Author: Admin01

So, you’re this side of 60 and toying with the idea of embarking on your first walking holiday. It’s not as mad as it sounds. And it’s not just you – walking holidays are becoming increasingly popular as we seek out more immersive experiences and embrace the benefits of slow travel.

Whether you’re planning a series of gentle strolls or heart-busting alpine hikes, a walking holiday will get you out in the fresh air, surrounded by natural beauty, and hopefully, leave you at the end of each day weary but inspired.

However, the key to a successful trip is most definitely in the preparation. If this is your first hiking holiday, you need to decide from the outset how independent you want to be. After that, it’s all about getting as hiking ready as you can to ensure your trip runs smoothly.

Planning Your Holiday

Checking into a rural hotel and enjoying some pleasant local walks may feel like the simplest option, particularly if you have concerns about the hiking. But if you’re new to hiking, planning and navigating routes can be tricky. Bear in mind also that trail signposting varies enormously from one country to another.

If you like the idea of point-to-point hiking and want to hand over the research to someone else, some companies offer the independence of self-guided hiking, allowing you to follow planned routes with the aid of maps and GPS directions. They’ll also transfer your luggage, so you get to stay in several locations and experience different environments.

Alternatively, a popular option for a first walking holiday is to join a guided group hiking holiday where literally everything is done for you. No need to worry about routes or directions, or fret over where to stop for lunch – just put one foot in front of the other and enjoy the view and company!

Choosing the Right Level Holiday

Whichever option you select, it’s vital that you know the right level holiday for you. Look carefully at both the average and maximum length of the hikes, as well as any ascents and descents involved. Check also if you can cut short your walks if you’re feeling weary or if you have to complete the whole route. The secret really is to feel moderately challenged without feeling out of your depth or so tired that you can’t face walking the next day.

How to Prepare for Your First Walking Holiday

It’s never too early to start training! The better prepared you are, the more you’ll enjoy it, so start some sort of training programme as soon as you’ve booked your holiday. Apart from anything else, it’ll make you feel great!

Jogging, running, cycling, swimming and Pilates are all excellent ways of building your leg muscles and core strength but putting in the walking hours will also stand you in good stead. Intersperse long training walks with shorter brisk 30-minute walks, perhaps with a few hills, to raise your heart rate.

This is also the time to break in new boots if you want to avoid blisters and other common feet-related ailments on your holiday.

What to Take

If you’re travelling with a tour operator, you should receive a comprehensive kit list. In addition to your boots and socks, take lightweight quick-drying clothes to keep your luggage light. Little extras such as a waterproof cover for your rucksack, a sustainable water bottle and a small portable charger can come in very useful, and a basic first aid kit is always a good idea. I’m a staunch supporter of walking poles but do recommend trying them out before your holiday.

Local Culture

But it’s not just about the walking. Part of the beauty of a walking holiday is the joy of walking through the landscape and getting to see things you might not see if you were travelling by car or train. Get the most from your trip by reading up on the local culture, wildlife and history before you go and consider choosing a book that’s set in the region you’re visiting for your holiday reading material.

Eat Healthily

We all know the benefits of eating healthily but sometimes need that extra little push to put it into practice. Eating well during the run-up to your holiday will definitely stand you in good stead so fuel up on complex carbohydrates such as brown rice and wholewheat bread, lean proteins and healthy fats to build energy reserves.

What to Expect from Your Holiday

Managing your expectations will make quite a difference to how much you enjoy your holiday. Read through the itinerary carefully so you have a good idea about the terrain you’re going to cover, as well as the accommodation and restaurants on the schedule, so there are no nasty surprises.

If you’re joining a group, inevitably there will be a mix of people. Of course, you may not want to be best friends with everyone, but the more open-minded you are, the more you’ll get out of meeting your fellow hikers.

As for the walking, you’ll quickly find out that there’s nothing quite like the thrill of reaching a mountain peak or the end of a lengthy trail and discovering that you can become a hiker at any age!

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Have you ever been on a hiking holiday and if so, where to? Did you hike independently or join a guided group? Is there anywhere you’d particularly like to explore on foot?

“MAFSUK” is even wilder than the American version.

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and it reminds me of the importance of noticing changes in our loved ones’ state of mind and encouraging them to seek help. Prevention is key since suicide is a permanent solution to what can often be a temporary problem.

My first experience with suicide was when I was 10 and my grandmother, who was also my caretaker, took her own life. From then on, there wasn’t much talk about Grandma until one day, more than 20 years later, when my parents were moving from my childhood home in Queens, New York. While packing, they stumbled upon her retrospective journal, which she’d written after emigrating from Vienna in the early 1930s. Only after reading her writings did I come to understand the deep roots of her lifelong, tormenting depression, which eventually led to her suicide at the age of 61.

I tucked her journal away and pulled it out 10 years later just after my breast cancer diagnosis. I was hungry for answers about the cause of my illness – after all, no one in my family had ever been diagnosed with the disease. I considered the possibility that my grandmother took her life as the result of a cancer diagnosis she’d kept to herself.

I hoped her written words could provide an explanation for my own health crisis, but they didn’t. However, something even more profound occurred: the details of her tragic life drew me spiritually closer to her.

I learned that my grandmother’s trauma was being orphaned at the age of 11 during World War I in Poland. Basically, she was forced to become an adult when other teens were dating and having a good time. The lifelog pain of that experience stayed with her until she died.

Grandma’s Legacy

While reading her journal, I realized that I’d never connected with another woman in the same way since her death. As a child, I was an extension of her, and even more so as an adult after her passing. She was the person who planted the seeds for my writing career – not only because she was devoted to the written word herself (evidenced by daily journaling and a propensity for leaving notes on the kitchen table) – but also because she taught me how to type and write my first story, setting the platform for my life as a writer.

Days after learning how to type, I went back and forth between writing stories in my journal and typing on Grandma’s Remington, much in the same way I do today – alternating from journal to keyboard. Thanks to Grandma, in college I earned extra money by typing term papers for other students, and as a young mother I chronicled my kids’ early years. Finally, as a breast cancer survivor, I wrote a memoir based on that experience.

Deep Trauma and Depression

I’d never thought much about the depression that lead to my grandmother’s suicide until after my first breast cancer diagnosis, when I came up against my own depressive demons. I’d always feared depression more than I feared death. In fact, in my 20s, 30s, and early 40s, I veered away from any discussion of depression. To me, it was the poison that killed my grandmother and also infiltrated my mother’s life, so I never wanted it to touch my life or my children’s.

But my commitment to that concept dissipated. I began reading about depression and its genetic components. I think some people (and I may be one of those) are prone to depression as a result of their genetic pool, and that trigger can spring us into a depressive realm. This is what happened to my grandmother as a result of her turbulent childhood and marriage.

When we look for reasons why a loved one would take his or her life, we rummage through our memories, large and small, poignant and delightful, dramatic and banal, horrible and wonderful, in the search for answers. After I finished reading my grandmother’s journal, I understood how a life filled with hardships and horror could result in drastic actions – seemingly inexplicable, yet somehow logical – such as suicide.

Keeping the Memory Alive

Although my grandmother chose to finally give up after her years of hardship, she felt compelled to share her life story in her retrospective journal. Writing about and studying my grandmother’s life has been my way of keeping her alive. Sharing her story has also helped me understand who she was, what she went through, and why she ended her life.

After spending many hours with her for the first 10 years of my life and then reading her journal, I now realize there were many aspects of our personalities and sensibilities that were similar. We were both strong and resilient women in the face of disaster, and we were both caretakers.

Reading my grandmother’s journal reminded me of the intrinsic value of writing and the value of passing on stories from one generation to the next. I believe we stand on the shoulders of giants, but if we didn’t know their stories, we wouldn’t be aware of that. Grandma’s journal was the greatest gift she could have ever bestowed on me.

A Life Without Love

I completed my first memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal on what would have been my grandmother’s one-hundredth birthday. As I neared its completion, I recalled every image and memory of her, and the result was a renewed understanding of her life and what she endured. This journey has helped me realize that a life without love is no life at all, and those who’ve survived severe childhood traumas continue to live with the pain until the day they die. It is with this new understanding that I will hold my grandmother’s soul close to my heart… and never let it go.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What childhood trauma has marked your life or that of a loved one? How has it affected you and others around you? What do you know about depression?

He said what?!

Looks like they have competition.