GOODBYE 2019 YOU HAVE BEEN AMAZING!

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac 2019 has been one of those life changing years the kind of years that means you can never go back to the old you! So I thought I would […]

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac

2019 has been one of those life changing years the kind of years that means you can never go back to the old you! So I thought I would post my top 10 moments of what has been the best year of my whole life! It was really hard to narrow it down to just ten, the year has gone from strength to strength with me doing things I had never dreamed of doing!

1. I did my very first hike from Trearddur Bay to Holyhead along the Wales Coastal Path and the start of me literally walking 100s of miles of the path! It also started an endless love affair with Wales. The walk was in May 11th and I’m pretty sure it was only 12 miles which was probably 10 miles more than I had ever done. With no map and no idea on how I was going to do it, I just started walking, following the sign posts! For the first time in my 35 years on this little planet I saw how beautiful the UK was. Little did I know that this walk would change everything about me.

2. I embraced my body! After spending 34 years hating the way I looked I realised it is capable of some pretty amazing things! And yes I will never have abs but I will always have a life filled with cake. Having my stomach out on a picture, even if you can only see tiny bit of it was such a massive deal for me! I spent my life yo-yo dieting, self loathing and killing myself with exercise in the hope that a magic number would make everything perfect for me. It didn’t and although at my biggest in years I actually feel better and sexier then ever!! Turns out beauty has nothing to do with the way a person looks.

3. I camped for the first time while walking the Southwest Coastal Path. I spent a week walking from St Ives to the Lizard, a walk that introduced me to some amazing people and showed me first hand the effect of climate change and over tourism. So maybe not the first time camping but definitely the first time in the last 20 years. Last time I pitched a tent I was in the girl guides, turns out it’s like riding a bicycle although now I like an airbed.

4. I learnt more about our planet and climate change while walking then I could ever have done from books or the news! It’s way to ignore what’s happening when you don’t see it for yourself but after literally walking 100s of miles, picking rubbish off hidden beaches and being detoured from paths because of erosion it becomes impossible to ignore.

5. I worked on my female friendships and realised just how amazing the people in my life are and how weird they all are! 2019 was the first year that I was properly single and the first time that I loved being single. It had taken me a while to learn to love myself and by doing so I was able to work on friendships new and old. I am the first to admit that I have been an awful friend in the past but not any more. I couldn’t have done half the things I did in 2019 without the love and support of some wonderful women in my life.

6. I climbed Scafell Pike, my first Mountain and it awakened a new passion in me! It took forever but I knew I didn’t want to give up! I had never even considered climbing a mountain until a friend suggested it, not sure I could even do it I strapped on my shoes and headed up! I had no idea while this picture was being taken that I would end up climbing some of the UKs most beautiful mountains before 2019 ended.

7. I climbed Snowdon at sunrise. Despite climbing previously which I hated! I wasn’t about to let it stop me from trying until I mastered it, eventually falling in love with the Mountain. I can’t wait to get back up Snowdon, I won’t be happy until I have done all her paths!

8. I did my first ridge and I did it alone. Helvellyn scared the crap out of me but I knew I could do it, turns out nothing is ever as scary as you think!

9. I did my first meet up I struggle so much with meeting new people that I constantly put doing meet ups off! Thanks to some wonderful people I’ve spoken to on Instagram I was able to get the courage to do one and you know what it wasn’t so scary. Looking forward to going on as many as possible in 2020 and meeting lots more wonderful people.