Which Hike to Do

Reading Time: 2 minutesNow that the hiking season has started again it isn’t rare for me to have to choose between two or three activities on a Sunday. Do I do the mountain hike from Villars Sur Ollon or the historical one to Romainmôtier?

This is what I was thinking about last night. Should I do the hike with 15 people or the one with just two or three people?

## Small Groups are Better

There are a number of ways to simplify the decision process. The first is that as an introvert it is better for me to go with the smaller group because there is a higher probability of establishing a friendship or two. In theory the same is true of big groups but often such groups are already bonded.

## Still Recovering

The second issue is the foot with what I suspect is a bruised bone. It feels much better now so I am less and less worried about it acting up but if I walk up and down a thousand meters then I will put plenty of strain on it, and I may really regret that walk by the end.

Added to this is the likelihood of having to wear solid hiking shoes rather than soft ones. When I tried to wear conventional shoes a few days ago I felt in much more pain within minutes of setting off for my walk. My foot feels better, but I think it’s still fragile. I need to be careful.

## Familiar

Another point is that I have already hiked around Ollon a few years ago on a multi-day hike, so I would probably be doing a walk that I have already done in the past. This isn’t usually a reason for not doing a group hike.

## New to the Group

Sometimes the most interesting activities are those where everyone is new to the group, because everyone is open to meeting new people.There is the advantage that people have not formed habits or been clustered yet.

## Diversity of Groups and Activities

If one person organises an event and 15 or more people join then that’s fantastic, until you sign up too late, and you’re stuck on the waiting list. At this point the central activity excludes you, by accident.

By encouraging a new group to have activities, and by having new people join the activities it opens up the opportunities for more people to participate.

Back in the day, when Glocals was doing well there were several activities a week, for Lausanne, Geneva and beyond. It was easy to have something to do on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, maybe even more often.

Meetup is not at that point yet, at least for outdoor things. If, and when, it is, then it will be more interesting.

## And Finally

The last time I had to make this decision I hesitated for a while but now I decided quite easily. I also have the opportunity of organising events myself when I want to. I didn’t organise anything last week because of my foot. I have no reason to organise things this week as others have done so. I might organise something next week.