If day zero of my UK coast to coast adventure was about my experience travelling to and preparing myself for a 200-mile hike across the width of the country, I wasn’t sure whether this post should be considered day 15 or day 14+1. Either way, this was the day I travelled home from Yorkshire to Gloucestershire. And, most importantly, the day I tried to come to terms with what had happened over the previous two weeks.
This post is still an adventure journal, based on what I wrote when I sat on the train home that day, and in (my own) bed that evening. There will be a proper highlights post coming later, but for now I thought I would finish this series off with something that is often forgotten when planning and preparing for adventures – the immediate aftermath.
Adventure Aftermath
While my adventures in life have been small fry compared to many, I have definitely experienced the weird psychology of “post adventure”. I always seem to see this happening this in two stages.
The first is immediate, right away, as soon as I leave the end point of whatever adventure I’ve been having, and head home. It is a set of feelings that happen once you’ve completed the adventure, and are predominantly centred around a sense of completion, often with the adrenaline still flowing. This aftermath is still part of the adventure in some ways; the challenge continues with the logistics of getting home, and then there’s the (dreaded) chores that must be done before you start to get back into any kind of normal routine.
The second is more long term, maybe taking a few days to kick in, and is more akin to this idea of the post adventure blues. This is mainly down to the fact that there can be a grief period at the end of a big adventure during which your body and mind must both recover from said adventure, and fill the hole left by the dreaming, planning, preparing, and doing of the adventure.
The latter is something I’ve written about here and there before, and I might tackle again in future posts. I’d really love to explore and understand it more, I did study psychology once and have a keen interest in how our mind processes and reacts to events around us. But for now, in this post, I’m talking about the former.
Let me take you along as I made my way from where I woke up in beautiful woodland in rural Yorkshire, to the worst part of all adventures, unpacking.
UK COAST TO COAST HIKE ADVENTURE JOURNAL
Day 15 | Sunday 24 October | Heading Home
I spent the night sleeping very well on the sofa bed in Jenni and Dave’s spare room. I’d gone to bed the previous night very tired (after my first ever experience watching Taskmaster…), with very real aches, especially in my legs. But my mind and body knew they still had to get me home and so recovery mode couldn’t kick in just yet. Honestly, the psychology of adventure really is a fascinating topic.
The only anxious thought running through my mind was wondering how I would manage to get my heavy red duffel bag and my day pack on and off the various trains I had between me and my own front door. Oh, and what I was going to do with each while I went to the toilet?!
I repacked both bags to try and make them as easy to carry as possible, and just figured I’d drag them on the floor if I really had to. I had no choice, so I simply had to suck it up. Or rather, I had to go with the flow…
Tea in the Woodland
While I did have a train to catch, it was a leisurely morning in comparison to those we’d had over the previous two weeks. If you’ve been following on the whole story you’ll know we’d not been slumming it on our coast to coast hike. We’d camped where there were facilities, and had some nights indoors in proper beds. But here was different because it was Jenni’s home, and I was invited to make myself comfortable – and I did.
I often take my first cup of tea of the day out into the back garden for a minute or two, just to breathe in some fresh air, it helps to wake me up. We did the same here. The three of us took our morning cuppas outside for a wander around the woodland, which was just wonderful. Waking up to the sound of the woodland coming to life around me, I felt calm – ready to go home, but content that it was going to be a good Sunday.
Eventually, though, it was time to go. Jenni drove me the few minutes to the station, and waited with me until my train arrived. It was a sad to say goodbye to my adventure buddy, the person who’d had the same experience as me, but that’s the problem with living so far away from each other.
A Mathematical Challenge
Finding value on Great British trains really is a challenge. It was a logistical and mathematical task to sort my journey home from Yorkshire to Gloucestershire, which thankfully I had taken the time to organise earlier that month, before we started walking.
If I’d have booked one single ticket for my entire journey home, it would have set me back £106. Makes your eyes water, doesn’t it?! But if, instead, I bought three separate singles covering the three trains on my route, I’d pay just shy of £74.
Wait, though. If I bought those same three single tickets in the app instead of on the website (all of this is was on Trainline, which I find a bit more user friendly than the National Rail website), the cost went down to £66. I’ve no idea if that’s a permanent offer or if this was a special deal at the time I happened to be purchasing, but still, the app was 10% cheaper.
Four Tickets, Three Trains
But… it got better. Underneath the total cost in the app, there was a little link that said “do you want to try SplitSave?” – something I’d never heard of before. Choosing that option, which cleverly split the longest train of my journey into two separate singles even though I didn’t need to get off the train, my final total cost would be just under £54 (£53.70 to be precise).
Four tickets for three trains it was, then. Always up for saving money where I can, although frustrated that I had to go through all that to do so. The whole process hurt my brain! The total I paid for my four tickets was more-or-less half the price of the whole-journey option. There should definitely be some rule that says the total cost of a journey by train should not cost more than the sum of its parts – how do train companies get away with it?!
And yes, spending over £50 for a four to five-hour journey is still far too expensive, if you ask me. Train travel in the UK is a rip off, which puts me off bothering most of the time. Not to mention that it’s also normally uncomfortable and unclean, but that’s perhaps a comment too far for my coast to coast adventure journal.
Train Thoughts
With all my tickets ready, I settled in for the ride. I wasn’t worried about being bored, I’d spent the last two weeks on the move, so being forced to sit and watch the world go by was not a problem.
If I needed entertainment, I had my audiobooks, a couple of iPlayer shows downloaded on my phone, and hundreds of photos from the hike to sort through. Most importantly, though, I had my journal, and this was an opportunity to read back over my notes from the last couple of weeks, and to add a few train thoughts in.
As I read through each of my journal entries, I found the inner smile grow and grow. But these was also a tinge of disappointment over how hard it had been at times. I tried to summarise my feelings in a few short sentences – here’s what I wrote:
My Last Journal Entry
“Walk 200-miles coast to coast across the UK? Completed it, mate. Achievement unlocked. It feels pretty good, I feel pretty good, I am happy. It’s the furthest I’ve ever walked, and I feel like I’ve had a real adventure.
“But it was tough, really tough, and the accomplishment I feel comes with the background noise of how much better it would have been if I had been fitter. I’m annoyed with myself because I’d promised myself I’d get strong for this hike, and while I tried to, I failed.
“With that, I can’t deny I am disappointed in myself. It’s been a physically and emotionally difficult couple of weeks. I hate that I had such a battle with my inner self, something I need to work on to make sure future adventures are enjoyable in the moment as well as in the completion.
“I have wanted to hike the UK coast to coast for years, and that is a bucket list item well and truly ticked off. Even though it was hard, and I’ve got some personal growth to do, I already look back over the last couple of weeks with fond memories, an inner joy, and a desire to do it all again very soon.”
Making it Home
While I was struggling with the combination of the happiness and disappointment I felt, the enforced downtime that Sunday was a real delight. And meant I could push those feelings deep within and sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey. One of the nicest things about train travel is those big windows that allow you to see the scenery – both countryside and urban. The four or five hours it took me to get back to Cheltenham flew by.
Oh, and I was very happy that I managed to carry both bags without too much difficulty, found the toilet cubicles were large enough to not need to leave my things with a stranger, and had plenty of snacks and drinks to keep me fed and watered without having to spend any more money on the journey. The trains were all on time, the time spent waiting for connections was reasonable, and I had a decent enough seat for each leg.
Home Comforts
Walking through my own front door was the point that marked the real end of this coast to coast adventure. The chores began almost immediately, including the unpacking and sorting of kit, doing of laundry, saving and editing of photos, and other things I can’t remember.
I’d done the sensible thing and booked the Monday off work to give myself a day to decompress before the realities of normal life needed to kick in, but I couldn’t sit around for too long or I’d quite literally seize up now my body knew it didn’t have to hike again the next day.
I don’t know what you love most about coming home after being away. Naturally, seeing my husband after two weeks away was a highlight, I’ll always be grateful he’s happy for me to head off on the occasional adventure without him. But I’m talking more about the material things, the home comforts.
Having access to cold fresh glass bottle milk for my tea is an obvious pleasure, as is having the time and space for a very long soak in a bubble-filled bath. But the two specific material things I was most grateful for that evening were my slippers and my electric toothbrush. It really is the little things.
Reflections on Coast to Coast Day 15
The last line in my journal for the coast to coast hike, written back on Sunday 24 October 2021, is “It’s a shame I can’t make a living wandering the countryside”, which I think sums up how I felt about the adventure as it came to an end.
While the words I wrote in my journal on the train home are tinged with self-doubt and disappointment, quoted above, I can happily say I have a different view of things now. Even though some of the days – looking at you, day two – were a real and genuine challenge, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when I think back to hiking the coast to coast.
Hiking across the UK was not exactly a restful way to spend a couple of weeks of annual leave, but the routine of hike-eat-hike-sleep was rather nice while it lasted. I absolutely loved it. Yes, it was a challenge, much more so than I’d appreciated it would be, but it has given me a pretty awesome set of memories, and a real sense of accomplishment.
My Anaemia
Of course, I now also know that I did the coast to coast hike whilst suffering from anaemia, which will absolutely have had an impact on both my physical and mental capacity at the time. Not long after getting home from the hike, I was diagnosed with worryingly low levels of Iron and B12 in my blood. My doctor said my B12 was the lowest they’d ever seen, and they were surprised I was functioning day to day without needing to rest, let alone going out hiking.
The diagnosis explained a lot; the feeling I was having to drag my legs up the hills, the extreme tiredness I felt when I was on anything other than a gentle gradient, the brain fog getting in the way of making sound decisions, and even the inability to hold in my emotions.
As I reflect on hiking the coast to coast with this additional piece of the jigsaw, means I see some of what I wrote in my adventure journal – including those final comments written on the train – very differently. I have no doubt that it would still have been a challenging two weeks, I’ve always found hiking uphill a significant test of my fitness. But that genuine-at-the-time feeling of disappointment for feeling sluggish and being slow? No, that’s not something that has stayed with me.
To Jenni
Jenni. Thank you for being my long-distance hiking buddy. I love you and your enthusiasm for life, hiking, and adventure. The way you stride uphill, bounce across bog, and practically jog along the flats will always be amazing to me. Your knowledge of the birds, animals and plants we see makes every walk a real learning opportunity, and I love your never waning interest in the world around you.
I am sorry that I held you up on this hike, making each day a bit longer than we’d hoped, and not just on that Red Pike day. I know it must have felt like you were having to drag me along at times, but I will be forever grateful for the pep talks, and how kindly you dealt with my tears. Thank you for sticking with me, for encouraging me, and for being a great friend.
I can’t wait to return to the Lake District for more hiking fun with you later this year. Bring on the Cumbria Way – and maybe (maybe, maybe, maybe) even a mountain or two.
To Past Zoe
If I could speak to the Zoe that existed before and during my coast to coast hike, I would say: “You have got this. Cherish each moment, enjoy the scenery, and take it all in.”
I’m sorry that you were so physically and emotionally drained during this adventure, caused by more than the hike itself. Looking back now, knowing what you know about your health at the time, you did good girl. You’ve always been a stubborn fool at times, but it came in useful this time. I’m proud of you for getting it done, and am very glad the experience didn’t put you off hiking completely.
Those anxieties you felt the night before you started hiking? The ones about your fitness, the possibility of getting sick, the weather, the baggage transfer service losing your bag, getting lost, falling over, and the rest? Yea, some of them happened, but none of them stopped you completing this hike or enjoying this adventure experience.
You are fit, you are strong, and you are a hiker. If you learn nothing else from hiking the UK coast to coast, it should be that you have got this – if you put your mind and body to something and go for it, you will succeed.
The End
There is so much to say when I look back over this hike – whether that be about the route itself, the people we met, the places we stayed. But this is where I will end of my UK coast to coast adventure journal series. I hope you have enjoyed hearing the story told in this way. I will keep my promise to provide a few planning-friendly posts over the coming weeks, featuring my kit, accommodation, hints and tips, and a few of my highlights. But for now, here endeth the story.
As always, the problem with finishing an adventure is that it can only lead to the desire for more. While I would dearly love to walk for a living, that isn’t the way my life works, and so I continue to dream of and plan for shorter and more manageable adventures like this one.
Where next? In 2023 I will be walking the Cotswold Way and the Cumbria Way (see my goals post). And then who knows?!
