What if you went to Philly for the weekend? I always feel safer in the wilderness than I do in the big cities. If she fears for your safety..."What if you fall and break a leg? You can't get help out in the woods." Get a personal locater beacon. Even here in Alaska where you can get in a plane and fly 4 hours one way out to the wilderness where there are no settlements, no roads, no electric wires, and no people, with today's technology, help is only a few hours away.

With the amount of equipment I take with me, backpacking for me is not an option. I tend to set up a base camp and then work out of there.