficulty of the expedition. Again, it all depends on the type of undertaken activities, the nature of the expedition, the specifics of the visited area or our plans. What the formalities we need to overcome? Do we need a visa or permit? How can we get there from the starting point? What stages will be carried out? Will we have enough time? What equipment will be needed? What about the food? There are many things that need to be buttoned up- the whole bunch and a separate article can be written on each.

A communication is another particularly important issue that we have to think of at the stage of the organization of the expedition. If we intend to work in small teams, we should have radiotelephones. Make sure that they are compatible with other radios operating in a particular region or group of persons, who can help us, if necessary. If there is no GSM reception or access to the Internet in the visited area, think about renting a satellite phone. It is good to have a person in the country, who is waiting for the call and who will edit received messages from satellite phone and distribute them to family, friends and media.