Dear Steemians and fellow climbers,
 
As some of you wrote under the [introductory post]( https://steemit.com/climbing/@climbing-trail/climbing-trail-your-climbing-curation-daily-2017914t16311712z) of @Climbing-Trail, autumn is in full strength and it’s time to get some climbing done before the winter!

This is why we decided to take two weeks off and go climbing in the national park [Paklenica]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paklenica), Croatia!

At the moment we’re getting ready for the climbing trip. This means two things: first, there will be new exciting climbing stories and second I will be less active here on Steemit for the next two weeks.

But I won't leave you like that. There are two things I want to share with you before heading for national park Paklenica, Croatia.

**Sport climbing essentials**

When preparing for the trip I thought it might be a good idea to show you what the sport climbing essentials are you need for a successful climbing holiday. In the picture below you see all the gear I’m going to take with me on the trip.
 
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/99i3p0hlj5.jpg)
 
 - Climbing rope (in the green rope bag), to protect your fall and abseil,
 - Harness, to attach the rope to yourself,
 - Belay device, for belaying your climbing partner and abseiling,
 - Helmet, to protect from falling rocks,
 - Quick draws, as intermediate protection,
 - Some additional slings, carabiners, and, accessory cord especially for multi-pitch climbing,
 - Climbing shoes, to stand confident on the smallest holds,
 - Chalk bag, to dry your sweaty fingers
 - Little brush, to clean holds,
 - Tape, for the last go before your skin is gone
 - Guide book, to navigate through the new unknown territory, and
 - Psych, to have fun. :-)

 
I recommend to check all your gear on a regular basis, because this is what keeps you save in case of a fall. Additionally, I always do this before leaving for a trip. Why? Because it’s easy! The best way to ensure I bring all the gear along is to sort it (as in the picture above ;-) ). And then it’s pretty easy to check everything.
 
**Steemit: Delegation**
 
If I'm out climbing, I won't be able to vote here on Steemit and thereby I throw away money. How can I prevent that? By delegation!
 
For me there are two obvious options. Either delegate your SteemPower to a friend that will then vote on your behalf. Or delegate your SteemPower to @MinnowBooster. @MinnowBooster will use your voting power to vote and you will get a daily reward for delegation. How this exactly works and how to do it, is described in this [post](https://steemit.com/minnowbooster/@minnowbooster/minnowbooster-tutorial-1-delegating-sp-to-minnowbooster). The caveat with this option is the 7 day waiting period to [get your SteemPower back](https://steemit.com/minnowbooster/@gomatthew/getting-your-steem-power-delegation-back-from-minnowbooster). Meaning this option is only sensible if you are away for more than 7 days.

Even with this tradeoff I'm going to delegate a big share of my SteemPower to @Minnowbooster while I'm on holiday. (I'll write a short comment under this post, about the experience).
 
**Next stop: national park Paklenica, Croatia!!!**
 
 ![image](https://img.esteem.ws/g7a4964ete.jpg)
 
With everything settled and finished packing the gear (all the gear you saw is now in the two little backpacks) we’re ready for the holiday. We can’t wait to touch the limestone in Paklenica and get some air under our feet!