Set Free

I cried when I left. I was scared, and I didn’t really know why.  Now I think it is because when we leave, we sense that we stand on the brink of something. We’re about to go off the edge into something completely unknown, and when we leave I think we sense the change.  What scares us is that when we come back, no one will understand how we’ve changed.  We hardly ever get the chance to explain, to tell people about each individual moment of beauty.  We get scared that those things will be trapped inside of us forever, and that they will never exist for anyone else.  In many ways that is beautiful, however, for me, this is my chance to set my memories free, and to set myself free through doing so. I refuse to be the product of nostalgia, and instead seek to share all the many ways in which my life is beautiful, and in doing so, assure that those moments, and those memories never truly die.

 Arriving in London felt like I was caught in some kind of frantic whirlwind.  The plane touched down at 7am, and I knew I was going to have to get some coffee, because there was no way I could handle the city without it (I save coffee for moments such as these—when you haven’t slept on a six hour flight and arrive the next day having to stay up, because you have no where to sleep—so that my body is immediately seriously effected by the caffeine, and asks as a battery pack for my brain.) I was immediately overwhelmed, no doubt magnified through my lack of sleep.

 The tube that I took was crowded and my backpack was heavy.  Pack light. When you think you’ve gone without everything you can go without, reconsider, and take even more out of your bag. I have never quite been able to master this, and admire those that have.  

 The hostel that we were supposed to be meeting at was conveniently located near Regents Park. After I had gotten to the hostel and dropped off my backpack, I headed out to get some coffee and food, and then went to walk around Regents Park.

 Let me set the scene a bit more, I attend the University of Redlands, a private school in southern California. Something that drew me to the school was something called a “May Term,” where many students chose to take classes that take them all over the world.  This year I decided to sign up for one that was through the school’s Outdoor Programs, and was geared around backpacking through the Lakes District in England, the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland, and then finishing the trip by hiking parts of the Tour de Mont Blanc, which would take us through Switzerland, France, and Italy. This is how I found myself in London, waiting for the group of fourteen to meet me later that evening, at our hostel.

 While I waited, to keep myself awake, I decided to do every touristy thing I could think of, to maximize our one and a half days that we had in the giant city.  As I was feeling overwhelmed, I took my coffee to Regents Park, and went for a long walk, sipping my coffee, and waiting for the caffeine to kick in.  The park was absolutely beautiful, and a great way to remove yourself from the crowded streets, and gather your thoughts about what you want to do with your day.

 I wandered through the various sections of the park, as there are many, which host various types of plant life, as well as activities.  A favorite section of mine was the Zen garden, nestled towards the back of the park.  

 After I had finished my coffee and my long walk, I decided it was time to set out and see more of the city.  I took the tube down to the waterfront of the Thames, and got out right by what I referred to as the Harry Potter Bridge.  This is a bridge with an extremely interested structure, which stretches like sails across the bridge, and give one a great view of the London Eye and the rest of London up and down the river.

 I continued wandering around the waterfront and to the houses of Parliament and Big Ben.  I was so happy that I was there to hear Big Ben strike noon, hearing the clock chime twelve times made me feel like it was some sort of wake up call, that I was being called on to realize that I was actually here in this place, and that I would not be sleeping in my own bed tonight, and that this was only the beginning of something very different in my life.  

 I continued on to see Westminster Abbey, St. James Park, walked onwards through Green Park, and finally to Buckingham Palace.  Firstly, I think that the parks are not something to be missed, and it is also good to note that all of this can easily be done walking.  The parks offer a rest from the otherwise very bustling areas that I am mentioning, which are mainly populated by tourists.  Buckingham Palace was extremely grand, and marvelous to see. It is worthwhile to check the times of the changing of the guard, for this offers much excitement and something to watch after having seen the palace from the outside.  I continued my walk through Hyde Park, and then decided to take the tube back to the hostel.

 I finally met up with the group, and met the people that would soon come to be some of my closest friends.  

 And then we had to do everything I did all over again.  To stay awake.  I also learned that day that England has very odd sandwich options and chip flavors, but delicious nonetheless! Make sure and try even the weird sounding ones! Prawn cocktail is not a bad potato chip flavor, and tastes kind of like barbeque.

I’ve always hated the initial part of getting to know people because it is always too polite, and you always get scared that it will never really move on from that initial point of politeness.   It stresses me out to have to live only on the surface for those few couple of days. I guess its necessary for comfort, but its also boring.

 We spent the day on our own being able to wander around London and see everything, most of which I had already navigated my way around.  

 We finally caught the train to the lakes district, and then a bus to a place called Glen Ridding, and hiked about a mile to our hostel, which was up on the path towards Helvellyn, the third tallest mountain in England.

We woke up early, to great our first day of serious hiking.  There were excited jitters everywhere, as we prepared.  It was certainly a wake up call for myself to have hiked Helvellyn.  The mountain is not to be underestimated.  Although I had never previously thought of England as having any sort of particularly mountainous region, the lakes district is filled with areas to hike that present a fairly significant challenge, especially for someone who considers herself only a novice hiker.  

 This was the perfect way to kick off the hiking section of the trip, because we jumped right into it, and yet it was not a lot of mileage.  Because of this we were able to return at the end of the day and have a long time to recover.  I knew we would eventually be able to go for much longer though.  The thought of my body and me, myself, becoming stronger in all aspects was really thrilling this first day of hiking.  I wanted to challenge myself, and I wanted to throw myself into something that was going to work me both mentally and physically.

 Since I can remember I have loved physical activity such as this, because I am very much a person that is way too caught up in their own head.  When you begin to do something active like this: hiking, climbing, biking, rafting, anything that puts you in a situation that is adventurous, it completely removes you from your head, and forces you to live on the outside.  You focus on the moment and overcoming everything that is in front of you.  I believe that this gives me clarity and courage to act and think and focus in everyday life afterwards.  It allows me to be cleansed.  Through living moment by moment, I only think about the now, and how to overcome each challenge, as they greet me.  

 I think this becomes particularly important in everyday life.  I have learned that the present and the future can no longer hold a place in my life. They make me sad, they make me the person I am not, for it is impossible to know and be a person that no longer exists, or that does not yet exist. When I live that way, I am me, and when I act with my whole being, whether with physical exertion, or mentally and with my thoughts, I act in the best way that I know how.  It is because of this that hiking, and backpacking, allow me to thrive in the act of being, and therefore work on those pieces of myself that need working.

 Right before the hardest uphill on the mountain there is a beautiful mountain lake called Red Tarn. Here the mountain surrounds, with massive outreached arms, the lake at the base of the peak.  The ridge and the peak surround the lake in a semi-circle, and it is beyond beautiful to behold.  

 As you begin the hardest part of the uphill, it is something out of a fantasy novel, because it is the type of ridge that you see in adventure movies.  Walking along involves scrambling and climbing upwards at some parts, which is lots of fun.  The view and the climb was something I had never experienced before, and it was incredible.  To walk along on the top of a mountain whose ridge feels like you are walking along the edge of a blade, is incredibly thrilling and life changing, because it makes you realize how much you are capable of.  Even the hardest and most daunting task is achievable by all.  All of us are stronger than we think.

Waking up in the morning in a hostel, to me, feels lovely.  There is an understanding among everyone that the bedroom is the place to be alone and to be quiet, but also where you can talk and socialize, depending on everyone’s mood.  And that is exactly the best part: that most people will tend to read you, and gauge what type of mood you are in.  As a result there is the lovely effect of being alone when you want to, and yet never ever feeling lonely (especially while away and in a foreign country,) because there is always someone to talk to, or at the very least another presence letting you know that you are never truly alone.  That being said, it is quite possible to have solitude, but rest assured that when you need it you will have friends a plenty, even when you have none.

 We woke up that morning to breakfast and packed lunches waiting for us.  As I had previously mentioned, lunch consisted of mainly sandwiches in the form of: tuna, ham and butter, and cheese (all separate flavors of sandwich,) along with crisps. This was our standard packed lunch option while at YHA Helvellyn. I never got tired of the ham with butter, which was my absolute favorite no matter how many days in a row I ate it…my mouth still waters at the thought of it, which is ridiculous.

 We wanted to keep our physical activity up, however, everyone was in need of a rest from the previous day.  We did a mostly flat hike to Aira Force, a park of sorts, with hiking trails, beautiful fields, and waterfalls, and rivers. Within the Lakes District, sheep out populate humans.  This is extremely clear everywhere that you go.  There is no end to the fluff balls.

 We later took a bus into the town of Penrith, which was slightly bigger than Glen Ridding.  This whole part of the country within England is filled with something that seems to take you back into time, especially in these small, more rural villages, where the buildings and structures are of a completely different time.  It made me want to read all of Jane Austen’s books and revel in the other worldliness of it all.

 Being connected was difficult throughout the trip, so on the occasions where we were in a town, we sought out coffee and Wi-Fi.  In search of Wi-Fi and heat, after having been drenched by rain while hiking, we found a small coffee house where we tried hot chocolate, tea and coffee, and different cakes.  We had been looking for tea and scones, a famous English combination, however, at the late time there were no scones left.  

 Something interesting about most of England it seemed, was that there was no lack of thrift stores. I was in search of something down (and dirt cheap) and was not disappointed! This is really useful to know if, on your travels, you find that you have left something at home, thrift stores are a great place to look before you invest in something expensive.

Today we hiked a mountain that was just on the other side of Ullswater, the lake that Glen Ridding is located on.  This mountain was called Place Fell, and was deceivingly steep.  As we continued our hike, we found ourselves caught all of a sudden in a rain/snow storm, and had also lost the path.  However, through locating a drainage we managed to get over to the other side and down to the Ullswater shore.

Today was a rest day for the whole group, as we had, at this point, logged quite a bit of mileage. The exercise that we were putting in never ceased to amaze me.  One of the great things about hiking as an exercise is that it allows you to burn about 500-600 calories per hour while hiking.  When hiking, it is easier to keep your heart rate at a point where you can be burning your fat stores, and this is what will keep you going for long periods of time.  This meant that on some days we were burning over 2,000 calories per day.

 Thus our rest day was much needed.  We went for a day in the town of Keswick, which was just larger than Penrith.  The town is populated by, mostly, outdoor stores, which sell all types of clothing and gear, and actually had some great sales going on, for quality outerwear.  There  was a great fish and chip place located at the center of the main street, which served them piping hot and salty! We also got to stop for some tea and scones at “The Wild Strawberry,” which was a beautiful and quaint place to sit and enjoy afternoon tea.  There English Breakfast was amazing, and the clotted cream was incredible.  I had a fruit scone, which means that there are raisins in it, and had that with clotted cream and jam.  The jams were especially cut because they came in there very own, tiny jam jars.  A place that should not be missed for tea!