This has been a week of contrasts, as well as a profitable week for the First Kernow buses at my expense. From Newquay, I made my way up the coast to the quiet and picturesque town of Port Isaac. Then I went to the decidedly New Agey town of Tintagel, the supposed birthplace of King Arthur, and finally to the somewhat larger and more industrial town of Bude. Three very different places to finish off Cornwall and get prepared for the next part of this trip.
My run of good luck with the weather finally ran out this week, but such is life.
After more than a week off, I'm raring to go again. My rucksack is lighter. My body is acclimated and in better shape than when I first arrived. I start Offa's Dyke on Thursday. Go, go, go!
Cheers, y'all.
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Sunday, July 23, 2017
Week 1: Land's End to Newquay, or A Rough Start
I hope you all know how much I love you: I'm typing out this whole thing on mobile.
By a show of hands, how many of you have read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson? I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't. It is, in my opinion, Bryson's best and funniest work. Anyway, the bit relevant to this post is this: Bryson and his travel buddy Katz are walking the Appalachian Trail. Despite some difficulties, things are going well. And then they get to one of their stopovers, the visitor center for which has a floor-to-ceiling map of the Appalachian Trail. They then realize two things: first, that despite several weeks of walking, they are barely a foot off the ground per this map; second, that they are never going to finish the whole thing.
Here's the thing, though: the second realization doesn't make them feel disappointed. Instead, it makes them feel RELIEVED. Now that they know they can't finish the whole thing, it means they don't have to; they can just do the bits they're the most excited for and most want to do instead.
I had my Bill Bryson moment on the third day of this walk.
I must take some ownership here before I go on. I did not plan my route through southwest England well. I figured I'd take the coast path and that would be that, not realizing just how difficult the coast path is. And it is difficult: frequently rocky underfoot, ascending and descending precipitously into every cove, clinging to every headland like Overly Attached Girlfriend. The path is often vague, frequently accompanied by other paths crisscrossing the hillsides and cliff tops. It is also poorly waymarked, making it difficult to tell whether you're on the correct path at any given time. Simply put, the Southwest Coast Path is a bitch.
I thought roadwalking might be a viable alternative, but that has not been the case. Roadwalking is very hard on one's feet, and comes with its own obvious risks (i.e. CARS).
So on the third morning of my walk, instead of setting out for Gwithian from St Ives, sunburned, blistered, and in pain, I had a leisurely morning in St Ives and did some serious thinking and soul-searching. And here is what I decided.
I'm going to continue dotting through Cornwall on foot and via bus for another week or so, because despite the trials of the past week, this is a really beautiful part of the world and I am enjoying it. And then I'm going to skip ahead and resume my walk at Sedbury, the southern trailhead of the Offa's Dyke Path. I'm not committing myself to compleating from there - in fact I think it's likely that once I've finished however much of Offa's Dyke takes my fancy, I will probably skip right on up to Scotland. There is a big swath of Scotland that I do want to finish, so that will probably be the new "serious business" part of my walk. I may even decide to tack on another Scottish long-distance path that was just opened earlier this year, and which has piqued my interest.
So that's the meat of my past week. When I have access to a real computer I'll transcribe my journal entries, but I wanted to go ahead and get my altered plan out there first.
Cheers, y'all.
By a show of hands, how many of you have read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson? I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't. It is, in my opinion, Bryson's best and funniest work. Anyway, the bit relevant to this post is this: Bryson and his travel buddy Katz are walking the Appalachian Trail. Despite some difficulties, things are going well. And then they get to one of their stopovers, the visitor center for which has a floor-to-ceiling map of the Appalachian Trail. They then realize two things: first, that despite several weeks of walking, they are barely a foot off the ground per this map; second, that they are never going to finish the whole thing.
Here's the thing, though: the second realization doesn't make them feel disappointed. Instead, it makes them feel RELIEVED. Now that they know they can't finish the whole thing, it means they don't have to; they can just do the bits they're the most excited for and most want to do instead.
I had my Bill Bryson moment on the third day of this walk.
I must take some ownership here before I go on. I did not plan my route through southwest England well. I figured I'd take the coast path and that would be that, not realizing just how difficult the coast path is. And it is difficult: frequently rocky underfoot, ascending and descending precipitously into every cove, clinging to every headland like Overly Attached Girlfriend. The path is often vague, frequently accompanied by other paths crisscrossing the hillsides and cliff tops. It is also poorly waymarked, making it difficult to tell whether you're on the correct path at any given time. Simply put, the Southwest Coast Path is a bitch.
I thought roadwalking might be a viable alternative, but that has not been the case. Roadwalking is very hard on one's feet, and comes with its own obvious risks (i.e. CARS).
So on the third morning of my walk, instead of setting out for Gwithian from St Ives, sunburned, blistered, and in pain, I had a leisurely morning in St Ives and did some serious thinking and soul-searching. And here is what I decided.
I'm going to continue dotting through Cornwall on foot and via bus for another week or so, because despite the trials of the past week, this is a really beautiful part of the world and I am enjoying it. And then I'm going to skip ahead and resume my walk at Sedbury, the southern trailhead of the Offa's Dyke Path. I'm not committing myself to compleating from there - in fact I think it's likely that once I've finished however much of Offa's Dyke takes my fancy, I will probably skip right on up to Scotland. There is a big swath of Scotland that I do want to finish, so that will probably be the new "serious business" part of my walk. I may even decide to tack on another Scottish long-distance path that was just opened earlier this year, and which has piqued my interest.
So that's the meat of my past week. When I have access to a real computer I'll transcribe my journal entries, but I wanted to go ahead and get my altered plan out there first.
Cheers, y'all.
Sunday, July 16, 2017
London and Penzance: last-minute preparations
Made it safely to London after a long journey. (But then long journeys are the main thread of this trip, no?) Icelandair is very nice, but I will not fly through Keflavik airport again. It is quite possibly the most inefficient airport I have ever traveled through; even worse than Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
I had a low-key couple of days in London. I went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey on 14 July, and spent most of yesterday mooching around Regent's Park and Foyle's bookstore, people-watching. I have to say, I spent most of my time in London wanting to be elsewhere and wishing I'd booked my train ticket for yesterday instead of today. The nerves and homesickness that accompany the beginning of most long trips, combined with the anxiety about what I'm about to undertake, had me feeling considerably down. And then it's the middle of tourist season, so there were far too many people about, including a busload of German high school students who rocked up to my hostel yesterday afternoon and proceeded to make continual noise until about 2am.
I got up and headed for Paddington as soon as the sun was up this morning.
Now that I'm in Penzance, I'm feeling somewhat better. It's quieter, and I can focus on the task at hand. I'm in the process of re-packing my backpack right now, and already contemplating what to throw away. My hoodie is candidate number 1. I expected to be wearing it for most of this walk, but the weather actually looks to be quite warm for most of my time in the southwest, and my backpack is already fuller than I would like.
We're gonna get there.
Cheers, y'all.
I had a low-key couple of days in London. I went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey on 14 July, and spent most of yesterday mooching around Regent's Park and Foyle's bookstore, people-watching. I have to say, I spent most of my time in London wanting to be elsewhere and wishing I'd booked my train ticket for yesterday instead of today. The nerves and homesickness that accompany the beginning of most long trips, combined with the anxiety about what I'm about to undertake, had me feeling considerably down. And then it's the middle of tourist season, so there were far too many people about, including a busload of German high school students who rocked up to my hostel yesterday afternoon and proceeded to make continual noise until about 2am.
I got up and headed for Paddington as soon as the sun was up this morning.
Now that I'm in Penzance, I'm feeling somewhat better. It's quieter, and I can focus on the task at hand. I'm in the process of re-packing my backpack right now, and already contemplating what to throw away. My hoodie is candidate number 1. I expected to be wearing it for most of this walk, but the weather actually looks to be quite warm for most of my time in the southwest, and my backpack is already fuller than I would like.
We're gonna get there.
Cheers, y'all.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Departure day!
I'm off the airport in about half an hour, and then to Gatwick via Boston and Reykjavik! See you on the other side.
Cheers, y'all.
Cheers, y'all.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
Packing
T-minus five days until I leave for London. In a serious departure from tradition, I am actually packing my bag several days in advance. And I'm glad I am, because this is already turning into a comedy of errors.
To anyone reading this who is in the market for a sleeping bag: BUY IT IN PERSON. Do not buy it online, sight unseen. I bought one online, congratulating myself on the amazing price I got for it. I opened the box today, and it is FAR too big and bulky. Even in its stuff sack, it would take up the majority of the space in my backpack, and the dimensions are far too ludicrous to attach it to the top or bottom. So now I have decisions to make: bite the bullet and go shopping for one at REI, wait until I get to London and go shopping at Cotswolds, or just attempt to do without a sleeping bag altogether. The third option will mean committing to B&Bs and hostels and render my tent an emergency shelter...but really, I thought that might end up being the case anyway.
Anyway, here'sWonderwall my packing list as of right now:
Clothing:
- 4 tops (3 for walking in, 1 slightly nicer one for days off)
- 3 pairs of scrub bottoms
- 1 pair of jeans
- 3 sport bras
- 10 pairs of underwear
- 10 pairs of thick socks
- 10 pairs of thin socks, to be worn under the thick socks
- 1 pair of boots
- 1 pair of flip flops
- 1 hoodie
- 1 raincoat
- 1 beanie
Toiletries and medications:
- Shampoo
- Body wash
- Deodorant
- Anti-chafing gel
- Lip balm
- Bug repellant
- Hairbrush
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Eyeliner
- Towel
- Contact lenses
- Prescription medication
- OTC pain meds, for migraines as well as general aches and pains
- Blister bandages
Camping and navigational gear:
- Tent and accessory gear
- Maps
- Compass
- Trekking poles
- Headlamp
- Whistle
- Swiss Army knife
Electronics and entertainment:
- iPhone and charger
- iPod and charger
- Outlet adapter
- Journal and pen
- Book(s)*
The Really Important Stuff:
- Passport
- Cash and cards
*What to read that's going to last me the entire trip? I know, I know, the obvious answer is to join the rest of the world in the 21st century and get an e-reader. But I like actually holding books in my hands, dammit. Right now I'm planning to bring all three books in Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh Princes trilogy and ship them home as I finish them. They're reasonably dense and should last a while if I pace myself...we'll see.
Cheers, y'all.
To anyone reading this who is in the market for a sleeping bag: BUY IT IN PERSON. Do not buy it online, sight unseen. I bought one online, congratulating myself on the amazing price I got for it. I opened the box today, and it is FAR too big and bulky. Even in its stuff sack, it would take up the majority of the space in my backpack, and the dimensions are far too ludicrous to attach it to the top or bottom. So now I have decisions to make: bite the bullet and go shopping for one at REI, wait until I get to London and go shopping at Cotswolds, or just attempt to do without a sleeping bag altogether. The third option will mean committing to B&Bs and hostels and render my tent an emergency shelter...but really, I thought that might end up being the case anyway.
Anyway, here's
Clothing:
- 4 tops (3 for walking in, 1 slightly nicer one for days off)
- 3 pairs of scrub bottoms
- 1 pair of jeans
- 3 sport bras
- 10 pairs of underwear
- 10 pairs of thick socks
- 10 pairs of thin socks, to be worn under the thick socks
- 1 pair of boots
- 1 pair of flip flops
- 1 hoodie
- 1 raincoat
- 1 beanie
Toiletries and medications:
- Shampoo
- Body wash
- Deodorant
- Anti-chafing gel
- Lip balm
- Bug repellant
- Hairbrush
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Eyeliner
- Towel
- Contact lenses
- Prescription medication
- OTC pain meds, for migraines as well as general aches and pains
- Blister bandages
Camping and navigational gear:
- Tent and accessory gear
- Maps
- Compass
- Trekking poles
- Headlamp
- Whistle
- Swiss Army knife
Electronics and entertainment:
- iPhone and charger
- iPod and charger
- Outlet adapter
- Journal and pen
- Book(s)*
The Really Important Stuff:
- Passport
- Cash and cards
*What to read that's going to last me the entire trip? I know, I know, the obvious answer is to join the rest of the world in the 21st century and get an e-reader. But I like actually holding books in my hands, dammit. Right now I'm planning to bring all three books in Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh Princes trilogy and ship them home as I finish them. They're reasonably dense and should last a while if I pace myself...we'll see.
Cheers, y'all.
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