Yesterday we got home from the longest holiday we've taken in the (nearly) four years we've been together. I am tired and happy to be home but also immensely grateful for the trip we've had. And despite my fatigue, I have already been planning out details for the next two trips 😅
But before I get ahead of myself and tell you anything about those I want to reflect on the epic trip we've just had. Although, trying to share almost an entire month's worth of experiences in a single post is just sheer folly. So instead I thought I'd do an unconventional sort of summary; a good, bad and ugly of the 25-night, 2-country, 6-location, long-service-leave-for-the-mister holiday we've just had.
This way I can write out, for you and for myself, the things I loved and definitely want to repeat in future trips, the things that were fine and could be done again, and the things that sucked and I want to avoid if at all possible in future.
Oh, and really, I probably need four categories to make this really work well and be genuinely useful, so let's do this:
The great
The good
The bad
The ugly
And I think I'll start with the last one first because... well, my post, my rules 😉
The ugly:
There were only a couple of nights I slept really badly on this trip, which was lucky really because I've had issues sleeping really well for years now. As it turned out these two nights were two nights in a row and our very last two nights on holiday. I can only guess that the fluoro lights in our cabin and the very hard uncomfortable bed and the very cold air temperature sneaking into our poorly insulated accommodation were the reason.
➡️ Too hard beds 🛏️
➡️ Too cold a sleeping space 😴
➡️ Stupid fluoro lighting 💡
Boo! To all of you!
So, Caroline, what can you do to avoid this in future?
Well, for starters I don't think we'll be booking that place again the next time we go to Canberra. But I guess how hard a bed is we won't always know in advance. But we can probably guess that a cabin in a tourist park is going to have cut corners to keep the price down. So, maybe let's limit the time we spend staying in this sort of accommodation.
Okay, now I'm wondering if there were any other things to whinge about...
Ah! The march flies on my bushwalk in Canberra on the first day we arrived there. Those f*ckers bite and it really hurts!! My legs still have multiple itchy bite sites from where they bit me a few days ago. So boo to march flies!
So... what are you going to do differently to avoid this?
A little thing called insect repellant. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.
Okay, I'm sure there's more I could whinge about but that's enough. I don't really like whinging... except for when I really need to get it out of my system 😆
The bad:
So, I'm sure this is more whinging but I guess these are the slight irritations as opposed to the things that I want to boo and hiss about.
Hmmm, bruising my right big toe as we ran-walked down Ben Lomond (a massive mountain) in Queenstown (on New Zealand's South Island). That is more like a "boo-boo", an "ouchy", a "silly me" sort of a thing.
What could I do differently next time since I know I am still going to tackle physical challenges that are a real stretch for my physical ability at the time?
Actually, what comes to mind is just listen to my body sooner and take action earlier. I knew my toes were banging the front of my shoes. I knew that if I tied the laces tighter they would help to hold my foot further back in the shoes but I kept putting it off for a few more k's and a few more k's. So that's what I'll do next time: notice when my body is giving me feedback and stop as soon as it is safe to do so and do whatever needs doing to fix or lessen the problem.
Hmmm, I wonder what else would fit in the "bad" category?
Oh, I really disliked wearing masks as much as I did. It was my choice; there was nowhere we went that it is required anymore but if I'd caught Covid-19 (which I have not had at all during this whole pandemic) then it would have messed with our plans royally! So I chose; I chose stifled breathing, I chose difficulty seeing in all the directions I'm used to seeing, I chose weird looks from the vast majority not wearing a mask anymore almost every time we were indoors close to other people. I chose.
And in hindsight, I'm glad I did because I seem to have come home free of said virus (even though there were people coughing on every plane trip and in almost every shop we entered, in almost every location), plus I got to hug and kiss and hang out with several immediate family members, including my baby nephew.
What to do differently?
Well, it may well be that the next time we're on a plane again that the risk of catching CV-19 is even lower again, but if it isn't (or if there's some other so-called deadly thing we are told we really don't want to catch) then I may simply choose to wear a mask again. But what I can continue to do are all the great things I've been doing for years to strengthen my immune system and maybe I won't catch said things anyway 😉
Alright, enough of that. Let's go to something more fun 👇
The good
There were so, so, so many good things about this trip that I'll happily include in future planning for our upcoming travel. This could easily be its own post but since I've just hit 1000 words on this here post, I think I best whittle it down to the two "good" things that first come to mind.
Catching up with fellow Hiveans in New Zealand. We had a great chat and lunch with José (forykw) in Wellington and in Auckland we had the wonderful pleasure of accompanying Vince (run.vince.run) to his first-ever parkrun. If you've ever caught up with friends from Hive in real life then I know I don't have to tell you how much fun it is to see virtual mates in the flesh. It's rad.
Is this easy to do on future trips, Caroline?
Some trips, probably. Others, maybe not. But what will help is to know where people are. If we ever make it to the Philippines I know several people there I'd like to see, first and foremost,
. If we ever make it to the UK, then
should expect a visit. And if we get our asses into gear and get to the NE of the USA then I'll be seeing if I can track down the legendary
. Of course, there are a million other places we want to go and so many Hiveans we want to see. If you'd love a visit and we haven't already
spokenwritten to each other about where you live in the world, do tell me in a comment below. I can't guarantee we'll get there (as much as I'd love to visit youI'm not sure I'm ever going to feel safe travelling to Nigeria... but who knows!) but if I don't know where you are then I certainly can't ever come to visit you 😄
So, one more good thing and then onto the greats...
Successfully climbing Ben Lomond.
I mentioned this huge mountain hike above (when I hurt my right big toe) but really, hiking up and then run-walking down this huge mountain was one of the most epic things I'd done in years. It was a stretch for both of us physically and it was so fun to achieve something this challenging.
Also, did I mention that it was epically beautiful? Ridiculous. Gorgeous. Breathtaking.
We were extremely lucky with the weather; it was cold but not scary dangerous cold and it was windy but not out of control and it was a bit cloudy but the clouds brought no rain. So good.
We made it up and down over 1500 metres in elevation gain and loss, over 18.5km of distance covered, in just under 7 hours including all small breaks. Amazing.
So Caroline, you had a good time climbing this mountain. That's great. But... what are you going to do about that in future? It's not like there's a massive peak to climb in every town you're ever going to want to visit 🤔
Good point. We do love climbing mountains (or "hills" depending on your definition of such things 😆) but we also love beautiful hikes, and coastal walks, and any chunk of bush or forest where we can run or walk and see gorgeous views and/or waterfalls. So we'll just (continue to) keep this love of beautiful outdoor places front of mind when we're planning and I'm sure we'll find all manner of opportunities to explore.
Finally... last one...
The great:
Queenstown.
If you've ever been there you'll know why it gets to be one of the two "great" things I mention in this post. I know that's hard to replicate in future trips that don't go to this location, so let me break down why I felt it was so awesome and maybe I can replicate those parts in future trips.
- It's a tourist town filled with happy holidaymakers
- It overlooks a huge lake (with lots of birds)
- It is surrounded by huge mountains, with trails you can walk or run up and down
- Our accommodation was luxurious and great value for money
- The weather was tolerably cold, not too windy, with barely any rain
- There was a parkrun we hadn't done before
- There were lots of options for meals within easy walking distance
Can you replicate all of these somewhere else, Caroline?
Probably not all of them, all together, all in one place (although Jindabyne in New South Wales comes close!) but we can definitely get some or most of these in several other locations. And now that we both realise we love these aspects of a destination so much we'll actively look for them. (BTW, do you know anywhere in the world that has all these features? It could be anywhere that the weather is tolerably hot too. If you know somewhere, pop it in the comments!)
One more great thing (although I'm sure there are many, many more)...
Hugging my loved ones.
This one is great (haha!) because it encompasses hugging my darling mister who was with me every step of the way, hugging my aging mum who I adore (when she's not driving me nuts 😅) as well as my "little" sister (who I miss a lot and is too busy to do phone calls most of the time).
It also includes my 6-year-old niece, who seems to be turning into more and more of her own differentiated human every time I see her and my ultra-cuddly giant of a younger brother who probably misses my hugs as much I miss his, and my now 11-month-old, ridiculously cute as heck, nephew.
Hugs with this little guy were even more special because it's the very first time I got to hold him since he was born, and thankfully we got along extremely well... something about me crawling on the floor and playing with him, methinks 😉
Finally, I got big hugs, several times with a dear friend who I wasn't sure I'd get to see but ended up seeing twice in three days while in Canberra. She's one of my fave humans, a soul mate I see once every few years and a darling woman who makes the world a better place by simply existing. Oh! And after much hassle and many attempts at planning, I also got to see and hug another dear friend in the Mornington Peninsula area, south of Melbourne. That was fun because I talk to this friend semi-regularly on the phone and in text messages but so rarely get to see her in person.
So many hugs! With dear loved ones! I'm so blessed. Truly. And maybe I've realised what makes a trip the most special for me, over and above the adventures, the new parkruns, eating at yummy restaurants, staying in lovely places... it's pressing my loving heart against the heart of another human I love and remembering that love is really all there is.
{All photos in this post were taken by me except the very first and the very last ones, they were taken by my darling side-kick, Brad, aka 