Once I've decided roughly where I'm wanting to go, and the route I'm wanting to take, my go-to process then involves the use of an on-line, OS-level map (https://maps.the-hug.net/), which importantly allows me to plot the routes I'm wanting to take with a mouse, export the routes to a GPX file, and then import the GPX file into my favourite off-line Android GPS app (ViewRanger - https://www.viewranger.com/en-gb).
One big difference that I'm wanting to make this year, when I'm out and about hiking, is to allow myself to stop and enjoy the scenery a lot more than I'm currently used to doing. I do tend to find it hard to just stop and enjoy the views sometimes, and during the last long hike that I did, I realised that one of the main reasons for that is to do with being able to find somewhere suitable to just plonk down and take it all in comfortably...
I told myself that this year I was going to improve in this area, and that I was going to make a big effort to have more restful hikes, with proper time to sit, relax a bit, and just enjoy the scenery a lot more without necessarily just stomping through it. This year I also want to make more contributions to the great LemonFool 'pic-of-the-day' thread (https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4836), and making sure that I stop more frequently and more comfortably will hopefully help with that.
Which brings me to the point of this post....
I have purchased a very small (when packed...) and lightweight hiking chair, with a view that this will help to largely solve the above issues. Having now set it up and re-packed it all away again a few times, I'm over the moon with it, and I thought I'd share this news with other like-minded outdoor-type LemonFools.
Here's a picture of the chair, taken from one of the Amazon user-reviews linked on the product page -
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/2K5OoWp.png)
It's got a larger seating area than I imagined it would have, given the small pack-size once it's all de-constructed and put back into it's travel-bag. The travel-bag can be seen in black in the above picture leaning against the car tyre.
It's also much more comfortable than I imagined it would be, and I really do think that this is going to largely solve the problem that I've had in the past with finding opportunities to stop mid-hike with any good level of comfort. The rubber feet are larger than I thought they would be, as I thought on initial purchase that they might have a tendency to stick into any softer ground, and I did purchase the associated light-weight 'landing-mat' that is sold separately, which has four sturdier pads onto which the chair-legs sit, and which will definitely help on softer soil or sand if necessary. However, having now seen the size and quality of the original chair-leg feet, I'm not sure that I will need to use the landing-mat as often as I initially thought..
The aluminium tubing is more robust than I imagined it would be, and they are all held together and in-situ by the use of the sort of thin elastic-ropes that we find in tent-poles. It's a fantastic idea as a way to provide a good level of comfort in such a small packed travel-bag. Weight-wise, it comes in at around a kilo all packed up, which overall isn't going to make a massive difference to my rucksack weight, and more importantly to me, it is light enough to want me to take it with me, and small enough when packed that I can do so without any real issues regarding space in my bag.
For about £30, I think it's a real bargain, especially having used it a few times in the house and realised just how comfortable it is, and I'm looking forward to taking it on some of my 2020 hikes and allowing myself to relax in comfort much more often than I've been used to in the past.
Amazon link to the chair (Black - new design) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trekology-YIZI-Portable-Camping-Chair/dp/B07NT77GT8
Link to the optional landing-mat - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trekology-Cover-Beach-Ground-Sheet/dp/B074YCPF3V
I shall report back once it's been used in anger a few times...
Cheers,
Itsallaguess