Tales from a down-shifted family
- Making the most of modest means
I’ve been preparing for my summer hike along the Hebridean Way — a two-week, 155 mile adventure across Scotland’s wild Western Isles. With my gear laid out and spreadsheet open, I faced a familiar dilemma: how much is it really worth spending (or sacrificing) to save weight? My base weight is already around 8 kg — pretty lean for a trip...
My Next Long-Distance Thru-Hike: The Hebridean Way My next long-distance thru-hike is going to be the Hebridean Way, from Vatersay in the south of the Outer Hebrides to Stornoway in the north. As usual, I’ll be doing it a little differently—and despite it only being in Scotland, the logistics seem to be more complicated than they should be....
Day 8 – Las Salinas, Majorero Cheese Museum, Coast Road, and Star-Gazing With the whole day free today, we had considered hiring e-bikes for another ride, but then Anna came up with a better idea. If we moved our airport transfer to today, we could get to the airport, hire a car from there, use...
Day 6 – Surfing Today we had a surf lesson planned. I wasn’t sure if it would be any good or not. I was hoping that Anna would enjoy it, catch a few waves, and finally understand what it’s all about. But as a surfer of 40+ years, I wasn’t sure how it would be...
Day 4 – Windsurfing Our planned stargazing trip for the evening was postponed due to a forecast of high winds. I’d already noticed the forecast, and with so many wing-foilers, windsurfers, and kite-surfers out on the water, I felt the need to take advantage of the conditions for some wind-based watersports fun. Since we’d been...
Our afternoon itinerary featured an e-bike tour, so we spent the morning exploring the coast and dunes, heading towards Flag Beach in search of the windsurf centre—which we never actually found. Along the way we found some popcorn sands which are fossilised algae that form sand that looks like popcorn. These form from marine algae...
Dolphin Watching Journee had also arranged an itinerary of activities for us, and today’s plan was a dolphin and whale watching trip. The logistics of these excursions were well handled, with activity providers contacting us via WhatsApp with meeting details, times, and what to bring. We arrived at the harbour early, watching the surfers before...
Our mystery holiday courtesy of Journee was upon us. We didn’t open the envelope until we got to the airport, so we didn’t know for sure where we were going until that point. Our guesses, based on various clues and little giveaways, proved to be correct—we were headed to Fuerteventura. The whole mystery aspect and...
Spoiler Alert – If you’re going on a Journee trip, tread carefully! We won’t give anything away—partly because we don’t even know where we’re going yet! But we also don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone else. With our mystery trip fast approaching, speculation has been rising about where we’ll end up. We’ve been getting...
There’s something magical about escaping to the countryside. The open fields, endless skies, and slower pace of life create a sense of calm that’s hard to replicate elsewhere. Norfolk, nestled in the heart of East Anglia, is one of those places where time feels like it stands still. Its charm lies in its simplicity—stunning natural...
Fitness / Technology / Triathlon
Fixing the Altimeter on my Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Monday, March 17th, 2014
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Hiking / The Welsh Nuttalls / Wales
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