Be careful what you wish for...

I feel that 2020 may be all my fault.  One year ago today I wrote this blog about how 2019 had gotten away from me and how my wish was to spend more time at home in 2020.  Boy, did that wish come true.  After a couple of mini adventures in January, February and March, everything screeched to a rather dramatic halt.  I dug out my old work handbag the other day and found my final train ticket in there, dated 12th March 2020 - for someone who used to rack up intergalactic mileage on the trains every year, this has been quite a change of pace.

The mini adventures

Before lockdown hit work took me to Dublin and Littlehampton

Cliff walk near Bray (Dublin)

Littlehampton

As usual, I tagged on some extra time for exploring, which was all very lovely, but still rather at odds with my plan to spend more time at home.

In March, the week before lockdown, we finally got away together in Delores for a week in Clitheroe - it really is a lovely spot and well worth exploring - the sculpture trails alone make it worth the trip.

Sculpture Trail - Clitheroe

Lessons from lockdown

Since March we've barely left Cumbria - we took one trip to Wolverhampton to see my elderly mum during the lockdown reprise over the summer, and a couple of trips to Morecambe for some flat walks after I stuffed my leg in July.  Have I missed all the travelling?  Not one single bit of it.  I have had zero lonely nights in hotels, zero unapetising train picnics, loads more sleep and have spent tons more time with Steve (which I have absolutely loved and I'm hoping he's enjoyed it too! 😁 )

Not that this year has been easy - far from it - we lost our entire income and were firmly in the group that qualified for zero government support - but I'm a stubborn old mule and by working incredibly hard together (another big plus, we have dug deep and worked our collective socks off together this year) we are still here.  As with any tough journey, lessons have been learned along the way, so I thought I'd share the things we've learned during 2020 in case they are of help to anyone else.

• Focus on "can" not "can't" - I keep banging on about this, but it is absolutely at the heart of everything we do.  There have been an enormous amount of "can'ts" in 2020, but there have been plenty of "cans" too.
• Ask for help.  Honestly we would not be here if it weren't for each other and the support of family and friends. In April, May and June we had absolutely nothing and I was utterly humbled by the way our friends stepped up to offer help and support, They even sent gin!
• Learn new things.  We have learned countless new tech platforms this year as we completely reinvented our business.  There were some very long weekends, lots of tears of frustration and several entertaining mishaps - like the time I pressed the wrong button and kicked every single delegate out of a training session mid way through.  Ooops!  We survived though!
• Set firm boundaries between home and work - if you work from home, that's not always easy, but try changing clothes at the end of the day, going for a 'fake commute walk' before you start and after you finish, hide your work stuff away when you're not using it, and avoid saying "Just this one more email" - it will still be there when you log on tomorrow.
• Be nice to yourself - we have all had a crap year and we're all feeling pretty fraught just now, so ease up and quit beating yourself up for not living up to your impossibly high standards.  I've always hated the expression 'guilty pleasure' - just take time out to indulge in what you love, whether that's The Times crossword or bingewatching the every episode of Friends.
• Accept change.  This is a toughie, but things won't magically 'go back to normal' - we've all been changed by this.  One of my favourite quotes on change comes from the "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman: "The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

Of course I've also learned to enjoy flat walks, thanks to my slow healing leg, and have enjoyed watching the seasons change on my many (many!) walks along Grange prom.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year by buying books, sending gin and/ or buying us a virtual coffee - we really do appreciate it!  Here's hoping 2021 is a little less eventful - and I hope your new year is a peaceful and happy one.

DON'T FORGET - we still have all our books for sale right here - perfect for a virual escape or for planning your next Cumbrian adventure!

Happy New 527040 Minutes!

Sandscaale & Black Combe

I drive my boss nuts.  But in a good way I think.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  (To be fair I've been driving Steve nuts for a lot longer than that!).  One of the many reasons I drive the people around me nuts is my odd obsession with time.  I can set the timer in the kitchen when I'm cooking dinner and just *know* when it's about to go off.  Steve thinks that's wierd.

My new boss is starting to get the measure of me too.  Having been full time freelance since November 2012, last October I was in need of more stable employment and was incredibly lucky to land a lovely 3-day-a-week fixed term contract - this was after failing the personality and literacy tests for both Boots and Debenhams...  So what is it in particular that drives my new boss a bit nuts?  Each day I remind him how many days I have left; not in a "I'm counting down the days to freedom" kind of a way, but in a "I'm only here for XX more days, let's not waste any!" way.

Silverdale

I try to live my whole life like that, but it doesn't alway work out the way I'd like.  My dad died fairly suddenly when I was just 18 and it instilled in me a deep appreciation that our time on this earth is finite.  Many people act as if they have an infinite amount of time at their disposal, but the truth is time is the rarest and most valuable thing we have, and this past year I really don't feel as if I've spent my time as wisely as I should have.

True, I have to work to pay the bills (that's the really annoying part!) but I usually get the balance a bit better than I've managed recently.  To be honest, I feel as if I've been running to stand still.  Not even that.  In some ways I've gone backwards and that's really frustrating,

By Royal Appointment

It's also true that we've done some fantastic things this year; we guided William and Kate on a walk around Ullswater, man-handled a beer cask on a 138 mile hike around the county and launched two new books, but there have been so many things this year that we haven't done.  We haven't been away on Delores (our trusty campervan), we haven't been out swimming and kayaking nearly as often as we should and we've hardly managed any hikes for pleasure (as opposed to those required for research for a book).

I've been working away from home far too often meaning lots of long lonely nights in hotels, and then my weekends have been spent playing catch up with my writing - meeting book deadlines etc., all of which have been my poor excuses for not spending enough time with Steve and the rest of our families.

Helvellyn

Ironically I deliver Time Management training courses and one of the points I make at the end is that we spend so much of our life worrying about how to manage our work time, and fit in all our work tasks, but how often do we make enough time for the people and activities that are truly the most important to us?

What's most important to me is Steve, and the time we spend together in the fells, and on other adventures, but we just haven't done that this year, and I've really missed it. I have a whole week off work this week (my boss is no doubt delighted!) and, apart from writing this blog, I promised I wouldn't do any work at all; instead we're spending the week together exploring Cumbria (our rule is that we can't walk anywhere we've walked before!).

2020 is a leap year, so we get a whole extra day to play with.  That means we have 366 days/ 8784 hours/ 527,040 minutes starting at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.  My only resolution this year is to spend my time more wisely so that this time next year I can write an action packed blog full of adventures, instead of one about regret.

I sincerely hope everyone reading this has a wonderful, adventurous 2020, filled with fun, family and happiness!  (And here are a few other pics of things from this year, just to make me feel a bit better about things.)  😀

Scout Scar

Patterdale

Ulverston Canal

Blencathra

Humphrey Head

Langdale Valley