You know it’s demoralising, draining, sapping when you return to the drone of daily banality where so many behaviours + actions are the routine script of the subconscious. People living like robots + drones, performing steps, tasks, and processes with mundane repetition. Incredible how when you’re away to play for a while and your senses balloon + become heightened, fully engage + fire on all cylinders, that you notice these nuances around how people live.
So much of what I did throughout this trip was driven by feeling + intuition, of creativity in moments, paths laid by the patter of pebbles with each footprint I planted. I had an idea, a vision, a passion, which led to a plan forever ‘subject to change’! What a feeling it is to be free, in control, to express how I fully feel in that moment, and what I also wish to do for the duration I have set aside. This is one of the things I love about being solo, it’s just me doing what I want to do for a change. Not subject to anyone else’s whim, tantrums, agendas, and egos.
The Adventure
Where do I begin?! I want to sit down, sift and sort my photos, let the juices flow + marinate, then express how I feel about all this. I did a little video whilst driving on the M11 which helped extract how I felt about everything.
Grateful
So it took me a while to slice + squeeze the fruits of my fun. The humility inherent to my energy will always give heed to gratitude. So yes, I must begin here. I feel blessed, and sometimes feel like I don’t acknowledge this fact enough but want it to be known + written. I am hugely grateful to have been able to experience so much in so little time! I managed to do it all safely too with my health in tact, resources up to scratch + play in across a plethora of spaces + places.
I’ll say it with sincerity as I have before, but I am incredibly blessed to witness so much of this beautiful earth so freely, and have skills + knowledge to make it happen optimally. Plenty won’t even ever touch a spec or detect a fleck of the spectrums I serenade physically + spiritually. For so many around the world, having a break + bursting out with joy is a luxury. All many may ever know is the toil + hardship of surviving, not such moments of thriving. So yes, I am forever thankful to know both.
Challenging beginnings
I’m humble, sensible + realistic enough to also know that I still have so much to learn about myself, but also about how to make a trip an adventure. This is all the more pertinent when you consider the ambitions I have of upscaling to greater heights + new territories.
A big reason for this realisation is, well, so much of this is new to me. Having my own 4 wheels + complete mobility for the first time in my life is incredible, so many opportunities are suddenly possible. No longer am I asking if, it’s now when, where + how. I want to develop the technical + physical to enable the spiritual to soar. I guess writing these articles, engaging in reflections, is all part of that journey, the process, of evolving.
So what were the challenges? Well, a lot of it I think was planning + preparation, so logistics really. Whipping up scripts on the spot is something I’m great at but it does generate a lot of nerves + stress. But it’s how I’m also built. All my life I’ve been nurtured to react directly + decisively, to deal with anything that comes my way in that moment. Almost to the point where sometimes I need that pressure to make days of diamond!
What do I do about this? It would be great of course to be able to mitigate that stress because heck, I’m out here to have fun + enjoy myself. But the challenges are sometimes what makes it fun in the first place, particularly as it creates unpredictability that you wouldn’t have with a pre-planned script. But even plans don’t unfold the way they are wrapped in utero. I think this is something that is just going to be an evolving dynamic with every trip in its twists + turns. But the key, I guess, is to always keep learning.
Enriching + Inspiring
Oh yes I had ferocious fun! I love experiencing the outdoors, just roving + exploring. When I’m out playing, I literally feel like the world is my theatre + my feelings take centre stage. I am the star of my own film + show, the main character, protagonist + antagonist, with a mission to let my instincts run wild! Well maybe the weather on occasion, logistical challenges, are the antagoniser but heck, they also make it all worthwhile! There’s good + bad in everything, I guess is what I’m trying to say, when you’re out here trying to live life to the full!
I guess the only thing missing was people. It’s funny how my most enriching + inspiring day, #7 at Old Coniston Man, involved frequent interaction with some amazing people. I know I inspired others by coming out here solo, showed them that it’s possible, but at the same time I would love to be able to share this all with someone. In the physical, to do it all together, to have them also witness the small things, the intricate details, and capture all that we do + nobody else will ever know. It’s beautiful, to travel + experience the world in motion, and I look forward to the days I can do them with someone else.
To go back to what I said about inspiring others, absolutely. It is definitely, ABSOLUTELY possible to do it all on your own + have fun at the same time! To (re)discover yourself in every element + colour you inhale + exhale, where to fail is simply to learn, and ENJOY yourself whilst doing it all! I guess it’s an achievement, to be able to do so much on my own, so salute yourself lad! I guess I’ve been nurtured this way my whole life, because so much I’ve had to do on my own anyway, and adventures like this make me grateful for all the challenges life has given me to enable me to perform so freely + defiantly.
where to fail is simply to learn, and ENJOY yourself whilst doing it all
Growth + Evolution
It’s incredible how my ethos, my definition, of #REFLECTIONS burns brightly, percolates every pore, is woven into the fervent fabric of how I’ve approached this trip. I was taught, as part of my faith as a Muslim, whilst growing up that when you travel with people you learn so much about who they truly are, what they’re really like as a person. I see that in how my trip has been. So much creativity, high intensity, humility, and appreciation. Perseverance, curiosity, and sensitivity in my interaction with all that I encounter, human + natural. It’s simultaneously scary + mind-boggling, fascinating indeed.
The other thing I see, particularly now I’ve looked back at photos + other articles and had time to digest it all, is the demands I place on myself. Man I am very demanding of myself! I guess part of it is this drive I have for excellence, to make the best of every chance + tool I have, which is great. But sometimes I need to also just be more kind to myself. I’m a quick learner + adapt rapidly, so it makes a difference, but maybe, just sometimes possibly, I can be harsh on myself, even when having fun. Like I said, it was all safe + I did no harm others or the environment, so what is there really to criticise?
Because ultimately this is a watershed, transitionary time in my life. Plus this ain’t work, it’s playtime! So many new routines + discoveries I continue to design + deliver. What I’ve done with this blog, my site, has taken on a whole new level too as a result of recent adventures! So yeah, this trip has just signified + underlined recent growth + evolution in me, I feel. It ain’t easy, but I want it and will embrace it, and keep trying, trying, + trying to give to myself + grow.
On a final note, I wonder if I can continue doing high intensity trips like this? The bigger question is do I want to? I want to have fun + experience new, mind-blowing things, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be highly intense. So I think what excites me is generating that balance + exploring it until I’m at a place of peace with it. But ultimately, I want to always just be me, do me, because that’s what I’m essentially all about.
Highlights
I have so many that when times are hard, I wish I can draw my mind back to the #FREESCENES I spawned throughout the whole trip. I don’t like rankings and favourites, because I like to acknowledge + appreciate the meaning each day held, the whole spectrum of feeling that manifested, because it all holds value.
the whole spectrum of feeling that manifested, because it all holds value
But if I was to pick a day that struck me the strongest it would be Day 7: old coniston man, which was just utterly surreal + inspiring for a plethora of reasons. If I had to select a day specifically for the Dales, it would probably be Day 4: howgill fells, because the moments I witnessed there despite how challenging a day it turned out to be was monumental, almost ethereal.
utterly surreal + inspiring for a plethora of reasons
The Future
I don’t have long until my next adventure! I have to be quick and start implementing all that I’ve learned, particularly from a practical/logistical perspective, for the next one! I want to have more plans, ideas + options readily available to me so I feel more reassured with going off-piste and unleashing the beast within! Kit isn’t a problem, neither is getting food ready + having a decent abode to convalesce, which is amazing to be able to say + obtain.
Day-to-Day
As this is a ‘summary’ article, an epilogue if you wish, to the entries I made for each day of the trip, you can find links to each day of my LAKES to DALES trip below by clicking on the relevant day, and the article should open in a new tab:
Day 3: swaledale (from grinton)
drBACKPACK 
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