Que Sera Sera

This time 3 weeks ago I was on the eve of a long awaited and highly anticipated journey, walking the West Highland Way with my oldest son. Sadly it didn’t go as planned. I had to stop after walking 4 days and 96 km due to painful knee issues. It was a tough decision, and my son and I were both very disappointed. Since all our accomodations were booked we decided to stay in Scotland and make the best of our time while being there.

It took some time to get over the disappointment and appreciate what we did accomplish. We walked 96 km, mostly on tough terrain, often wondering if we had missed a sign because there seemed to be no path at all. (Well, we actually did miss a sign on the last day, but that was due to bad weather.) We saw amazing vistas, and I’m so very happy I took the time to take pictures, even when pain was dominating the fourth day. They will make a great photobook. We met nice people, had nice chats and enjoyed tasty food. And although it was raining a lot after we officially ended our walk, we were able to explore the surroundings where our accomodations were on short walks. After all Scotland’s beauty is everywhere.

And who knows, maybe the way this journey ended was a sign. A sign to show me I hadn’t be true to myself. That I was focussed too much on the goal instead of the journey from the beginning, despite everything I had said about it. I joined My Peak Challenge in 2017 mainly because of the charity part and setting goals or challenges were not my thing, like I wrote in a previous blog. And yet I let myself get tempted to set a challenge, because when I’m really honest to myself, that is what this was, a challenge. I should have known better and stayed closer to myself, to who I am: someone who takes life and its events as it comes. Life itself offers enough challenges without me adding an extra one.

So here I am, I managed to walk halfway the West Highland Way, from Milngavie to Tyndrum creating beautiful memories along that path, no one can take that away! And who knows, maybe I can walk the remaining kilometers next year. If not, well, so be it. Que sera sera!

Adventure begins where plans end…

Finally the day I have been looking forward to for so long has arrived. In only 7 hours my son and I will be on our way to Scotland. And on Wednesday our longdistance walk will begin: Walking the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Fort William. Suitcases and backpacks are packed, and boarding passes are ready.

When I started writing this blog I was in a not so happy mindset, a lot of negative and bad things had happened, and had taken a lot of my joy and excitement away. As simple as they were the items I wrote about helped me to get that back. This little written journey towards my big journey showed me again why I chose to do this and what I was looking forward to: finally return to Scotland and enjoy the beautiful scenery of one of the most amazing places there, the Scottish Highlands. And so excitement is building. And with it also came a little bit fear. Will I really be able to do this, will my body allow me to complete this journey. I always say we can do more than we think and age is just a number. Will I be able to prove I’m right? Well, there is no turning back now, and even if there was I would never do it. And I guess it’s normal to get a bit scared shortly before a dream comes true, like this quote states:

Counting down and an unexpected travelcompanion…

Only 5 days to go and I’ll be on my way to Scotland, to walk the West Highland Way. A little over 200 days ago I definitely booked everything necessary for this walk and have since then gathered the equipment I need for this journey.

The first thing I did, after deciding to walk the whole Way, was to buy a good pair of walking/hiking shoes. After excellent examination and advise in specialised store Het Loopcentrum in Horst (Limburg) (https://www.hetloopcentrum.nl/wandelen/ ) I came home with a pair of shoes that fit like a glove, and combined with good socks they have so far taken me many kilometers without pain or blisters. Gradually also other equipment founds its way to our home. A decent backpack, walkingtrousers, raingear and various clothing amongst others. And of course books and maps.

When I told my kids about my plan I could never have expected that I would end up booking the trip not only for myself but for a plus one as well. A few days after my announcement my oldest son came up to me and said he wanted to join me on that walk. It nearly blew me off my feet when I heard it! Although both my kids have always been active in sports (judo, soccer) and my oldest son always had a job that is fysical straining, long walks were definitely not their greatest hobby. And now one of them wanted to walk 154 km!

His explanation was that he had been thinking of his youth lately (he’s 26 at the moment) and especially of our holidays in France. We all have great memories of those vacations on a campsite near Castellane in the south of France, but somehow every year there was more than one day where things didn’t go smooth, easy and relaxed, and to be honest often he was to blame for it. The journey by car took too long, some of last year’s friends weren’t there, he didn’t like what was on the menu and so on. It left him grumpy and angry, me frustrated and angry and more than once I threatened to go home if he didn’t change his attitude. In the end we always stayed, and had great vacations. Fact is that he always came to apologise and, knowing my children, I know his apology was honest. Somehow certain situations left him out of control over his emotions and reason, causing him to get angry, yell and say things he didn’t mean. It took quite a few years for him to learn to deal with it. And with it came realisation that certain things can’t be undone.

Now, at the age of 26, and hearing my plan, he thought a lot of those moments. How he regrets to have ‘ruined’ one or more days every vacation and that he can never change that. And although I told him that growing up is never easy for children AND parents, and that we knew this when we became parents, he wanted to join me on this walk to create a joyful memory to look back on for both of us. His explanation moved me deeply. But, as touching as it was, I gave him time to think it over until November. In November I would start looking for an organisation to book a tour and if he still wanted to come with me at that time we would go together.

And we will go together! He didn’t change his mind, he got more determined to go. Looked things up on the internet about the West Highland Way, saw the beautiful photos from other walkers and got more and more enthusiastic. So, almost 200 days ago, I booked the tour for both of us, arranged flighttickets to Glasgow and transfer from and to the airport when we are in Scotland. And after that we got all the necessary equipment for him as well. We also went for long walks together in the neighbourhood. Not exactly the same conditions as in the Highlands, but determination and persistance to do this are just as important. And now we are both counting down untill we will finally be on our way next Tuesday.

Tour booked with Gemini Walks: http://www.geminiwalks.com/

Transfers booked with Go Haggis: https://www.go-haggis.com/

From the Dutch countryside to the Scottish Highlands

What started as an hour walk to stay in shape and stay fit after surgery, gradually became longer walks, exploring different parts of my hometown. It’s amazing how much you discover on a walk in a place you live for almost 30 years. Walking not only takes you to different roads, streets and paths than you would normally do by car or bike, but because of the different angles and viewpoints it gives you new and unexpected views! I discovered my hometown and its surroundings in whole new and surprisingly beautyiful way. My appreciation of my hometown has definitely grown!

In June 2018 I watched an episode of The Adventure Show (BBC2) “Take a Hike – The story of Scottish Walking” where host Cameron McNeish, a well known hillwalker and author of “There’s always the hills”, was joined by actor Sam Heughan on a hike in the Scottish Highlands. The two men hiked in winterconditions, showing the beauty of the Highlands, but in this episode Cameron also showed parts of hikes in summerconditions and one of them was The West Highland Way. I had heard of this famous longdistancewalking path in Scotland before, but seeing the fantastic scenery and because of my latest passion, I got completely hooked on the idea of seeing it with my own eyes. My wish and dream of visiting Scotland suddenly revived.

I searched the internet for information and what was necessary to walk the WHW and slowly started making plans to go there myself. My initial plan was to go there and walk the first 3 days of the route, mainly along Loch Lomond, and asked if my brother and sister in law were interested to come with me. Both were, but had to cancel due to important events in the period I wanted to go there. I decided to go anyway, but also started thinking of walking the whole 154 km, instead of a short part now and the following part in another year. Who knows what might happen in between, I might never be able to go back to finish, leaving me with eternal regrets. My hubby, who supported me from the moment I told him about my intention to walk a part of the route, had only one thing to say when I told him about my plan to walk the entire route: “if you think you can, you should do it!”

And so, after our vacation on Crete in September 2018, I told my family I would go to Scotland in 2019 to walk the West Highland Way!

Photo 2-5: Google