I confess to being a voyeur. A voyeur of adventure. An eavesdropper of social media questers. I am a danger bunny. One who wants to dare great adventures at minimal risk. I’ve been watching Facebook hiking pages. YouTube videos on “how to” hiking adventures. I’m at an age where aspiring to become one of those adventurers seems far off.

In November 2016 I committed to being the me I knew years ago. I wanted another chance at adventure that was an outcome of being in shape.  So I decided to “man up” and exercise.

The first several group classes did not go as I envisioned. It was harder and I was slower, than ever. Every workout equivalent to climbing out of a deep hole of the slippery slope I’d gone down physically.

The infusion of iron for my anemia I’d gotten, was slow in turning around its effects. The malaise took almost 6 months to come back from. So I stopped the “man up” efforts of doing it myself. I got on a professional diet and trainer routine. Yes, it seems so obvious. I committed to myself that I would change. That the diet would never be “over” or “done”. And that is tough to swallow.

My trainer realized I was pretty awful, physically. She was patient and started at remedial basics like balance exercises. Try standing on one foot for 30 seconds. Time it. It’s harder than you think. 30 seconds – per foot. No touching the floor.

It’s a year later and I’m past those basic exercises. So now I watch for hiking postings from people in their 60’s. Who are still doing big adventures of hikes. I want to be one.

One hike caught my eye in November 2017. European Peace Walk. It’s a long distance hike that has only been running for a few years. I liked that. It was new. Not like the Pacific Crest Trail (which I’m not sure I could do at this point). So, I signed up. So did my husband. In May we start – 19 days of distance hiking through Europe with people I’ve not met before. I’m excited. I’ll be blogging a bit as I go.

I like to think of being a voyeur of life through windows and doors – or views and opportunities. And some of those doors I choose to go through and be a part of. The EPW this year is a door I’ve chosen to start with.

 

 

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth”

Robert Frost