Your Beginner's Adventure Travel Guide
Updated: Dec 1, 2022
Have you ever wondered how you can start having an adventurous life?
Hola! Salut! 嗨! γεια! Hallo! سلام! HEJ! привет! สวัสดี! Ahoj! Hoi! hai! olá! Merhaba! chào! ciao! hei! 안녕! HI!
This is Bekenyn, an adventure travel guide. Written by and for beginners (and sometimes intermediates). It contains the information we couldn’t find while planning our trips or learning new outdoor sports.
The Beginnings of Bekenyn
What exactly does Bekenyn mean? It comes from a variation of the Middle English word bekenen, today’s “beckoning.” Yes, Aimeé likes history.
Wait, who is Aimeé? That would be me, the creator of Bekenyn. Along with my love and partner, Dexter, I began adventuring around 2008. Read our background and story to understand how our meeting changed our lives.
Many things I have done may not be considered an “adventure” by some. Going for a walk on my own in Rock Creek Park (Washington, D.C.) at dusk was a first. Being scared to death by passing deer on my way home was a tale I was proud to share. The first time a group of hikers referred to me as “runner” as I was shuffling past them was a moment I’ll never forget. And so my own definition of adventure came to life.
This guide is my answer to the lack of information and challenges I’ve encountered during my solo and couple adventures. It’s my beckoning to gain more knowledge. My beckoning to continue scrambling and tripping my way through adventures.
The Building Blocks
Bekenyn is a small guide that will grow as I travel and dive deeper into the world of adventure sports. Here’s how it works.
The Outdoors section covers everything that I think is necessary to get started in outdoors sports. It’s divided into Skills, Gear, Training and Food. I will feed each subsection as I learn and advance. All the content you read is based on personal experiences, trials and errors, and advice I hope you find useful.
Check out the Travel section once you have gained some outdoor savvy. The content is divided by country and region/trail. While the options are still short, I’ve done my best to write a painstakingly detailed and objective guide. You'll find everything that I wish I had known before my trips is in one place.
The Blog is easy to understand. I’m using this platform to expand on the guide, share personal accounts and discuss relevant topics. Dexter will write a guest post every now and then. It’s also where I hope you’ll jump in. Share your thoughts, experiences or questions.
Special Features
I like to know as much as I can about a place before heading out. Especially in an outdoors destination. Partly out of a touch of OCD, partly out of travel anxiety. Showing up to a destination and figuring things out as I go along is not for me.
As a woman who has traveled alone, I find comfort in knowing exactly how to get somewhere, what to expect and how to get out if necessary. As a Mexican, personal safety is often an issue. As a budget traveler, being aware of how much a trip will cost is essential. As a beginner mountaineer, figuring out whether a trail is at my level or not is vital before booking a trip. I learned that the hard way in Canada...
That’s why I’ve included the following features in the outdoors and travel guides:
Safety Rating. Every time I look up a city, trail, park or town, I have to make sure it’s safe. Sometimes violence against women is an issue, other times crime. I made a simple five-star rating to assess how comfortable I feel in a specific location.
1 Star: Unsafe to anyone, be it because of violence, robberies, kidnappings, etc. Under absolutely no circumstances would I go there.
2 Stars: A combination of petty crime and violent crime happen regularly. I wouldn’t go there but other people choose to risk it.
3 Stars: Some violent or petty crime has occurred. I have been there but never experienced it. I would exercise caution before heading there.
4 Stars: It’s mostly safe. I have heard of a few incidents of petty crime but it’s not common.
5 Stars: A paradise. It’s safe for families, women, and any type of solo traveler.
Please keep in mind that this rating is based on my experience, stories people have shared with me, and related news. Always use common sense and leave if you have a bad feeling about something. Be careful with your belongings and try to keep a low profile, especially if you stand out from the locals.
Currency Value Chart. How many times have you exchanged currency before a trip without having a clear idea of how much it’s worth in the country? It happens, and it’s frustrating. I included a currency value chart in each guide to give you a rough idea of how much, say, 100 Mexican pesos will get you. I hope it’s a tool you can use to assess whether someone is giving you a fair price or not. It may also help you to calculate how much money you’ll need for your trip.
GPS Maps and Charts. Like I said earlier, the more I know of a location, the better. I’ve been using a GPS watch to track my runs, hikes, climbs, swims, etc. If you need to get an idea of how hilly a trail is or the altitude at certain locations, this may help. I added key photos to give you examples of what the terrain looks like.
I think this feature is important because it shows our pace. You may compare it with yours to decide how long to dedicate to a trail. We have found ourselves overwhelmed when planning our hiking trips because we didn’t know how to calculate the time it would take us to hike the distance.
Pave Your Own Way
Explore this blog. I hope you find a relatable voice and supportive community. We’re in this together.
Check out our trips and guides. Is there information you haven't found? Bekenyn may help you fill the gaps.
Read about outdoors courses and our training progress. The motivation you need to find similar opportunities may be here. Do you want to share yours? I would love to hear from you.
Above all, I hope that this small adventure travel guide is your beckoning.