I am 32 years of age and like many people birthdays make me feel miserable. End of another year, edging closer to death. This is the second of a series of blogs I have written to make myself feel better. I look back over 32 years and highlight 32 cool adventures and the lessons I have learnt along the way. If you missed the first part why not have a read?
12. Prague Through The Years
Over the years I seem to keep on coming back to Prague as it is such a beautiful place. The tall spiral buildings stand proud, observing everyone as I walk down the evocative maze of cobbled lanes and medieval passages. The charcoal cobblestone streets of grey and ivory boast a series of designs and patterns below my feet. The smell of sweet paprika from the goulash hangs in the air as I pass bars and restaurants. The streets are packed full of stags, culture vultures, romantic couples and unusual characters. The chaotic hubbub of laughter and excitement brings on feelings of joy and always makes me feel like I have made the right choice of revisiting such a great city.
13. Moving to Dublin
The nerves kick in as I leave my safe town of Oswestry. What am I doing? Why would moving to Dublin make me feel more satisfied? What if I can’t make friends and I never speak to another human being again? Why do I feel I need to leave my friends and family in search of a better life when I am unsure of what I am looking for? What I do know is the town life that I was living wasn’t exciting to me, every day felt the same, and nothing ever happened or changed. City life excited me, a city in another country excited me even more. Here I was on a train ready to take my first steps and despite feeling nervous and sad I felt so excited. Almost 5 years later I have discovered I made a great decision. In 10 years will I still be in Dublin? I have no idea, the future is unclear! In 10 years will I be moving back to my previous life? I highly doubt it! However, what I do know is the adventure of moving countries was an adventure worth doing.
14. Arriving in Santiago
I pushed on with eagerness to finally finish my walk. I was feeling proud to have gotten this far, sad that it was about to end and the mix of emotions was hard to comprehend. I then came across two massive statues of pilgrims pointing towards a stunning view of Santiago De Compostella and I knew I was close. As I walked closer I started to realise what I had actually achieved, 500 miles is a long way by foot! Finally, I walked through the narrow cobble street lanes through Santiago De Compostella. Finally, I reached the end. I was looking up at the cathedral it looked so much prettier than I remembered from the photos. I had a complete mix of emotions accomplished, pride, happiness and sadness. The odd feeling was as an atheist looking at the stunning cathedral at my final destination there was a small feeling that it was all a little anti-climactic.
In 2019 I walked 500 miles through Spain along the North Coast following the Camino De Santiago. It was such fun and I got to see Spain in a different way. Slow travel is a fantastic way to see everything, a much more enjoyable experience than going from A to B on a train. Slow travel is the only way I want to travel now but the only issue is I just need to find more time.
15. First big cycling adventure
I can’t remember the first time I came up with the idea of going on a big cycling adventure. The feeling of excitement when you struggle to think about anything else is when you know this is an adventure you need to do. It took me years before I acted on it. I grabbed my two friends Tim and Kinny and we set off heading off. In short, the trip was a disaster, my bike was stolen a week beforehand so I borrowed my brother's worse-for-wear bike which slowed me down as it was very hard to ride. Kinny destroyed his bike by stretching the frame. Tim ran out of money. So by the time we got to Dublin, we had to call it a day. We were unprepared and this was a key factor in our failure. It took many more failed adventures to learn the lesson that preparation is key and how much I like the idea of just blagging it, the success rate is far less likely.
16. Varanasi
Varanasi is a beautiful city that sits next to the Ganges. It has many different ceremonies taking place there and it could be the craziest place I have ever been to. Many Hindus are cremated at one of the burning Ghats on the shore of the sacred river, the Ganges, their ashes are then thrown into the Ganges, as it is believed that this will purify their souls. There is such a great demand to be cremated at the Ganges that multiple burnings take place 24 hours a day. The issue is that not everyone can afford enough wood, so on many occasions, the body is thrown into the Ganges despite not being fully cremated. It is very common to see a half-burnt limb or body part floating about in the water. The Ganges is the holiest river in India, and it is believed that bathing in the Ganges frees a person from all their problems, so it is common to see plenty of people bathing, washing, swimming and praying, as half-burnt bodies float past them.
17. Ben Nevis, mountains can be tough
It is a 7-hour drive from Oswestry (our home town) and Fort William (the bottom of Ben Nevis). So after our long day, we only had one day available to hike up the tallest mountain in the UK. Unfortunately, the one day we did have was a very rough day to go hiking. Irresponsibly we went for it anyway. The rain came down leaving us soaked. As we were reaching the top we passed a group of schoolchildren with their teacher all of which were crying, I knew how they felt. Finally, we reached the top, conquering the tallest mountain in the UK. We were at the top for less than 2 minutes until our bodies began to shake from the cold, a bad sign. We rushed down and thought about a warm pub and a well-deserved pint the whole way down. We had learnt the lesson the hard way, the mountains are sometimes cruel and they should always be respected.
18. Walking through the Basque Country
The Basque Country was one of the first countries I travelled to as an adult and opened my eyes to travel so it was a complete honour walking through the region. I was walking the Camino and it was my favourite part of my walk. The rocky and high terrain made my walk hard but it made it more exciting with some of the most beautiful views I have seen in the whole of Spain. I learned new things about the region, travelled through small towns and villages I had never heard of and met so many people along the way. These reasons will keep me coming back to the Basque country in the future.
19. Driving around Iceland
In 2017 I got the honour of driving around Iceland. Iceland is small but as a country, they seem to be so morally right as it is the safest country on earth and one of the most eco-friendly countries. The country is fascinating covered with glaciers and volcanos, a fascinating history, many weird and wonderful things to eat and an absence of commercialism that you would commonly see in most countries. I do have a soft spot for Iceland and will definitely visit again one day.
Want to learn more about Iceland? I wrote a blog about it! Have a read!
20. Covid Connemara cycle
COVID hit Ireland and like most other people destroyed any travel plans. Disappointed I decided there was no reason to despair, I live in a beautiful and exciting place and I decided it was time to travel and discover more of Ireland. One weekend I jumped onto my bike and set off around Connemara National Park and I fell in love with the place. Connemara’s bleak and beautiful landscape and its deep browns and greens on uneven surfaces were mesmerizing. The National Park reminds me of past adventures in Iceland due to the gorgeous lakes, the vast, rugged landscape and the huge rocky mountains as a backdrop. The ride never got boring. My eyes were fixed on the beauty in front of me, my mind wandered drifting from different worlds keeping well away from reality while singing out loud with no one to hear my horrendous singing voice. Beauty can be found everywhere it is on our doorstep we just need to get out and explore the country we live in, you don’t always need to get a plane to travel and have an adventure.
21. Cu Chi Tunnels
History has always fascinated me, it is partly a reason why I travel. I love travelling around and learning new things about the country's history, culture and way of life. When in Vietnam I felt I had no choice but to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. To combat the better-supplied American and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, Communist guerrilla troops known as Viet Cong (VC) dug tens of thousands of miles of tunnels, including an extensive network running underneath the Cu Chi district northwest of Saigon. Soldiers used these underground routes to house troops, transport communications and supplies, lay booby traps and mount surprise attacks. These tunnels were fascinating and a highlight of my visit to Vietnam.
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