When I arrived at the ranch I jumped right into the wilderness – for the first time in my life.

I mean, I am from Germany and I have never placed a foot outside of Europe before. And you know the German wilderness – a few hiking trails in small woods, no dangerous animals, guest huts everywhere etc. No real wilderness adventure. My first wilderness adventure travel experience was wild-camping in the Scottish Highlands – again: no dangerous animals (that is why I could convince my dad to let me go in the first place. Now you can imagine how fond he was of the idea of me working in the Canadian wilderness).

You cannot compare the Canadian wilderness to Germany. This is the real outdoor wilderness. The woods are huge, there are dangerous animals and once you are in the backcountry there is no cell phone range and no guest huts either. Experiencing and exploring the remote area in the Southern Chilcotin Mountains is indescribable. Everything you do is related to this special environment what means you have to be aware of your surroundings. On a wilderness hike you definitely don’t want to encounter a bear mum and her cubs without having bear spray or bear bangers with you. And sitting in a car that broke down without having a radio or satellite phone with you is not ideal, too. So in the end it is the preparation that matters. And in the wilderness this is even more important than anywhere else.

Are you into wilderness adventures during your travels? Do you like stepping outdoors and right into the wilderness? Or don’t you know yet and you are just dreaming about actually going into the wilderness? I can only recommend it to you. This environment challenges you and almost forces you to evolve and adapt – which is a good thing, at least in my opinion. But like I already said: don’t go unprepared and know what you are doing – wilderness skills are definitely necessary out here. Thankfully, you can learn that skill set here, too 😉

Simone, Germany