I need a bigger bucket!
So many trails, so little time!
Since we started Australian Hiker in 2016 I have done so much reading, and interviewed so many amazing people about their adventures, and as a result my knowledge of hiking trails both in Australia and overseas has greatly expanded. And while many could be forgiven it was a trail like the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or Appalachian Trail in the USA, or the Camino de Santiago (France-Spain), all made famous by numerous books and movies, that got me enthused it was actually a newspaper article in the Canberra Times around 2012-2013 about the West Coast Trail (Canada) that really excited me. There was no ‘true story’ driving my thoughts about this trail but just the description and the experience of the reviewer doing this walk that really excited me. Every time I do a podcast interview or come across a walk online I will do a deep dive into the trail in question and more often than not I will add that walk to my ever growing bucket list. We published an International and Australian bucket lists in late 2024 and at that stage the combined lists included 14 walks. Since that time I have expanded both of the written bucket list articles to now include 24 walks in early 2026 and don’t see this list ever stop growing.
Recently I’ve come to realise that at some stage I may not be physically able to do every walk on my list and even though the plan is to do 3 long distance walks a year for the foreseeable future at some stage as I get older I’m eventually going to slow down. So quite arbitrarily I estimated that I have about 30 long distance walks left in me in addition to all the short walks. As such I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to start prioritising these walks just in case I don’t get to the end of the ever growing list. But as the title of this article says, “I need a bigger bucket as there are too many good walks, and not enough time to do them”!
In deciding how to prioritise these walks in most cases it’s not the walks themselves but rather what I/we get out of them. The following article identifies a list of priorities, in no particular order, that we use to decide which walks we are going to do. These priorities are purely our own and you may find that you have different set that applies to you so use this as a guide in building your own bucket list.
Climate and environment
I personally prefer climates that are arid. I’m not a huge fan of wet climates and soggy ground as as much as I liked walking the Overland Track I prefer the Three Capes Walk (also isn Tasmania) because I’m also a bit fan of coastal environments. We prioritise walks that are coastal based or arid based eg Larapinata Trail, Three Capes. This isn’t to say I won’t do wetter environments as I do have the Te Araroa New Zealand on my list in the next couple of years. Having said that I personally prefer the other to be around 15 degrees celsius and as such I will typically do walks at the end of winter. I’m not. fan of high humidity or of hot weather.
Along with coastal landscape arid landscapes like this one on the Larapinta Trail are my favourite
Complexity
The Australian Alps Walking Track is by no means our longest trail at around 650km-ish but is one of the more complex and physically difficult trips typically requiring food to be cached along the way. This walk travels through Australia’s alpine regions and will push you physically. As strange as it sound the Heysen Trail, and the Bibbulmun Track, both over 1000km in length are physically easier trails to walk and easier to plan. Note that I said easier and not easy.
You own me your own, navigation wise on the Australian Alps Walking Track. This image was taken on my Kiandra to Tharwa walk which is the last section closest to Canberra
Domestic or international
We have a large number of overseas trips on our bucket list but that doesn’t suit everyone. If I were to remove all of those trips from my bucket list life would be so much easier and I would have less of an issue with prioritising. Overseas trips also tend to have more complex logistical issues such as international travel which is also ore expensive. Staying in Australia means that your walks will be cheaper, not just for airfare but in many cases also for cost of living.
Heading to Western Australia to do the Bibbulmun Track
Distance and Duration
A number of years ago I told with the idea of walking from the Tip of Cape York all the way down the east coast of Australia covering a distance of roughly 5,500km and taking around 290 days. Now I still have that walk in the back of my head but in doing it what else can’t I do? This is an extreme example but even doing a walk like the Heysen Trail which is 12ookm long takes approximately 45-60 days, and yes this is definitely on my bucket list! For a majority of people walks of this length don’t even factor into their lists preferring to do smaller works and more walks.
In my case because I love long distance hiking I have planned my really big walks over the next 5 years and while I will do some shorter walks in that time I’m trying to get the big walks out of the way before age catches up with me.
Heysen Trail logo
Emotional Investment
Does a walk have some sort of emotional or religious connection. ‘Pilgramage trails’ such as the Camino’s or the Japanese Kumano Koda have spiritual connection for many people. The Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea has a connection for many Australians, particularly those with relatives who served in the military will do this walk. If you look at my list of international Hikes that we want to do you may be surprised to see that the Kokoda Track isn’t on my list (See Climate and environment for why).
Kokoda Track
Solo, couple, or more
If you only have to consider yourself because you are doing these hikes solo rather than as a couple or a group. With a number of my bucket list hikes I will be doing them solo as Gill’s preferred hiking duration is usually 2 weeks because she has other things that she wants to do. Having said that she will be doing the Camino with me, providing she can stay in hotels. If we are doing these hikes as a couple then the timing of these walks becomes more critical.
The school of thought with hiking is the larger the group the slower it will travel. While this is a generalisation it is reasonably true, even if every travels at the same speed.It becomes a bit like herding cats!
Gill and Tim at the end of the K’gari Great Walk
Timing
Most trails have an ideal time of the year walk them and typically this will be base around weather conditions eg snow or excessive heat, rainfall patterns, bushfire impacts, where trails can be closed eg Heysen Trail with sections typically closed between 1 November through to 1 May making it impossible to do a hike in one go. In the case of the Camino de Santiago whether its a holy year. Holy years impact the Camino because a large number of people with religious beliefs (roughly double a normal year, will do the walk, or at least some of it. A holy year is one where Saint James Day (July 25) falls on a Sunday. The next Holy Year is 2027 and we were originally going to walk the Camino that year but as its a holy year we are looking at putting that walk off until 2028 to minimise the number of people on trail for a less crowed experience.
Portland Temperatures. We both prefer the weather to be slightly cooler and les humid so will always research the weather in making our decision about when to do a walk.
Glamping
Why sort of experience do you want from a hike. In most case we do walks were we carry everything on our backs but if say you want to do the Overland Track, or the Camino de Santiago and only carry a day pack, that’s an option. If that’s you then you may rule out walks that rely on you carrying everything.
Full pack or just a day pack? They are definitely experiences
Repeat hikes
As a general rule I don’t do long distance hikes more than once. When I’ve had a good experience it puts expectations on a repeat hike that may not stack up. In addition by repeating hikes, that’s one less hike that I haven’t previously done that I may not get to do. Having said that I would love to redo the Larapinta Trail; we’ll see!
Final thoughts
If you are already a keen hiker you will know the saying ‘Hike your own Hike‘. What this means in practice is ‘do what makes you happy’ and don’t try to please other hikers just because they like something different. I have already started to plan the next 3 years of long distance hikes and in doing so I have prioritised walks that will fit in with my available time frames, walks that will fit in with the weather that I want, and walks that Gill and I will do as opposed to the ones that I will do solo. I hadn’t really though about how to prioritise walks previously but in doing so its made me really think about what important to me/us and as such it helped me to go through my list and do the ones that I really want to first leaving the other to last, just in case I run out of time or the ability to do them.
Last updated
24 March 2026