Imagine hiking up a mountain under a full moon with fresh snow under your feet, breaking through the tree line and feeling that warm glow of sunrise hitting your face. Riding a sleigh pulled by huskies in a winter wonderland, cross- country skiing through villages nestled in the Austrian Alps, tobogganing down a mountain at sunset, swimming in a frozen lake or ski-touring up a mountain and descending through the trees. Imagine ending your day in a rejuvenating thermal spa before dinner and a well-earned sleep, to wake up and do it all over again. Welcome to winter holidays in Austria!
Not many thoughts enter my mind apart from what I am doing. I wish everyone could do something like this once a year, or even once in your lifetime. We need it! I switch off from everything. A challenge like this is so all encompassing that I don’t have space for much else. All my energy goes into the challenge, and the micro world I create with the adventure I am on, the world directly around me and the people I am with. My world becomes small but this gives me freedom to become bigger than I’ve ever felt. My mind is not filled with events going on all over the world, with emails, news, social media, and the need to reply to messages, my mind is filled with fresh air and miles, hills, sweat, tears and food stops. My mind is filled with views so dramatic and mind-blowing, I am speechless. My heart flips a bit with each corner I turn and the awe that the NC500 route delivers again and again.
It’s been a year since I started the project of creating my dream van ↠ @theonelifevan ↞ and as I get a lot of questions about it, I wanted to share the process and some resources with you! If you are thinking of building or buying a van i can say it’s ONE HUNDRED PERCENT as awesome as you might think it is! And my journey with van life is only just beginning... However, it can be a bit of a minefield and hard to know where to start. I hope this helps :)
There are preciously rare occasions in life when you are handed an opportunity to go somewhere or meet someone that truly inspires you. Somewhere that shifts your centre of gravity, allowing you to refresh, refocus and restart. Or someone that has the capacity to capture your imagination and transport it to places you aspire to go but don’t quite know how to access. When your mind has gone there, the chances are your body will follow…
In October 2019, I took 10 girls sailing for five days on a Tall Ships Youth Trust sailing adventure proudly sponsored by KEEN footwear. It was magical and lives were changed!
We stepped off the boat with a different perspective. With love in our hearts, faith in ourselves and confidence to go forth and grow into the women we know we can be. I asked the girls to capture their experiences and what it meant to them…
We’ve been hurtling along this dirt track road for half an hour and as far as the eye can see there’s barren, volcanic land. It feels like we could be on the moon. We’ve taken this detour to visit Godafoss, reputed to be Iceland’s most powerful waterfall. I’m not convinced. I can’t imagine there could be any waterfalls round here. The ground is flat and barren for miles and miles in every direction.
Mum and daughter time is incredibly special and although we live together, we often pass each other like ships in the night. We talk about practical things a lot; she helps me with business dilemnas and decisions and helps me when I need someone to practise my talks with. But we don’t make enough time just to relax with each other and have fun.
Scotland has the right to roam act which means it’s legal to wild camp any where. After Lorna and I finish our run on Ben Nevis, we drive towards Mallaig on the West Coast after a recommendation from a friend as a spectacular place. We don’t know exactly what we’re looking for, but have an idea in mind and our eyes peeled. We pass a find a small car park with a sign “Path to Beach” pointing to a cliff top. We park up and unload the car. We’ve found our spot.
“Get the girls some tea” the mountain rescue team stammer, as we walk into the CIC hut half way up Ben Nevis. After a week in Scotland on my own, Lorna North, Founder and writer at Queen of the Mile, boarded the Caledonian Sleeper Train from Euston to Fort William to join me for three days of unadulterated adventure in Scotland.
This was day two and we’d decided to go for a run up Ben Nevis. At 1344m The Ben, as it’s known by locals and climbers, is the highest mountain in the UK. In March, much of it is still covered in snow, beckoning climbers and skiers to adventure in it’s shadows and and dance in it’s light. We were here to run and feel the freedom of nature all around us.
My Big Blog Exchange was sponsored by Hostelling International (HI) - a global hostel association with hostels in over 90 countries. During my stay in Asia I was lucky enough to stay in 4 of them.
