Apply beginner tramper Kirsten Dixon’s tips for goal-setting in the outdoors to your next tramp or Great Walk.

Kirsten Dixon has a unique insight into tramping that can be especially helpful to beginners and those venturing back into the outdoors.  As a beginner tramper, she recently walked the Old Ghost Road, an 85km, five-day trip. 

A few years ago Kirsten was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a degenerative neurological disease that can result in the loss of mobility. She was a runner, and a friend encouraged her to write a list of activities she wanted to experience while she could, in case she lost mobility. 

Near the top of the list was an overnight tramp to a hut. Supported by friends, Kirsten and her crew went to Hooker Hut in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. That’s when she caught the tramping bug. Now, more than a year later, she believes that the Old Ghost Road is only the beginning.

Kirsten, who is a recipient of a Mastering Mountains Expedition grant, has several tips for people seeking to get into, or back into, the outdoors.

Surround yourself with the right people 

“My Facebook feed is full of women tramping in New Zealand,” Kirsten says, who notes that seeing other women adventuring is “contagious, hugely inspiring and normalising”. Online, she found a community that “wants to celebrate with you what you’re doing”. In person Kirsten connected in new ways: “I met new people, and I’ve walked with people I used to drink coffee with.” 

Set an inspiring goal

Kirsten found having an inspirational goal was “really key”. She broke her preparation for the Old Ghost Road into small steps and training missions. This made the goal more achievable and allowed her to hone her gear selection, learn skills, and determine which foods worked best. 

Build good habits and routines

Setting small, repeatable disciplines moved her toward that goal by prioritising exercise, training, sleep and diet. She also found that routine built a sense of momentum. “Getting outdoors becomes your new normal,” she says. “Like, it’s Saturday – where am I going walking?”  

Challenge self-limiting beliefs

Kirsten encountered self-imposed, self-limiting beliefs. After her diagnosis she thought she had to forgo some aspirations and found herself thinking, “This goal is not available to me now, and I would rather let go of it than fail.” 

But she realised that these conclusions contained incorrect assumptions and could be challenged through curiosity. “It’s about taking it from the cognitive, ‘I don’t think I can’, to ‘I wonder what it would look like to find that out?’” Crucially, she always ensured she was safe to fail and discover her limits – something best done with a supportive community. Although MS will likely present obstacles in the future, Kirsten’s curiosity frees her to hold her aspirations once again: “I can do more than I thought.” 

Just do it

Kirsten’s diagnosis made her realise that there’s no guarantee of good health, and no point in waiting for the ‘right time’. As a mother, wife, business owner and employee, it was easy to think it was not a good time to take up something new. However, she now tells people “You can do it”, before adding, “Just find a way, while you still can.“ 

During our conversation Kirsten paused reflectively, smiled and said, “While I have the use of my legs, I just want to get out there and experience it. I want to live without regret.” 

Now, that is an attitude to live by.