Greater than 20 years in the past, Glen Van Peski started a quest to take much less and do extra, founding the corporate that’s Gossamer Gear at this time. Like many people who’ve frolicked on path, he discovered about extra than simply gear decisions and route planning alongside the way in which. His outside experiences taught him highly effective life classes—ones that will go in opposition to the grain of common thought, however which were confirmed to vary lives for the higher. And people ideas are actually out there in guide type.
Glen’s new memoir, take much less. do extra: Shocking Life Classes in Generosity, Gratitude, and Curiosity from an Ultralight Backpacker, covers methods people can rework their lives, together with every thing from ideas for dwelling inside one’s monetary means to forging relationships via a lens of curiosity. It’s a must-read for individuals who search journey of their lives and who wish to broaden their neighborhood of connections, develop into unstuck of their circumstances, create extra of what they need in life, and be of assist and repair to others.
We caught up with Glen to be taught extra about his guide writing course of and the way he’s utilizing the guide’s proceeds to provide again to the wild locations all of us love. We hope it conjures up you to take a look at his work and discover the bigger methods you can also take much less and do extra.
Gossamer Gear: What impressed you to put in writing this guide?
Glen: I turned mates quite a lot of years in the past with John Mackey, co-founder of Entire Meals Market. John is a really robust hiker—therefore his path identify, “Strider”—and does quite a lot of journeys yearly. He instructed me, should have been 10 years in the past now, that I ought to write a guide and he would write the ahead. I replied on the time that I believed there have been already nice books on ultralight backpacking, and didn’t suppose my two cents would add a lot. However on the subsequent journey, and yearly after, he would repeat the supply. I lastly figured that not too many individuals acquired the supply of a ahead written by John Mackey, and that I ought to make the most of the supply. So, I made a decision to put in writing a guide that wasn’t nearly gear and method—though it does have one lesson dedicated to that. I’d as an alternative write a guide about how my half-century quest to lighten my base pack weight had helped educate me classes on main a extra fulfilling life after I wasn’t on the path.
What does “take much less. do extra” imply to you?
Properly, in fact, the primary which means is that taking much less gear (and lighter gear) lets you do extra within the backcountry. However, it has so many extra layers than that. The guide presents 15 classes about making use of both take much less or do extra to all of life. For one instance, having a lighter pack on a backpacking journey reminds us how little or no we must be pleased. This may give us new appreciation for the luxuries we take without any consideration in our on a regular basis lives, on the identical time permitting us to appreciate that we don’t want extra stuff to make us pleased. Having lighter packs on a visit creates margin, so we’re in a greater place to assist another person, by redistributing gear and even carrying two packs if want be. Equally, after we create margin in our lives—by placing apart a portion of our earnings to assist others, by not scheduling each final minute of the day, by consuming and resting to keep up vitality—we are able to use the margin to assist others that come throughout our paths.
What do you most hope readers take away from this guide?
Let’s be trustworthy, there’s nothing earth-shattering in my guide. I’ve not found any “new secrets and techniques” to dwelling a extra impactful, fulfilling life. However, what I do know is that all of us hear issues in numerous methods, and take up issues at a timing in our life that makes us receptive to them. So, my hope is that via the phrases I’ve chosen and the tales I’ve instructed, that the timing will coincide for some folks, they usually can implement a number of the “take much less, do extra” classes to make some adjustments and create a life with extra goal, which means, and pleasure.
What made you select to donate all guide proceeds to the Pacific Crest Path Affiliation?
I’ve an extended historical past with the PCTA. Ever since I returned to the West Coast by driving my bicycle throughout the nation in 1976, I’ve lived comparatively near the Pacific Crest Path, in California and now Oregon. When our oldest son Brian joined Boy Scouts, the capstone backpacking journey was per week within the Excessive Sierra on the PCT, and most of the coaching journeys had been on the southern parts of the path. When my buddy Learn Miller, the scoutmaster of our troop, determined to part hike the PCT in a yr, I made a lot of these hikes with him. I frolicked on the PCTA board of administrators as a approach to give again, and introduced at most of the PCTA conferences. And it was my involvement with the PCTA that led to the introduction to John Mackey, which is single-handedly chargeable for an enormous majority of the goodness that has flowed into my life, immediately and not directly. I’m blessed to be in a spot the place more cash received’t make a distinction in my life-style. So, equally to by no means having taken a wage from Gossamer Gear, I made a decision to commit to creating no cash off the guide. And the PCTA appeared the pure option to obtain the income.
The place can folks discover your guide and what’s the easiest way they’ll comply with together with any associated launch occasions?
I’ve been on quite a lot of podcasts, which will be discovered on my press web page, and folks can test on upcoming in-person or digital occasions on the occasions web page. The guide itself will be bought from Gossamer Gear (the place the primary 100 orders will embrace signed bookplates), choose different web sites like Backpacking Mild or Litesmith, anyplace books are bought on-line, or ordered out of your native bookstore. Individuals can obtain a pattern chapter and discover out extra in regards to the guide on my web site’s guide web page. The guide is obtainable in hardcover, Kindle, or audio variations.
For anybody desirous to contribute extra to the PCTA for a personally inscribed copy of the guide, they’ll contact me with “SIGNED BOOK” as the topic, offering their identify, electronic mail, and mailing deal with, and writing the specified inscription within the message. I’ll give them particulars to ship me $40 by Venmo, and can personally inscribe their guide and mail it to them in a particular mailer envelope with an additional shock included.
Study the Shocking Classes of Taking Much less and Doing Extra
We hope Glen’s new guide helps you deepen your connection along with your favourite Gossamer Gear pack and begin planning your subsequent journey—whether or not on or off path.
We’d like to see the place you learn your copy and listen to what “take much less. do extra.” means to you! Share your ideas and adventures with us by tagging Gossamer Gear on social media (@gossamergear) and utilizing the hashtag #takelessdomore.
Hungry for extra insights from Glen? Take a look at a few of our different articles from him on the Mild Ft weblog:
