Join me as I travel the world and give regular insights into what it is really like being a solo backpacker and tips to help you plan your own adventures
Day 6 - Thursday 27 July The ice reminded us who is boss this morning. After an early breakfast we hit the water fairly promptly having packed up camp. A large glacier calving had caused intense waves so getting off the beach out of the swell was quite a challenge. I almost capsized before managing... Continue Reading →
Another good night's sleep all snuggled in my fleecy PJ bottoms, silk liner and sleeping bag. It was nice to have plenty of time to rest. My wrist is now making a grim crackling noise when I move it, definitely tendonitis. I've strapped it up to partially immobilise it. I had some lovely porridge with... Continue Reading →
We had a relaxed start, the pace of the trip is really great, I never felt we were rushing and was able to enjoy every second of the experience. My tendonitis was really sore but hopefully manageable. I slept really well, though I needed my silk sleeping bag liner and a warm hat - the... Continue Reading →
I woke up nice and early feeling pretty refreshed. My breakfast in the teepee was mostly German bread with ham, cheese and coffee. Julia and I were both ready quickly and weren't certain if we had forgotten something important. While we were packing, one of the huge icebergs in the bay split in half pretty... Continue Reading →
Greenland-Kayak-Exped2
I'm super excited to blog about this next adventure - it's a week-long 100km kayaking and hiking expedition in the fjords of Southern Greenland! I booked this Much Better Adventures trip after hearing some glowing reviews of the company. My first view of the enormous Greenland Ice Sheet On the flight to Greenland I caught... Continue Reading →
I was picked up at 9am by the Glaciers and Waterfalls guide, Kalman and we set off to the Reykjanes Peninsula to hike to the erupting volcano. En route we stopped off at a traditional fish drying farm. The smell packed a punch as I stepped out of the minibus!! Icelandic Cod (heads and bones)... Continue Reading →
And now for the main event! Tuesday 18 July The pick up was really smooth - Iceland really has nailed touristing. The sad thing was that cafés don't open until 8am and I needed to wait at the bus stop from 8am. My bus arrived at 0815 and took me and two other women (french... Continue Reading →
Saturday 15 July Landed at Keflavik airport a little early and was greeted by a perpetual sunset with gorgeous colours. And to top it off, I got a view of the erupting volcano out of the window! Now that I knew where the volcano was, I knew which seat I wanted for the bus to... Continue Reading →
The journey to the Costa Rican border from Ometepe Island was uneventful after the early morning ferry. The weather at the border was dark and brooding. We paid $4 to exit Nicaragua and I changed some money for an ok rate (changed 330 Cordoba's for 5,200 Colones and $60 for 34,600 Colones) Finally made it... Continue Reading →
We took a ferry to cross from the port at San Jorge to Ometepe Island. This place is pretty phenomenal; it's an island made of two volcanoes, Conception, an active volcano, and Maderas, a dormant one. Ometepe is the second largest freshwater lake in Latin America (after Lake Titicaca), and the lake is on average... Continue Reading →
As planned, we left our hotel in El Salvador in the middle of the night under the light of a full moon and starry sky. We made the 4 hour journey to La Union.We had to be quick boarding the ferry to take us across to Nicaragua as the water was going out and it... Continue Reading →
The drive from Honduras to El Salvador goes via Guatemala due to road and border limitations. That made it a fairly big drive day to get from Copán Ruinas to Suchitoto next to Lake Suchitlan in the heart of El Salvador. With a reasonably smooth journey we made it to Suchitoto in time for lunch... Continue Reading →
It's been a while since I travelled somewhere new and exotic, which makes this month even more special in some ways. Over the next month I am travelling through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The major reason for me choosing this G Adventures trip is twofold, I really wanted to travel through... Continue Reading →
It's going to be difficult to describe the experience on the Cairngorms traverse but to sum it up in a word... Brutal. I didn't make it to the end of the traverse, having decided to head to the road at Braemar in light of a couple of severe weather warnings and having the waterproofing of... Continue Reading →
Yesterday was a lovely chill day in Inverness where I ate loads of nice food and spent some time with Katie and Sarah. I've not seen Katie since 2016 when we met on a trip in Uzbekistan and it is so good to see her again!! I used the time in Inverness pretty wisely I... Continue Reading →
As I sit in Inverness, taking a break from my final preparations for the expedition, which I embark upon tonight, I thought I had better post the latest update on my astronaut journey. Sadly I didn't make it through to Round 3 in Cologne. I recently received the rejection email along with all of the... Continue Reading →
I'm really getting into this now. Late January is off to a flying start! On the 16th I headed to Brecon Beacons solo to hike the horseshoe with an expedition backpack. I didn't leave super early, so it was a fairly "relaxed" day. Hit the trail at noon and once again headed up the gazillion... Continue Reading →
January is off to a flying start. My swim buddy Lance is raising money for St Mungo's charity by swimming the distance of the channel crossing (22 miles) in January. Despite needing to get extra time out hiking I want to swim with him to keep him company. To meet his target it means swimming... Continue Reading →
Now things really get going!! I'm launching into phase 2 of my training and it's all about steps, hills and weight. I hit the stair master for a 10 minute blitz wearing a backpack to ease myself into it. Even without knowing about the backpack, the machine reckons I burned more than 100 calories -... Continue Reading →
I don't know about you, but watching other people "climb their own mountains" is one of the biggest sources of inspiration and motivation for me. Usually I am referring to "striving toward their own goals" but this time I really mean mountains. I watched 14 Peaks on Netflix and it was just mind-blowing. My brain... Continue Reading →
I started "late November" with pretty epic DOMS after checking whether I was fit enough to climb and then swim, in that order. Turns out that I can, but that doesn't mean I should! And then Couch to 5k (C25K) - Run 5.3 is a warm up then 20 minutes running.. a massive step up.... Continue Reading →
Firstly, a huge shout out to Lauren and the team at Alpkit Bristol - I am so grateful for their help today - what a great place and great team! I thought was going to have to drive to the Lake District to visit an Alpkit store so I was chuffed to find they recently... Continue Reading →
Smooth sailing and slowly building up my fitness and endurance. I had a few days off work and completed Week 4 on the Couch to 5k (C25K) mainly during daylight hours. Walking to warm down after my final Week 4 run on C25K I also hit the climbing gym for the first time in a... Continue Reading →
I had an absolutely lovely day out on horseback with my friend Regan at a gorgeous stable called Cotswolds Riding at Jill Carenza Equestrian near the village of Stanton at the northern end of the Cotswolds. The scenery was spectacular, and we hacked through some lovely moorland and up to some gorgeous views across rolling... Continue Reading →
When I heard that Aerospace Bristol would be holding a Family Space Day on Monday 25th October, with Helen Sharman, the UK's first astronaut, giving a talk under the wings of concorde, I immediately booked a ticket. It was clearly a day aimed at kids and was at the beginning of half term, so any... Continue Reading →
First stop for my preparations for the icy Cairngorms expedition was to see my physiotherapist, Gemma, who had helped me with some ankle rehab in 2020. I hadn't mentioned, but I sprained my ankle pretty badly on a run one day without much warning, my ankle just felt tight for a minute and then.. "ping".... Continue Reading →
I've decided to use my training and trek across the Cairngorms to raise money for The Ocean Cleanup. The non-profit has demonstrated that it has a REALLY compelling solution to remove an enormous chunk of the plastic pollution in the ocean, and I'm really passionate about supporting them. Please consider donating to this great cause... Continue Reading →
So. Home safe in England, but still buzzing from my first trip out of the UK in 2 years, I started to get itchy feet. I reached out to one of the most adventurous people I know, Katie Comer, tour guide for Dragoman overland adventures all over the world, who led my journey through Uzbekistan... Continue Reading →
My Hamburg astronaut selection day arrived. I bumped into some of the candidates in the hotel lobby and we introduced ourselves and then walked the 10 minutes to the test centre, not knowing what to expect. We arrived at the facility which is used by the German Air Force, which also hosts this initial round... Continue Reading →
