>tfw you try to explain rogaining to normal people and they think it's just “walking around with a map”
no you don’t understand it’s a system
like ok first of all the map is not just a map it’s this sacred artifact covered in tiny symbols and contour lines and you have to decode it like some kind of bushland scripture. every line is telling you something. elevation. terrain. suffering potential.
and then there’s the checkpoints, right, but they’re not just checkpoints, they’re like this optimization problem living in your head the whole time. you’re constantly calculating routes, like “if I hit 37 then 52 but swing wide to avoid that gully I can shave 6 minutes” and suddenly it’s been 3 hours and you’ve forgotten what normal walking feels like
also the bush has its own vibes. like the exact smell of eucalyptus + dirt + mild panic when you realise you drifted 20° off bearing. but that’s fine because you expected to drift slightly so you compensate but then you overcompensate and meow you’re in a different micro-ecosystem entirely
and people say “just use GPS” like ??? no ??? that defeats the entire point of becoming one with the compass. the compass is truth. the compass does not lie. only I lie to myself about how accurate my pacing is
also the weirdest part is how time stops making sense. 6 hours feels like 2 but also 12. your brain just becomes “map → tree → rock → control flag → repeat”
idk it’s just peak activity. maximum brain itch scratched. walking but with purpose. suffering but voluntary. thinking but also not thinking
anyway yeah rogaining is good