Shipping Life Hacks and the Drift Box

[Mr. Coffee]

There is a peculiar institution amongst distance hikers known as the "drift box" or "bounce box". The idea is that you have a small resupply box that you mail to yourself and intercept periodically over the course of your expedition.

Typically you'd put spare clothing and gear that you don't currently need in the drift box. You might also put bulk food that is difficult to find along your route as well.

Now how do you address such a box? With the magic of "General Delivery", e.g.

Richard Cranium
c/o General Delivery
Chesaw, WA  98844
ATTN:  Hold for cyclist arriving 15 August 2023

Now here is the really cool hack: if you get to the post office before your box, you can forward the box onto a post office in front of you (or for that matter, back home if you decide you really don't need it).

You can do similar trickery with a UPS Card and self-serve UPS Shipping, but you'd need to do it from some location that UPS goes to, like a motel or a campground.

Typically I'll have a drift box that is shoebox-sized and mostly has spare clothing.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Oh, a couple of other things.

Getting fuel for a camp stove on tour can be somewhat vexing. If you use canister fuel, you can order it online from Wal-Mart and arrange for in-store pickup. This works because you don't need to achieve a whole lot of precision on when you get there, Wal-Mart hours are generally wider than Post Office hours, and you avoid the whole hassle of shipping fuel canisters (which can be done but is, bluntly, a hassle).

Another thing is that you can order from Amazon and ship to "General Delivery" as described above. So a good hack might be to make a separate list (Amazon lets you make multiple shopping lists) of stuff you'd like or might need on a tour and then use the Amazon app to have those things, as needed, drop shipped to you over the course of your trip. Generally since I prefer to "live off the land" as it were I wouldn't use that very much, but the option might be helpful in some cases.

 

[6zfshdb]

You can also have your Amazon order shipped to an Amazon locker, or hub counter location. They are usually open 24/7 and their network is now nationwide.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

You can also have your Amazon order shipped to an Amazon locker, or hub counter location. They are usually open 24/7 and their network is now nationwide.

My only question is how easy are Amazon lockers to find in advance in a town you've never visited? When I've played with Amazon's "find a locker" service I'm not finding very many in towns I'm likely to use for resupply.

 

[6zfshdb]

My only question is how easy are Amazon lockers to find in advance in a town you've never visited? When I've played with Amazon's "find a locker" service I'm not finding very many in towns I'm likely to use for resupply.

Go to Amazon.com/ulp and enter a zip code

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Go to Amazon.com/ulp and enter a zip code

What I'm finding is that most small-ish towns that I prefer for resupply don't have Amazon lockers. Touring through larger towns and cities of most any size is its own set of problems and usually not of great benefit.