Why there’s nothing better than hiking holidays
Why there’s nothing better than hiking holidays
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Many of us spend our lives planning and dreaming of our next escape. When things at home get stressful, or when you find yourself living a daily monotony of sameness, ‘The Holiday’ beckons and promises a temporary relief.
The time arrives and you enjoy every minute of your freedom. Or you try to. Sometimes it feels like holidays are really just a series of restaurant meals, museums, pavement-pounded feet and naps.
Depending on what sort of holiday it was, you come home feeling well rested or exhausted. The trousers you wore when you left are now a bit uncomfortable around the thighs. Maybe it was the clothes dryer in Munich… You go back to your diet and start dreaming up the next trip.
When was the last time you returned home from a holiday feeling really great? Feeling mentally refreshed, physically healthier, and with a calm sense that you can do just about anything you apply yourself to.
Why, that was the last time you came home from a walking holiday of course! That’s because life on a walking holiday is designed to have a positive effect on all the healths: mental, physical, emotional and um, dental.
This is what your days look like when you spend your escape walking in nature:
You spring out of bed bright and early. Okay the springing days may be behind you, but getting out of bed is not a difficult task after nine glorious hours of sleep fuelled by fresh air, exercise and good food. You get your bag together, fill up your water bottle and head down to a healthy breakfast with your new friends for the week.
While the fresh morning chill still hangs in the air you arrive at the start of the day’s walk. You’re a little nervous because today is the longest walk of the whole tour. But you’re excited too. Besides, you think, if Mary can do it then I definitely can!
By mid-morning, as you round the headland for yet another glorious vista, you feel relaxed and confident. Your lungs are open and you’ve been enjoying the sight of sunlight playing on the ocean’s surface. Your feet enjoy a bit of a break as you take your cup of tea to sit on a log and look out to sea.
It’s midday and you and Mary have managed to solve all of the problems of the Crimean, Korean and Maylands Peninsulas in just 5.7 kilometres. Feeling like standing for public office you walk on.
Lunch is shared on a granite boulder surrounded by trees and wildflowers. You kick off your shoes, lay back on the rock and close your eyes to listen to the birds.
The last few kilometres of walking are a bit more challenging, but you make it to the end of the walk and feel proud of your achievement today. You knew you could do it. Like the guide says, it’s just one step at a time. You hop in the bus to head back to the accommodation where a shower, your slippers and a hot cup of tea are waiting.
A few pre-dinner nibbles and a glass of wine are well deserved this evening. Chatting among the group, you think ‘I might actually stay in touch with some of these people. It’s quite an adventure we’ve shared’.
By about 8.30 your eyelids are starting to fail you and you toddle off to your bed. Sleep deep, for in the morning another adventure awaits…
