Christmas 2003 saw the first "Blather Ghosthunt expedition" (see here for details). It was, to be brutally honest about the thing, a simple walk in the woods, and then on up to the Hell Fire Club, followed by pints in the Blue light pub.
However, judging by the near hysterical reactions from people subscribing to the mailing list organising the event, you would swear that we were about to tackle nothing less than the sheer face of K2.
People wanted to know the scale of the journey, the weather conditions, altitude levels and whether or not they needed to bring simple clothes or the heavy duty camping gear as favoured by the likes of Ernest Shackelton and Scott of the Antartic.
The funny part of all this is that I know exactly why people react like this when faced with a small adventure into the outdoors. Living, as most of us now do, in large faceless cities, we are rarely, if ever, faced with anything approaching nature, wildlife or the outdoors. We live in santitised, air-conditioned, centrally-heated, shag-carpeted cubicles of self-contained ignorance and bliss. The closest most of us will ever come to the real natural world during our daily lives is when the cat brings us home a dead mouse.
In addition to our general urban-insensitivity to the reality of how the natural world works, we must also point the large finger of blame at the fear-mongering low-lifes that work in all of our camping and outdoor stores. As someone who has just moved country and has been doing some (small amount) of travelling I have spent a fair amount of time in these places over the last six months.
Initially it all starts fairly innocently: you go in to buy yourself a decent sleeping bag or perhaps a good pair of walking boots. Then you are approached by a sales assistant. He asks you what you need. You explain. He helps you. Then, the next thing you know, you are staggering around the shop, your spine groaning under the weight of a small Everest of what seems to be almost entirely usless gadgets and gizmos, but which the shop assisstant breathlessly informs you are critical pieces of equipment for surviving just so much as a weekend on a camping site in Wicklow.
So, in order to save you some hassle, I have taken the liberty of compiling a small list of goods and materials which you will require when you decide to go travelling. I shall be publishing these along with other helpful travel related hints over the next few months...
