In mid-August, I hiked an active volcano in Guatemala. Yes, with lava eruptions and everything!

My best friend and I decided we wanted to make a “core memory” together after a year and a half of living 1000 miles from each other, so naturally, we booked our flights to Central America, and I began one of my favorite activities of trip planning.

Luckily, my day-to-day duties working in public relations (PR) prepared me for an adventurous international trip. In both arenas, you need to anticipate everything that could go wrong (and right!).

Public relations and preparing to climb an active volcano require careful planning, adaptability, and the ability to connect with diverse groups of people and situations. Here are a few of the parallels:

Have a Game Plan

Tasking everything out and getting ahead of potential situations are key in both worlds. During trip preparation, you need to check a million things ahead of time: Determining important logistics like destination(s), dates, and transportation, making sure passport information is up to date, and including details like securing a phone plan, currency exchanges, and vaccine information.

In PR, a communication plan can guide the “logistics” of a successful PR strategy. Using tools like an editorial calendar, or a social media content calendar can help move a brand narrative forward.

Crisis Preparation

Having your contacts and emergency plan prepared ahead of time can alleviate stress as well as ensure that there is an approach to address any situation (including if the actual volcano erupts or explodes). For my trip, I made sure to have all emergency contacts, hotel contacts, and embassy contacts at the ready, along with copies of important travel documents.

In PR if the client is asking us to execute a specific project or reinforce their brand identity, it’s good practice to have a plan, a crisis chain of command—information and material prepared just in case “crap” hits the fan. Things won’t always go your way, and you must be flexible and adapt to changing situations.

Listening & Connecting

We all understood the power of interpersonal communication, and how it can be a tool that unites and connects. My friend and I experienced this while getting to know our hiking guide, Carlitos (a Guatemalan native who hiked the 6,000+ feet of elevation gain in jeans). Chatting with Carlitos in Spanish made the already awesome experience even richer. We asked him a million questions and shared ideas about life. We received his recommendations for authentic Guatemalan food and forged a new friendship.

In PR, monitoring traditional and social media channels is crucial for maintaining a two-way conversation between a brand and the public. Just as we engaged with Carlitos, brands must listen to their audiences and respond thoughtfully to foster meaningful connections.

Celebrate your Successes

Put simply: post the dang photo (or even better, video) of the erupting volcano! Celebrate announcements, activities and mentions, and be your own biggest fan. The more you celebrate your successes, or even the milestones throughout the journey, the easier it is for others to cheer you on as you go. As for my own personal media distribution, my Instagram is absolute Fuego (pun intended).

If you’re ready to go on a PR expedition (even if it might not include a volcano), reach out to info@garritypr.com to get the conversation started. If you feel inspired to make the trip to Volcán Fuego yourself, reach out for travel details and I’ll point you in the right direction for that as well.