As 2017 draws to a close, I am looking forward to 2018. It brings with it one walk I have wanted to do for most of my adult life – the Norwegian pilgrimage trail from capital city Oslo to my home town of Trondheim, previously called Nidaros, and the cathedral dedicated to St Olav. I was going to leave it until the summer I turn 50, to celebrate the round number, but then friends started falling ill and I realised I might not have the luxury of health, wealth or time to choose. So my friend and I are starting in the early summer next year, taking five weeks plus to walk it.
Hopefully we will arrive happy, healthy and zen, with less excess weight in our packs, bodies and minds. I am hoping to get a few shorter walks in before this though, because I like walking and because I want to test my fitness and kit before I start off from Oslo.
I am also hoping to be able to go for a walk with my Scouse Spouse again, now that he has healed quite well and is walking again. A three or four day Sandstone Trail is on the cards to get back into walking. He can’t carry a pack though, so he has a waist pack for now and I can carry the essentials. Or he can get pack transport if he/we go back to Spain.
I hope to be able to organise a Celtic Camino with my camiga from 2014, some day walks with the local pilgrim group or the Ramblers, and also have some local walks lined up with a friend – every little helps and a nice walk and talk on a sunny day is good for the body and soul.
And of course I have signed up to some challenges:
I completed the Walk 1000 miles challenge in 2017, but in metric … 1000 miles equals 1609 km and I have walked near enough 1700 this year. Not bad considering I have hardly moved since my husband’s accident on the camino.
For 2018 I am aiming to walk 2018 km! It’s a bit of an increase but with my St Olav preparation and walk I should be able to do it.
Another challenge is the Everest Anywhere, aiming to walk 8,848 vertical metres, the height of Mount Everest, uphill throughout the year. By adding all your hills and stairs you will soon be moving up Everest wherever you are. I have a Fitbit which counts the number of floors I walk up, and this year I have managed 5,000 floors without really trying. Next year I hope to make my challenge more interesting by walking up 8,848 floors instead of metres … I am going to take a morning walk to the valley down the road and walk up and down each side a few times and see how many floors that is!
I hope you have all had a good year and that the next will bring more of the good stuff and less of the bad, that you are well and able to do the things you want and always find new things you want to do. Happy New Year and Buen Camino!
Somewhere Slowly 