Category Dumb Shit I’ve Done

Keeping it chill

As much as adventuring and traveling alone has it’s peaceful and enlightening moments, I have to admit it does have its downsides. For one, I’ve have a lot of time to think about what I’ve left behind in Scotland. The past year, I have made some amazing friends and met people I will never forget. While I hope to stay connected with many of them in this exciting world of technology, it is far from being able to send a quick facebook message and meet up 30 minutes later for a spontaneous sea dip. I miss that. I think it’ll be a long time before I stop missing the community I found in St. Andrews. Traveling alone is such an extreme difference, it’s hard not to miss it even more.

Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling alone – you meet way more new people and get to do exactly what you want without having to compromise. Just today, I’ve met an English guy named Terry who spends 6 months out of every year traveling and a German girl named Carol who also studied English and is now a marketing manager. On the other hand, when I’m by myself in my tent, it’s cold, and the wind is shaking the tent like crazy, it can be hard to remember there’s a world outside the tent where you’re not all alone.

In other news, it took me two hours to cycle just under 10 miles today because of headwind. Some horses looked at me like I was from mars then started running along the fence with me. So far, I’ve had at least seven people say in some way or another either, they’re impressed I’m cycling by myself in Iceland or I’m crazy for cycling by myself in Iceland. I’m inclined to go with the latter.

It’s hard to beat reigning wind

I have to confess that I cheated today (and it’s only the first day!). I got my bike all fitted out from Reykjavik bike tours and as I started cycling, it started raining.

It took me approximately 4 hours to ride 12 miles and I wasn’t even close to where I’d planned to camp for the first night. My waterproof trousers were drenched and when I stood up my shoes made that squashy sound like when you step in mud. I was on flat ground, cycling on the lowest gear, and still struggling because of the headwind. Then add in the hills and I was a goner. The thing that kept me from full tantrum mode though was the little ray of sunlight that created a full rainbow right in front of me.

At the top of a hill I’d been pushing my bike up, a guy with a pickup truck flashed his turn signal and a little further up he pulled over. I struggled back onto my bike and fought my way through the head wind and rain to the truck. Ten minutes drive and one hill later, the guy pointed to the side of the road and said ‘that’s where you’d be 2 hours from now if you’d kept riding.’ We drove another 15 minutes until actually getting to Selfoss.

My first munro

Okay so not everything has been down hill since, but the pun was too good and it did kind of work since after my weekend trip I had the pleasure of jumping right into revising (studying) for exams (finals). This post is incredibly late but about 2 weeks ago on the weekend of the 28th of November I had a little adventure up into the Scottish Highlands to where this picture was taken at Glen Affric (close to Loch Ness). I went on this Christmas trip with the mountaineering society from Friday to Monday and managed to keep up for one of the hiking days making it up to the top of the mountain while the second day I got to take this picture while doing some light walking and making it back to the cabin we were staying in, to do some writing of my own while having the joy of looking out of the window and seeing a picture that looked like it was taken from the lord of the rings or some other fantasy land. The cottage

I kid you not, this place made me feel like old Sophie trudging through the wastes from Howl’s Moving Castle while I slowly trudged up the hill pushing against the wind always following a bit behind the rest of the group hunched over and thinking “I am too old for this” even if I’m really not, just too out of shape for it. Sophie’s line “when you’re old, all you want to do is sit and look at the scenery” constantly ran through my head along with “I’m fatter than ever yet the wind blows right through me.” All that aside, it was absolutely beautiful with good company and great weather (for Scotland).

Watching some of the other people on the trip practically be able to run up the mountain, I couldn’t help but think that I’m the type of person who will write about adventures and intensity, while the people I’m with will be the ones who actually live them and I was in awe. I realize I love the physical activity and adventure, but I seem to prefer to take pictures and do things like admire the way the clouds form in the sky and how the mist consumes everything. I spent the weekend looking up to people my own age and just admiring their immense confidence in themselves and what they were doing. It felt almost like I was in a movie, but a supporting character instead of the main which I am completely okay with because it means I get to come along for the ride, enjoy it, and just concentrate on showing myself a really good time. Overall an extremely inspiring weekend to then go back and start studying…

one last picture.