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 →
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 →
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 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 →
Join me on this exciting new adventure as I take you along with me in my application to become an astronaut with the European Space Agency!! In preparation, and to make sure I put some real effort into training, I also signed up to take part in a CRAZY expedition across the Cairngorms in the... Continue Reading →
I had heard mixed reviews about the trip to the northernmost tip of south America, generally either five stars like at this blog or one star*, with few in between. So it was with a slight sense of defiance that our group of seven intrepid explorers set out on this journey to the end of the... Continue Reading →
After South Georgia we had a two day sail over to the Antarctic Peninsula, punctuated by icebergs, whales and an amazing abundance of seabirds. The icebergs in particular were spectacular. We cruised past an iceberg so large it has a name. It's called C28B and broke off the Larsen Ice Shelf and it was over... Continue Reading →
I am writing this after 10 days at sea and during force 3 hurricane winds (what else can you do on a day like this?!). This post is pretty much in reverse chronological order as I write about the Falklands last when we actually visited first. Aboard the MS Expedition I have visited the Falkland... Continue Reading →
