I sorted myself and the family as best as I could before I left, seeing as it was the first time i'd gone away by myself, leaving them to their own devices. I trained them on giving the cat his medicine, how to change the cat litter, and reminded them of the sort of daily items that no one notices get done until there is no one there to do them. I really wasn't nervous about much of anything, to be honest, just a little guilt about going, but I had to get over that. I needed to go. I also can't remember much about any work that I had to leave behind, other than that our house was newly on the market, and it would have been a bit of a mess if the packing had to start while I was gone, the kids had school, and Corey had to be at work. I had no suspicions that it would sell, though, and 6 months later, while I type this, we are setting up to do yet more updates to it while it's off the market for the winter and waits for spring to try again at getting a sale. yay. ANYWAY...

I've been to the UK several times, not shy about the fact that I'm a bit obsessed, so flying over was more like a nap on my way to a busy week. I really looked at this trip as more of a neccessity than anything, I don't want to delve into deep stories, but let's say that I feel that people sometimes need to take care of themselves in ways that might seem drastic to others. Life is so regulated, so expected, so strictly defined by what is allowed and what is 'normal', and as I look at the world around my life, it's just not normal. I am very sensitive to repetition, patterns, and rules, and I reached a point in which I needed it to all go away. I know that I didn't really know what I felt was missing, but I had a sense that this hike would answer a few questions. In truth it has, but that hasn't made me all relaxed and refreshed, if anything it's made me more anxious to solve problems, reinvent my life and surroundings, and approach things differently. If you are someone that feels that life as you know it isn't working for you, sitting at home and not changing anything, or not experiencing other ways of 'doing things', you need to shake off the expectations and look after your needs. That's just my .02 at this stage of life, and it's what probably kept me from being nervous about the trip. Dealing with a sprained ankle, being lost on a moor, days of rain, etc - those are all REAL problems that can be easily solved and dealt with, and must be attended to immediately. No whining allowed, and there really wouldn't be time for whining anyway.

Back to the trip itself - I flew overnight so that I would be a little less groggy on arrival. UK public transit is amazing compared to US standards, and it was so easy to just land and find myself in London a few minutes later. I had about 90 minutes between my Heathrow Express arrival and the GWR departure to Barnstaple, so I rambled around the neighborhood surrounding Paddington Station for a bit, and stocked up on some snacks. I LOVE British snacks - I was totally looking forward to a week of unlimited snacking on flavored crisps, chili chickpea salad bowls, etc. No need to worry about what you eat on this sort of trip, unless you really love junk food and liquor, so for me it was pretty liberating. I have to admit that my feet were getting pretty sore by the time I settled onto my train seat, but looking back that's because of all the pavement underneath a heavy pack. Hiking isn't meant to be done in the city....

It was cool and cloudy in London, but the sun came out at the weather warmed up as I moved west, and as usual I was fascinated by how quickly you leave the congestion and concrete of London and are into the countryside. My American mind marvels at the fact that non-nomadic humans have lived here for so very, very long without completely destroying everything and turning it all into vacated K-Mart parking lots. Not that I have any of those near my house or anything...

Getting to the start of my trip wasn't quite as difficult as I would have ultimately tolerated, but I had to change trains in Exeter and then head north to Barnstaple, then catch a bus to Lynton. About 6 hours total from Paddington to my hotel. My bus section seemed like a normal evening rush hour crowd, which was interesting because it felt like the middle of nowhere. I'm always wondering - when I'm not in an urban environment - where are they working? What made them live here? Where's the 'stuff' you'd expect to see? Clearly Lynton/Lynmouth is a tourist area, but it also felt like any small suburb - just missing the city nearby.

My first B & B was lovely - small and cozy, right on the edge of Lynton. I checked in and found a lovely restaurant in town, which was lucky because nothing much was open. Not many gluten free options, but the GF carrot cake made up for that. I spread out my maps, iPad, phone, and notebook and looked thoroughly dorky while eating by myself and covered in papers. My plan for navigating was a combo of printed sections of the OSMaps route for the day, with the path highlighted, then screenshots of the route on my iPad, zoomed in well, and then the OSMaps app on my phone. (www.osmaps.com). My thought was that if the app had no service, I could follow along with the paper maps, and if those got lost or torn or wet, I could pull out the screenshots on the iPad and zoom as needed. Just in case, I checked the hours of the outdoor gear store in town to see if I could stop in there on the way out tomorrow and pick up a compass and a hiking multi-tool. I didn't pack one with me, so that I could bring everything as carry-on. Doubtful I could get through TSA with a giant swiss army knife.... after dinner I walked the town for a few minutes, then headed back to crash. Part 4 up next!!

The solo hike, PART 3: shoving off!