Top Tips for Winter Adventures

These are the handful of basic tips that have become normal practice for us travelling in our camper van around Scotland. We’ve kept toasty despite storms Arwen and Barra giving their absolute Arctic best and being marooned in the snow several times. Other general tips for travelling or adventuring in nature include: making sure someone knows where you'll be, checking the forecast for weather conditions and having a contingency plan (plus emergency supplies) in case things go awry. Go steady out there and most of all, enjoy your wintery wanders!

Image description: Jack and Becky are smiling at the camera with the snowy caps of the Cairngorm mountain in the background. A stream rushes beneath the bridge they are stood on. Becky is wearing a yellow coat and her bag has reflective strips on it.

1 Be smart with layers

Layers are a great way to trap warm air close to your body, but wearing too many layers and getting too warm makes you sweaty. Sweat can then cool down due to your wintery surroundings and make you too chilly!

First of all, choose a thermal base layer made from a natural material, like cotton or merino wool, which is moisture wicking. Second goes your jumper (one or two) and finally your wind and waterproof top layer. I have been known to wear up to 8 layers in the winter, but using this smarter technique means I have been even warmer with only 4!

2 Double up on the flasks

Choose a decent thermal flask- they usually guarantee maintaining cold temperatures for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. Fill one up with a cool drink of water and your other with a hot drink to warm you up sensibly when you stop for snacks or an exercise break, because we all know that’s when you really start to feel the cold!

3 Think about visibility

Winter adventures often come with a surprise turn of weather or that pesky early dusk. Make sure you stay visible for vehicles or rescue parties using some of the following: brightly coloured clothing; coats with reflective strips; hi-vis leads and harnesses for your four-legged travelling companion; bright waterproof rucksack rain covers; head torches.

Image description: Jack is facing away from the camera and walking down the snowy mountain. Winnie, a black and white scruffy dog, is wearing a waterproof coat with reflective stripes. In Jack's bag is: some snacks, a bottle of water, dog treats, a bright orange rain cover for the rucksack and probably some other useful things. The bag is not full at all.

4 Winter kit

Update your first aid kit with some absolute cold weather essentials (which can actually come in handy all year round): emergency thermal blanket, reusable hand warmers, emergency flares. Other handy kit includes snow/ice grips and snow shovels, blankets, reflective triangles and water supply to keep in your vehicle. A pre-filled hot water bottle waiting for you in the car/ van/ hostel is also a great way to warm up slowly after a frosty hike etc. as jumping in a hot shower and potentially shocking your body isn’t super sensible!

Our waterproof trousers have come in handy for freezing and windy conditions as well as torrential rains, as wind can whip pretty outrageously on hilly adventures, causing your temperature to plummet pretty quickly.

5 Spare change

Keep a couple of coins about you for those remote cafés or tiny shops that don’t accept card (plenty of them about in National Parks) for an emergency piece of cake or hot drink. That way, you can use the café to warm up, use the facilities and drop off your litter without taking advantage.

If you’d like to follow our adventures in the van for beautiful park ups, van life reality, rewilding activities and accessible insights into ecology, then go join us over on Instagram at @rewilding_our_lives.