Doug Cooper | 3rd March 2025
We often think that the weather and destination are the key to a great paddling trip. But is that always the case? I believe that the perfect ingredients for a great trip are much more than just what we’re going to do and the weather. It’s also about the ethos of ‘how’ the trip is carried out and ‘who’s’ on it. I have strong memories of doing the same world-class multi-day expedition trip twice, both times in the same year with perfect conditions. But one experience left me with memories of one of my best trips ever, and the other I was just glad to get home from. So, what made the difference? What can we learn from this to make sure we all have great paddling experiences this summer?
Fitful Head, Shetland; a perfect balance of ingredients for a great trip
Reflecting on many years of paddling trips with an array of different people, I’d suggest that if we get the ethos of ‘how’ a trip is carried out and ‘who’ we do the trip with right then everything else will fall into place. A great destination and optimum weather conditions will become the icing on the cake as opposed the primary focus for a great experience. For me there is a simple way I go about leading or participating in any trip to try and ensure positive experiences for all, this done by considering 4 key ingredients. Take a moment to reflect on some previous ‘great’ trips alongside ‘not so great’ trips; having got these contrasting trips in mind reflect on whether the ingredients I like to consider were in place with regards ‘how’ the trip was carried out and ‘who’ you were with. Does the inclusion or lack of inclusion of the following ingredients help explain how you felt about the trip?
Ensuring everyone is part of the decision making process
Autonomy – This is all about having choice and understanding in all aspects of a paddling trip. Feeling that you have had the opportunity to steer and have input in the decisions made, and in this feel fully part of the trip and what is happening. Even if you do not have the skills or knowledge to make some decisions, then you are still involved in a way that helps you understand why decisions are being made along with having an opportunity to share how these decisions could impact on how you feel. Choice and understanding when on a trip are my first key ingredients.
Belonging – A sense of belonging when out with a group paddling is my next, and perhaps most important, ingredient. Feeling that you can relate to those you are paddling with, but in particular that they are relating to you and able to appreciate things from your perspective is vital. This is a lot more than people being ‘friendly’, it is about a group of paddlers taking the time to understand each other, empathise with how people are feeling and from this make decisions and act in a way that ‘belongs’ to everyone. With a group emotionally connected and aware of each other as individuals, then a true sense of belonging will provide support and comfort in any experience.
It’s all about who you are paddling with for a sense of belonging
Competence – Feeling competent to be in the environment you are paddling from a skills and knowledge perspective is another key ingredient in ensuring positive experiences. Feeling challenged is a good thing, but for this to be positive then we need to have chosen the right level of challenge (autonomy) and have people we trust around us to support (belonging). To feel competent in the chosen environment requires those around us to consider the environment with your skills in mind, so if on a led trip then this is why them involving you in the decisions is so important. It is also about you ‘being kind to yourself’ as well; ensure you view your competence based on how you are feeling and not how you believe others view your performance. It is all about you putting in effort and striving to be ‘your’ best on the day, and not ‘the’ best on the day; thus, choosing a level of challenge that leads to self-improvement as opposed to what others are doing/want to do.
Choosing your level of challenge and feeling competent
Structure – Knowing what is happening, when it is happening and why it is happening is a sure way of feeling part of a trip and group of people. This is not about there being a need for things to be rigidly structured, it is simply about having enough structure in place that everyone knows what is happening. We all know that some people want to know everything that is happening, and some are happy knowing less; but this goes back to everyone having the choice (autonomy) to know the plan. We also know that plans change and any structure needs to be flexible; but again, it is then about keeping everyone involved and/or informed with these changes.
Knowing what, when and why things are happening
So, reflecting on your past ‘great’ and ‘not so great’ trips, do the above ingredients help you understand why they were positive or less so? By considering the A, B, C + S (Autonomy, Belonging, Competence and Structure) ingredients in our future paddling trips it will hopefully help ensure a summer of great paddling experiences. If you are a leader then you have the responsibility to try and put this in place, if out with a group of friends you can discuss as a group to have the ingredients in place; and even if you are on a led trip, you can still ask the questions to elicit the ingredients when on the trip or when choosing whether to join the trip!
Creating an optimum ‘happy place’ for your paddling is all about considering the ‘how’ and ‘who’; get this right and we’re all in for some magical experiences this summer – enjoy!
Inspired and supported by Peak PS
