05/21-04/22 - Year Review
My last entry in my first Moleskine hike journal
It’s been one year since I started my journal, and with it intensified my hiking hobby. Since then, I’ve written 50 entries, over 200 pages and hiked 47 days.
The Journal
The journal helped me keep track of my whereabouts, about my emotional states, manifested memories, collected mementoes and helped me stay creative by giving me reasons to create stickers and draw occasionally. I aspired to create one of those Instagram and Pinterest scrapbooks that are so nice to look at. This one did not turn out as polished and perfect as the ones that generate so much traffic, but its mine, its full and its finished. Finishing things has been a problem I struggled with for a while. Projects are so exciting in the beginning, but as soon as they start to be demanding and need work, I drop them and turn towards the next promising project. Not this time. One year, one full year I stuck with it and written in it.
But that’s not the main thing: I’ve hiked and spent my time in nature for 47 days! 47 days are almost 7 weeks! Almost two months spent in nature. That is something I can be proud of. That is something that is healthy and hopefully has long lasting positive effects on my body, health, mind, and soul. The days have given me plenty to process, moments of joy, of hope, of frustration, moments of despair and love. Looking back at the last year, studying, relationship and outdoor have been the three major pillars, and because relationship and outdoor is interwoven strongly, my most memorable moments are part of what’s in the journal.
Some Stats
47 hike days are recorded in the journal, 16 nights I’ve tracked where I slept outdoors. In total I walked approximately 839km.
I must put it into perspective, that’s like the driving distance between Turin to Frankfurt! Damn haha. I got to let that sink in for a second…
Then again, the PCT is 4270km long, and the Scandinavian part of the E1 is 3350km long. There is still plenty space to improve. Nonetheless, it’s something I can, and I am proud of.
I’ve hiked in 5 countries, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Liechtenstein, and Sweden. The highest altitude I climbed was 3606m on the Similaun in Southern Tyrol, Italy. The longest section I walked was 41km in one go, I felt like I aged 20 years after sitting down on that evening, so broken my body felt afterwards.
Did I learn something?
Yes, to be a little more relaxed and confident, both on trail and in my everyday life. The “eh, it’s going to work out just fine” state of mind got reinforced, which helped me to be more proficient when wild camping or being in stressful situations overall. And I think I got pretty good at packing for long distance hiking: I’m not an extreme ultra light hiker, but in Sweden I managed to push my base weight down to 9kg! I was proud of that.
And I found out what still needs to be worked on, what I can improve and learn. I got to take my time, take it slow, take breaks and breathe. Take the time to take in the views, the smells, feeling of whatever I touch. Why go to another country to hike if I race myself to the end of the trail? Its vacation after all!
I want to get better at journaling, to incorporate it organically in my routine on trail, to draw more, to get the most out of it visually as I can. And I want to be my best version so I can be the best possible hiking company and, even more importantly, partner.