So long, farewell, and thanks for all the fish!

Everything has a beginning and an end.

This blog is no exception.

If I’m totally honest with myself, my interest in multi-day backpacking has waned somewhat over the last few years.

There are many reasons for this, but I guess the main one is that I’m pretty darn happy getting stuck into the geeky stuff that most geeks get up to.  This has left me with little to no time for planning and executing long trips into the great outdoors.

Speaking of geeky things, I have also decided to get back to my roots and do a spot of Astro-Imaging after a 13 year absence. To that end I have started a new blog over at https://ukastroimager.wordpress.com/.

In terms of hiking, I will probably continue to put in the odd walk every now and again, but these will be private affairs and will not be published.

My intent is to leave this site up as it has a lot of useful information for people wanting to get started on their path into the great outdoors.

As a hobby, it was great fun and provided many positive side effects. It had kept me fit, taught me numerous useful skills and brought out a certain self-reliance that has helped on countless occasions.

Being outdoors can also help with your quiescent level of happiness. Most of my walks end up engaging a full ear-to-ear grin. This is from an introvert that didn’t like going out! So if you need a boost, I highly recommend that you force yourself out of the door – you will not regret it!

However, by far the most useful thing I took away from this hobby is that of perspective.

We all get caught up in our careers and the other complexities of life. These can often exert pressures of many kinds – some of which aren’t very pleasant. However, when one is out and about on a solo hike, one is isolated from all this which is a great way to relax. In addition, one has to make many decisions, some of which can make the difference between being able to get back or not.

These decisions are of such a magnitude, that when one is presented with decisions or concerns in the real world, they often end up looking rather trivial by comparison. This has the net effect of rendering them into the ‘not-so-important’ category.

The result is a liberating feeling. It’s not that I don’t care about these trivialities – it’s that I now see them for what they are. This means less stress and much more happiness! 😀

Anyways that’s enough of the inane wittering. I’ll sign off now with some photos from my many jaunts into the wilds:

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Adios, have fun and stay safe.

RobP