 Tip number one, don't skip the registration box. A lot of times if you are hiking in a wilderness designated area or a national forest, you will notice that there are boxes or registration boxes at the trailhead, sometimes half a mile in or a couple of feet in. You will see a registration box. A lot of times I see people just looking at it and continuing with their hike. So make sure that you take time to open that registration box. If you do so, you will notice that there is a book, a pen, or a pencil for hikers and backpackers to register by entering their information, their name, what time they are starting their hike, how many people in the party, and when you finish your hike, what time did you check out. Sometimes if you are backpacking you would want to specify how many days are you going to be on that specific trail or on that specific wilderness area. This is very useful information and very important for you and for search and rescue should anything go wrong, that's going to give them some rough information about where you are and help you if you are in trouble. And that takes us to tip number two and that is letting someone know where you are going. Not a lot of trails have a registration box but sometimes you won't get help until someone clean you or someone is asking about you. And for those of you who had watched the movie 172 hours, the main character who got stuck in the canyon, he started reflecting back and he wished that he took the time to let someone know where he was venturing. So make sure that you let someone know where you are going, could be a friend, a family member or a roommate. Let them know where you are going, even if it's just a short hike, you are out there, you are exposed to the elements and you never know what can go wrong. Let them know what route are you taking, how long do you think this hike is going to take you. There is a feature on the mobile application all trails that I've been experimenting with for the last few weeks called Lifeline. This Lifeline feature on all trails allows you to choose one contact member and share with them information about the time that you are starting your hike, which specific route you are taking and when do you think you're going to be done hiking. Now sometimes if you are on a hiking trail and you happen to have service, it's going to even share live updates with them, which can be very useful. You're not going to rely only on using the Lifeline feature on this specific mobile application, but this can be an additional precaution measure that can be taken. Tip number three is to check the weather. Only takes a couple of seconds to do so, it's very important. Every area of the country is different with the different climates. Sometimes if you are hiking in the mountains, the weather tends to change dramatically from sunny and bright outside to rainy. In some areas, for example here in the desert of Arizona, we do have a monsoon season where storms roll in very quickly and fast. So checking the weather is going to help you pack your gear accordingly. If it's going to rain, you want to make sure that you have a rain jacket with you, for example, or you do have a rain cover for your backpack. So make sure you check the weather before you start hiking. Tip number four is to be aware of wildlife in the area. Again, every area of the country is different. If you are hiking in bear country, for example, you want to make sure that you are aware, you want to make sure that you are making enough noise on the trail, you want to make sure that you have the best pair with you to protect yourself should anything go wrong. If you are hiking in a new area, make sure that you talk to a ranger, for example, if you are in a national park, make sure you search online, reviews, talk to people, make sure that you understand what's going on. In the desert, for example, there are usually rattle snakes in the hot and warm weather. So you want to make sure that you are staying aware and alert. In some national forests, there are usually a lot of mountain lions. You want to make sure that you are not hiking alone in those areas, for example. So the point is just take some time to search and read a little bit more about the wildlife in the area you are hiking in. And tip number five is to be independent from others. Now, when you are new to hiking and you're starting to hike, maybe you're not comfortable doing it by yourself in the beginning. And this is how I learned. This is how you will learn. This is how you acquire more skills is to go out with people who are knowledgeable, who do have a lot of skillsets and who've been hiking and experimenting the outdoors for a good amount of time. But the one mistake that I've done in the past is sometimes just driving to the trailhead. I know that I'm going with a bunch of people that I trust. And so I just get complacent and I get lazy. I don't even know sometimes what trail I'm going on. Don't have a map. I didn't do any research. And that's a very bad idea. Obviously, it's not something that I'm doing right now. But make sure to take the time. Make sure that you are independent. Search the trail. Get some information about the trail profile. Make sure that you do have your own gear. If you know, for example, that you are doing an early sunrise hike or a late sunset hike, make sure that you do have your headlamp. Make sure that you do have enough water, enough food. And all the essentials don't be dependent on anyone. Even if you trust them. And even if you know that they are knowledgeable. And tip number six is to be prepared in term of gear. Now this is going to be a separate episode where I'm going to go into the details. But the point is make sure that you do have enough gear. Like I said, enough water, enough food, enough layers and clothing, first aid kit and all the necessary things. So we usually refer to them as the 10 essentials of hiking. And that's going to be a separate topic. And tip number seven is to practice leave no trace. And for those of you who are not familiar with leave no trace, this is a set of seven outdoor ethics promoting conservation in the outdoors. And those seven principles are planning ahead and preparing, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors. And I'm going to talk about leave no trails in details in an upcoming video. So stay tuned for that. And tip number eight is to have a good attitude. Now when you're going to start hiking, you're probably going to go with more comfortable, easy to moderate hikes. But the more you do it, the more you realize that you want a bigger challenge. And with a bigger challenge, come bigger physical demand and mental demand. And you will realize that hiking is not only about your physical ability, but mental ability as well. Sometimes things can get really hard and it's not always roses and butterflies outside on the trail. There are days where it really sucks, which I had an interesting experience. If you guys are curious to check it out, you can check the link up here. But make sure that you try your best and go into every hike with a positive, good attitude. Tell yourself that you can do it as long as you're not putting yourself in danger because sometimes backing out is not a bad idea. So make sure that you are positive, make sure that you are going in with a good attitude. And the next tip is to stay away from cutting. A majority of people from the hiking and backpacking community agree that cutting in clothing, whether it's for the underwear or outwear, is not a good idea. And the reason is, cutting absorbs all the sweat when you are hiking. And if you happen to take a break, it's going to make you really cold and chilly. And that's not a good idea. It's also hard to dry. So instead of wearing cotton clothing, make sure that you are going with a synthetic material, maybe polyester in your athletic clothes or marina wool. And the next tip is to wear proper shoes. Now, when you are hiking, your feet are your biggest asset. So you want to make sure that you are comfortable. And this comfort comes from wearing or choosing the right shoes. This is a very large topic that we can cover later on. But just make sure that you are comfortable in your shoes. Don't buy them today and wear them the next day. It's going to take time for you to realize and understand what type of shoes work best for you. But just keep in mind that proper shoes is very crucial. And the last tip in the list here is hiking poles. Now, when I started hiking and backpacking, I used to look at people on the trail and always wonder why the heck is it necessary? Why do we even need hiking poles? To realize that if I want to keep hiking long term until I am 70 or 80, if I live that long, it's going to be very important because it alleviates a lot of weight out of your knees and back, especially if you are carrying a heavy backpack. So using hiking poles is very important. Especially if you plan on hiking for the long run. So this is pretty much it for all I wanted to share with you today. If you did learn something new from this video, please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing to our channel. I'm Habiba and alongside with my partner Alex, who create video content about hiking, backpacking and adventure traveling. Thank you again for watching and we'll see you very soon on a new adventure. Bye.