Adventures with anxiety: The importance of exercise

Hey everyone! Installment two of the “Adventures with anxiety” series is a post talking about the importance of exercise when it comes to maintaining good mental health and wellbeing, and keeping anxiety at bay.

Benefits of exercise for the anxious person:

• Endorphins released (hormones released by the brain to relieve pain, reduce stress and improve mood)

• You get to interact with class participants, teachers, gym buddies

• You’ll feel a “little win” when completing a session or class

• It burns off excess adrenaline released by trigger of sympathetic nervous system when anxious

• Often gets you out of the house

• Boosts confidence and self-belief

We all know that exercise has great benefits for our body and our mind. It’s been drummed into us since school, and is spoken about a lot in mainstream media. However, it’s not easy to become a lover of exercise if you’re simply not built that way. I have never really enjoyed exercising. I used to write fake notes from my mum to give to the PE teacher at school to say I couldn’t take part in this activity because I was on my period or poorly. My dislike of exercise definitely came from being ‘forced’ to do it a few times a week at school. In secondary school in that awkward teenager stage the last thing you want to do is get changed in front of everyone, show off your lack of coordination in front of everyone (including those that dislike you or perhaps even bully you) and then use a communal shower.

And so I avoided exercise at all costs. Back then, I was slim without trying to be. I ate all day and my metabolism helped keep me skinny. I don’t think I really appreciated this at the time, as now I am almost 30 years old, I’ve come to realise that that was a phase. My metabolism has slowed down, it’s harder to stay slim and much easier to put weight on if I have a few days where I don’t pay attention to what I eat.

In the last five years where exercise has become a means to staying the size I feel most comfortable at, it turned into a necessary evil. I still didn’t like doing it, but I did it sometimes to keep myself a weight I deemed acceptable. I tended to stick to running on the treadmill as it gave quick results and made me feel good about myself. It was easier than running outside as the machine would pace my run and track my time and calories etc.

And then I found yoga. If you know me well, you’ll know that I started yoga practice about 6 years ago and I loved it from the first instant I did it. It was a gentle form of exercise that included meditation and which I found improved my mental health massively. It allowed me to be social and interact with people in my class on a low-key, no pressure basis. It toned my body, improved my flexibility and allowed me to work on my breathwork. I felt more energised, calmer and happier.

I realised I had found my “thing”. It had taken me a long time and I’d had to try out several classes at the gym and forms of exercise such as running outdoors, running on the treadmill, weights, HIIT classes, spin, martial arts - the list goes on! Finding an exercise that I love has been both physically and mentally positive for me. It keeps my anxiety at bay the more I practice. I now easily notice the affect that skipping a yoga class has on my mental state.

On the other hand, I still sometimes feel anxious during a yoga class or whilst exercising, and I remind myself to pause or come back to my breathwork as that calms me. I also remind myself that if I need to leave the class, I have that option. I am choosing to be there. Sometimes I feel anxious before a yoga class, especially if it is in the evening, and find myself changing my behaviour through the day prior to a class. Because of this I try to do my practice in the mornings when I can.

So that’s it.. yoga is my “thing”.

It’s time for you to find your thing. Go out there and exercise your little butt off. Your mind will thank you for it.

Top tip: If you find that the thought of exercising in a class or group setting fills you with anxious feelings, ask a friend to go with you initially.

Adventures with anxiety: The power of journaling

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I posted some short, easy to read content on here and so here goes… I’m going to begin writing some small blog posts about my adventures with anxiety.

I’ve had anxiety for a long time, almost 15 years now, which is half of my life. I was journaling this morning and when I realised it had been that long - half of my life - I almost gasped out loud. Instead, I gasped internally and decided I would begin to speak out about this condition which I’ve battled with for so long, by putting some words about it out there.

I’m not sure if I was ever officially diagnosed with anxiety disorder, or if I just worked out that was what I had. For a period of time in my teenage years I thought I had phobias or OCD’s, which I do believe I have some tendencies of, but it has become clear to me through the investigation of mental health and numerous visits to doctors and health professionals that I have anxiety. My anxiety is not generalised, although in the time I’ve had it it has spread from certain situations into more aspects of my day to day life.

I know anxiety well. I have been anxious a lot of the time of my almost 30 years on the planet. Anxiety has been the reason I’ve cried, run, fought and spent a lot of time frustrated and exhausted. Anxiety tried to swallow me whole.

Have you ever been in the ocean and at the last minute you notice a big wave coming towards you and before you have time to get out of the way it comes down full force on top of you? A wall of heavy water hitting you, annihilating you, swamping you. You swallow water. You taste salt. You realise you can’t breathe. Your lungs don’t have enough air in them. And then you reach up and break the surface of the water, bringing your face back up and readying yourself for that precious intake of air that you so desperately need. But before you can inhale, another wave lands on top of you. You are crushed by the all consuming water. You realise just how small you are, how at the mercy of the elements you are, how weak you are.

Eventually, you do manage to gasp in a breath of air. You take a few seconds to reassess. Did you almost just die? Are you being overdramatic? You feel mind shatteringly exhausted. You are tired in your bones, in your head, in your core. Your limbs are heavy and your brain is fuzzy. You need to sleep for an eternity.

You may get that sleep you need. Or you may not. At some point, the waves begin to strike you once more.

For a long time, that’s what anxiety felt like for me.

I want to reach out to anyone that is feeling or has felt this way. You are not alone. So many of us experience anxious thoughts and feelings. So many of us change our behaviour to fit our anxieties.

Step one on beginning to see things more clearly?

Journaling.

The power of journaling is unmatched in the way it can instantly soothe our minds. Getting things out of our heads and down onto the page is a very cathartic process as it allows us to express our innermost thoughts, feelings and behaviours freely, without the worry that we will be judged by others. No-one is going to read your journal, so you can really let your thoughts fly as your pen glides across the paper. You may think I’m old fashioned, but I recommend using good old pen and paper for this process as you will feel more connected to the process through the physical action of writing. You can also doodle in your journal if you’re feeling creative or artsy.

The reason that getting our thoughts out of our heads and down onto a page is so important is that it allows us to process things more fully, and makes sure that certain thoughts or feelings don’t fester inside of us. It’s a healthy way of expressing ourselves and getting to know our own emotions better.

You don’t have to journal a certain amount each day - if you only have time for a few lines that’s fine. I would suggest that you schedule in a time for you to do this each day and set a reminder on your phone to ensure you do it. Once you’ve done it enough, it will become a habit like brushing your teeth and you won’t need reminding. Finding the best time of day for you can take a few attempts too - I used to journal in the evening but now I find that morning journaling works best to set me up for the day.

If you struggle with the process, a great thing to do is to practice gratitude journaling instead. Simply writing down three things you are grateful for today will shift your focus towards positivity. The things you are grateful for can be a person, place, experience, opportunity, or something small like the taste of your coffee or the colour of the sky.

I hope that this post has given you an insight into the way that anxiety can feel and perhaps it’s reminded you that every one of us struggles in some way. Get those thoughts out of your head and down on paper today.

I wish you all well in your journaling!

#JournalingForWellbeing

Sleeper train: Tashkent to Almaty

The 17 hour sleeper train is an easy way to get between Tashkent - the capital of Uzbekistan, and Almaty - the second city and old capital of Kazakhstan. There are of course flights between the two but if you’re anything like us and trying to cut down your carbon emissions then you will be seeking something different. The sleeper train is also an experience in itself and provides something that travelling by plane cannot seem to achieve - relaxation, freedom, and rest.

With no limits on luggage, a range of class options which are all affordable and a restaurant/bar car, you can have a huge amount of fun on the sleeper train, and still get a good nights’ sleep. The trains are sleek and modern, providing comfort and necessities - there is one plug in each compartment so perhaps bring a battery pack to charge your devices. There are lamps for each berth as well as the main cabin light, there is a temperature control panel, and you are provided with a blanket, pillow and sheets.

The timetable - though in Cyrillic it can be easily deciphered

Departing Tashkent at 12:39 three times a week year round (correct as of October 2023), the service rolls in to Almaty at around 7am the following day. There is a time change of an hour. We paid £40 each for our bottom bunks in a 2nd class 4 berth cabin. You can book tickets and see timetables online at https://eticket.railway.uz/en/home.

We chose to go for a 2nd class 4 berth cabin, and booked both bottom bunks for ourselves, aware that two others would possibly be sharing with us. The bottom bunks have the most room for luggage as you can store it underneath the beds and we had a huge backpack and two smaller bags as well as a bag of snacks.

On boarding, we were the only two people in the entire carriage we had booked in - score! The attendant was polite but rather brusque; checking our tickets and passports methodically before letting us board around 20 minutes before departure. Our cabin was spacious and we were very excited.

The train departed on time as most do in this part of the world, and we were off! We settled down with our books and crossword, snacks out and enjoying the scenery out of the window. Our cabin had a spacious table which we made the most of.

The best thing about travelling in this direction is that you get the border crossing out of the way fairly early; around an hour after leaving Tashkent you roll to a stop at the Uzbekistan side of the border. The attendant will come round and ask for your passport, which they whisk away out of sight leaving you slightly panicked.
Serious looking officials then board the train to check your documents; passports, train tickets, visa if you have one, and they question you as to why you are in Uzbekistan, why you are leaving, whether you will be returning etc. They will stamp and return your passports.

Once this is done, the customs officials will come round - there is always at least one who can speak English and that will be the one to visit you - check the cabin using a mirrored device and sniffer dogs, and ask you to empty most of your bags so they can check what is in there. The officials are very friendly and were more interested in my crime fiction books than the contents of my backpack! And the dogs were super cute; I had to restrain myself from distracting them from their oh so important work. This stop is scheduled for 1.5 hours and does take around that long.

Top tip - they lock the toilets at the borders so make sure you take a trip there before the border stop.

When the officials disembark the train, you are on the move again, for about 10 minutes until you reach the Kazakhstan side of the border where you go through the whole rigmarole again!

The Kazakh border stop is much more efficient and only takes around 40 minutes for the whole process. Once this is done, the train is allowed to go on its’ merry way and you can relax. When travelling in the other direction, the border stop is early morning and at the very end of your journey which isn’t quite so relaxing!

Once through the border, the whole of the train journey straddles the Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border but there are no more official stops or document checks. Now the fun begins!

Get yourself down to the bar car where most westerners on sleeper trains tend to congregate. Order some local beer, some local vodka, and play some cards*.

*NOTE - On our return trip from Almaty to Tashkent on the sleeper train the attendants would not let us play cards. However, on our way to Almaty we played for almost 3 hours so it seems they can be quite contrary on this point.

Once you’ve enjoyed a few drinks you can have dinner on board as they have a whole menu of local foods to choose from. Tom had Plov (his staple diet in the Stans) which is a local dish of rice, meat and vegetables. I had a soup. There is an English menu for food/drink if you request it from the restaurant car staff - prices are in Kazakhstan Tenge and payment is cash only. There is a “money man” on board who comes through the train regularly and will change Uzbekistan Som, USD or GBP to Tenge for you at a fairly reasonable exchange rate. Beer was 1100 Tenge which is just over £2.

On we rolled, a fairly bumpy ride at times, and soon as we had predicted, several westerners joined us in the restaurant carriage. We chatted to a man who had travelled from the top of Scotland to Kazakhstan overland (train and bus) and was seeing how far he could get. We met another Englishman who was working in Tashkent and doing a visa run into Kazakhstan and back to Uzbekistan. We heard German accents and English accents and it was strange but quite enjoyable - so far on our trip we hadn’t seen any other westerners.

The restaurant car

We were treated to a spectacular sunset from the window of the restaurant car, which seemed to be over in a flash.

Once we’d spent enough of our Kazakh Tenge in the dining car we went back to our compartment. We still had no friends there, and the train had stopped several times and it was now 8pm. We had enjoyed the time on our own, especially since the cabin was very warm!

Bit warm there Tom?

We settled down for the night after reading our books and chatting for a bit longer. There was a longer stop of around 10 minutes at 8pm so we went out onto the platform to get a bit of fresh air, have a look around and visit the platform shop for some hot food - I got a cooked and buttery corn on the cob for around 50p, bargain!

We were ushered back on board by our carriage attendant before departure and noticed that our carriage was now quite full. We still had no-one else in our cabin. The beds were very comfortable and we found ourselves going to bed quite early at around 9pm.

You know what’s going to happen here, surely?

9.45pm - the cabin opens and the light turns on. Groggily I stir awake, I’d only just gotten to sleep. We have a friend! A lady pokes her head in, puts her bag on one of the top bunks, then leaves again - leaving the light on. I assume she’s gone to the toilet or to sort some things out and will be back momentarily, so we leave the light on and lie back down. But when she doesn’t return and it’s been nearly 30 minutes I decide enough is enough and I turn the light off and close the cabin door.

Around 5 minutes later she comes back and goes about the noisy business of making her bed, sorting her belongings out and assembling the ladder to climb onto the bunk above me. I go out to use the toilet, and when I am back she is settled. Light off once more, I get back in to bed and am rocked back to sleep by the rhythmic rocking of the train on the tracks.

There are various stops throughout the night and I wake at one or two of them, but not for long, and I wake up around 5am to get dressed for our arrival into Almaty feeling strangely refreshed. Getting off the train, we see a beautiful sunrise coming up behind the train carriage and we stand for a minute to soak in the beauty of seeing a new day come in, in a new place and country.

The Wimbledon Queue

Queuing at Wimbledon is something I’d always wanted to do - I don’t mind camping, and I knew the atmosphere would be amazing. It’s also a pretty sure fire way of getting tickets for Centre Court or Court No. 1 if you get there early enough or are prepared to camp for two nights, which is what we did!

Arriving at around 8pm on the Thursday evening, we were aiming to get in and watch the matches on the Saturday. We took along our tents, camping chairs, snacks and alcohol (of course!) and were all set to enjoy our time camping and chatting to other people in Wimbledon Park.

On arrival we were given a queue card which was for the Friday, we were around 600th in the queue. This meant that we could have gone in on the Friday and been the 600th people to enter, meaning we probably would have been able to get tickets for Court No. 2 for that day.

We went to sleep, having decided to wait until the Saturday to go in. Having informed a steward of our intentions they told us that the following day we’d be told to move our tents further up the queue when those going in on the Friday had packed up and entered. We’d then also be able to swap our Friday queue card for a Saturday one, which would be a much lower number.

Woken up at around 5.30am by stewards - and the need to go to the portaloo due to all the wine we’d consumed the night before! - we got dressed and waited to be told to move our tents. At around 8am, we shifted them so we were in the first line of the queue, and tried to guess what number we’d be given for Saturday. I guessed we were around 100 in the queue. I was wrong - we were numbers 57-60, and we were chuffed. This meant we would definitely get Centre Court tickets for the Saturday.

The Friday was roasting hot, and we struggled with the heat and the tiredness from not having a proper nights’ sleep. However, everyone in the queue was in great spirits and we enjoyed our morning. Some fellow campers had made a makeshift ice bag using a roll mat with a carrier bag of ice in the middle, into which they let us put a bottle of Champagne for later on!

We had been told in advance that we wouldn’t be able to leave the park or the queue at any time. However, we had parked nearby and knew that we could get away with saying we were going to/from the car for supplies if we were stopped. We decided to go into Wimbledon for lunch, and told the people behind us in the queue what we were doing and gave them our contact number in case any officials wanted us to come back or there were any issues.

Off we went, straight into Wimbledon town which was heaving with people! We managed to get a table for lunch at a café and spent a good couple of hours enjoying being out of Wimbledon Park. On our return, our neighbours said no-one had been round to query our absence - we’d gotten away with it!

We spent the afternoon lolling around, eating ice-creams and wandering around the park when we felt we needed to stretch our legs. We decided to go back into town in the evening to have a few drinks. We went to a local pub and watched some of the games being played that day - there were some great people playing and we wondered if we’d made a mistake waiting to go in on the Saturday.

Back to camp we went for another restless and interrupted night of sleep, excited for the morning to come, knowing we’d be on Centre Court soon!

When the morning came we were up and dressed by around 7am, ready to dismantle the tents and take all of our things back to the car before entering the grounds. We did all of this by around 8am, grabbing a quick coffee on the way back from the car which was parked in Wimbledon town. The queue marshals were so efficient and everything was so well run that they had us in the correct order and lined up ready to go in by around 9am.

The line moved quickly and we were taken in to a marquee area where we had to approach desks and choose which ticket we wanted to purchase. As we had already decided to go for centre court, the lady working on the desk told us which section of centre court she had tickets for. Not quite what we wanted, she conferred with her colleague on the desk next to her whom had tickets for a different section of centre court - one block back from the very front, and on the side exactly where we wanted to be. We scooched over to her colleagues desk and bought the tickets. They were around £120 per person, so very expensive, but worth every penny!

We moved on through the marquee and into another queue. Our bags were checked and then we were waiting for the grounds to open at 10am. The staff and marshals kept us entertained in the queue waiting to go in - Lavazza were providing free coffee’s to everyone and they also had iPad’s that they were taking around for people to play games on and win prizes.

Before we knew it, our time in the queue was over and the gates to Wimbledon opened. It was the strangest thing, being one of the first 100 people inside Wimbledon that morning. It felt so empty and we could wander around at leisure; like we had a backstage pass to the whole arena.

Once matches started we watched some junior doubles on the outside smaller courts, before going to find Henman Hill/Murray Mound or whatever you know it as - and watching the big screen for a little while. It felt surreal to finally be walking around the grounds after seeing it on the TV every year. We played some games in the American Express fan zone, got lunch from the canteen and got our first Pimms of the day.

Matches on Centre Court started at 1pm, where we took our seats to watch Alcaraz vs Jarry - two men’s singles major competitors. The match was incredible and Alcaraz won in 4 sets, going on to win the whole tournament. We also got to see Jabeur beat Andreescu and watch Brit Katie Boulter play, even though she lost to her opponent Rybakina (the defending ladies’ champion).

We were absolutely exhausted when the games rounded up at around 11pm, and getting back to the car took a while as the crowds emptied out of the grounds. We eventually got home to Gloucester at around 2.30am. What a few days - an epic way to get tickets for Wimbledon.

Would I do it again? Definitely.

Housesitting Horizons #3

Hey all! Here’s the third instalment of my housesitting horizons posts (shorter updates) which I’ve added whilst at Housesit number 17 in Andalusia, Spain…

I’m afraid I haven’t posted one of these for a while for a combination of reasons -

1) Tom and I both had a difficult couple of weeks. We felt isolated, lonely and quite down for a while in the middle there. As some of you know, Tom’s dad passed away recently and the isolation (location and language) of this housesit hasn’t helped us process things. Our feelings definitely impacted our productivity and motivation!

2) We had some plans whilst here which were incredible and included a trip to the beach in Portugal, a trip to Huelva for a nose around, a trip to Seville to do some sightseeing and a trip to Portugal to see our friends, which were much needed but kept us very busy.

3) I’ve been poorly for the last week of our sit - I’ve got tonsillitis! This kept me bed-bound for a while until I plucked up the courage to go to out of hours emergency centre and use google translate to explain what I needed. Antibiotics have kicked in now, and hoping to be back to normal in a few days time.

Anywhooo, I’m back, and I hope you’re all doing well!

Housesit 17 is coming to an end this Wednesday and we are moving on to Cadiz for a few days and then on to Morocco (eek, exciting!). In the interest of keeping it short here are my final points…

This housesit has taught us many things -

• We could actually get on board with a small dog - Rasmus is just the cutest, but we’d never been keen on little dogs before!

• Sometimes going somewhere they don’t speak any English can be exciting and adventurous, sometimes it can be the most isolating and frustrating thing there is - it often depends on how you feel at the time

• In this region of Spain, the churros and chocolate are enshrined in law (ok they’re not but they should be as they’re bloody amazing!!!)

• You can actually try clothes on before you buy them at the local market but the “changing room” is the back of the stallholders van with all the doors open…

• No matter how hard you try and relax in a yoga meditation you simply can’t if you have no idea what they are saying (the class was entirely in Spanish… I ended up planning my day in these bits of the lessons!)

So, as we’re almost-outta-here, this’ll be my last horizons for housesit 17. It’s been a helluva housesit. We’ll miss you sooo much Rasmus, Rosie & Billy Joe, but I’m not sure we’ll miss the decapitated animals you brought us as gifts, the endless ants that infested the house or the 40+ Celsius temperatures.

Hasta la vista, Aracena.

Housesitting Horizons #2

Morning! Another short blog to keep you updated with all things ‘housesitting’.. We had a great weekend helped by the fact that the homeowners friend looked after the sausage dog for us from Friday evening to Sunday morning - as much as we love him, he just can’t cope with being outside in the heat for long, and his little tiny legs can only walk about a kilometre before he wants to be picked up (and rightly so!).

For Tom and I, this meant we could drive further afield and pop into Portugal for a day on a sandy beach, followed by a trip to Huelva in the afternoon, by which time it was too hot to do much other than visit the city museum (mainly for the A/C) and go for more drinks…

On Sunday morning we did a 6 mile walk, which doesn’t sound far for us, but believe me when I say it was enough - it was 35 degrees Celsius at 9am when we started it! #CaminoDeAracena

We then picked sausage dog up, and had a great Sunday Session at a bar in Jabuguillo. This sounds quite normal and a little unremarkable, but here in deepest Andalusia, nothing is open on a Sunday - not bars, cafe’s, supermarkets or clothes shops… absolutely diddly squat! And we had been warned. This was a little annoying for Tom and I, as the weekend is our only time off together to explore the local areas, so effectively this took away one of those days, as who can explore in these extreme heats without stopping for drinks every hour or two?! So, finding a place open all day on a Sunday nearby was like gold dust, and we’ll probably be visiting them each Sunday until we leave the area.

Other quickfire updates:

• The mercury has increased yet again and the days stretch ahead where the daytime temperatures are going to be 40+ 🥵

• We’re still struggling with our Spanish but have perfected the order for vino blanco and grande cerveza

• It turns out sausage dogs don’t like swimming much but they can float

• If you have to sit outside the front of a bar with your dog as they won’t let it inside, they’ll not only set up a table for you, but they’ll close the road as its so narrow #LegendLandlady

• One of the cats brought in a lizard they’d caught, dead, decapitated and by the time we found it, crawling with thousands of ants 🙃

Housesitting Horizons #1

This is the first post in a series of blogs I’m going to write to keep you more up to date with our housesitting lifestyle!

So we’re currently doing a housesit in the Andalucía region of Spain, looking after a gorgeous (and tiny) sausage dog and two cats (both bigger than said sausage dog). The weather is constantly sunny with blue skies, but the heat is quite stifling and something we’re still getting used to - it’s 35 degrees today and we’re pretty much hunkered down inside with the fan constantly whirring in the background. Housesitting can sometimes seem very glamorous when viewed through the eyes of social media updates but in reality it is a lot of hard work. For us, that hard work is outweighed by the incredible benefits that this lifestyle provides - but remember it’s all about balance! You can’t have the life you want without a little graft and getting your hands dirty. This housesit is our 17th, which sounds like a lot, and we’ve only been doing this just over a year. We still love the lifestyle and the freedom it provides us with.

The low down…

• This part of Spain currently feels very foreign to me; no-one in town speaks English, and we don’t speak any Spanish… “Hablas Ingles?” has been the extend of my conversations here so far, and is met with a resounding “No” every time. The area has a real desert-western-cowboy feel to it, with men on horseback wearing panama hats and trees bare of leaves and shedding their bark. Are we in Spain or Mexico?!

• Before starting this housesit the homeowner let us stay in their ‘holiday home’ for a few days, where we made the most of the pool to cool off, walked across their acres of land each day and spend the evening soaking up our first Andalucian sunsets. Dreamy 😍

• Although it is really nice to be back in the sun again, it is very tiring being in such extreme heat; we’re trying to get into the swing of siestas, but all we’ve managed to do so far is give ourselves insomnia.

• For some reason, vegetables don’t seem to feature on any tapas menu’s here, so as a vegetarian I’m really struggling to eat out at all.

• We’ve got 5.5 more weeks here so we’re really excited about finding our feet in the area and getting to know this region well - wish us luck!

• The pets, as always, make the house a home. Sausage dog has become my shadow and the two cats are providing several laughs a day with their hilarious characters.

• Oh, and I tried driving on the right hand side for the first time yesterday, with Tom in the passenger seat clinging to his door like he was about to jump out, telling me in a strangled voice that I was “Too close on his side” every few seconds, and choking out a smile and a “That was really good” once I’d parked and turned the engine off.

So that’s all I have to update you on today, keep an eye on the website for more Housesitting Horizons coming soon…

The Caledonian Sleeper Train

One of only two sleeper services running within the UK, the Caledonian Sleeper runs between London and Scotland. With a sleeper service running on this line since 1873, the journey is steeped in history and antiquity. After a multi-million pound investment and refurbishment in 2019, it now provides luxury travel to all those who step on board. With just one seated compartment available, the rest of the train is dedicated to providing private twin or double rooms complete with their own private en-suites. Oh, and don’t forget the fabulous dining carriage for food and drink on board; which gives priority to those in private cabins.

I’ve always found sleeper trains a very romantic and pleasurable way to travel. Not only can you can take on as much luggage as you want, you don’t have the hassle of a ‘check-in’ or tiresome passport controls (unless the sleeper traverses different countries of course!). On board the Caledonian Sleeper you can get a good dinner before getting some good quality shut-eye, waking up to views of the Cairngorms whizzing past and spotting wildlife.

When to go: The Caledonian Sleeper runs year round and Scotland is a stunning destination at any time of the year. It depends whether you are looking to scale munros; in which case you need them to be clear of snow and should opt for summer months, or whether a snowy scene is more up your street. I love Scotland in all seasons and would recommend visiting multiple times to see how the landscape changes.

Essentials to pack: Your sense of adventure! You don’t even need to bring an eye mask as the Sleeper service provides this in your cabin, along with some chocolate and toiletries.

How to get there: The Caledonian departs London Euston station every night except Saturdays. Euston has extensive rail connections across the UK.

Cost: The sleeper service ranges in price from approx. £50 per person for a seat to £200 per person for a private double en-suite, with twin cabins somewhere in the middle of that price. The price fluctuates throughout the year, with summer and school holidays being more expensive than mid-week shoulder season departures. Winter can also be expensive as Scotland is a skiing destination.

Top tip: Those who book the Caldonian Double and Club cabins are entitled to use the first class lounge at London Euston which provided us with free soft drinks, hot drinks, snacks and larger food options prior to boarding. The lounge also has private shower facilities along with hairdryers, plug sockets and very comfortable seating. A great way to start any trip!

Snacks in the first class lounge at London Euston

Hairdryer and getting ready area at London Euston first class lounge

On board the Caledonian Sleeper train

After boarding we headed to our cabin which was a private twin en-suite room (called a Club room on the website) and realised the train was not quite built for backpackers - the rooms, although luxurious and comfy, are very small, as are the corridors where we got a bit jammed walking through the train. We found a helpful carriage assistant who allowed us to store our backpacks in the luggage compartment so that we had enough room to move around our cabin. Once we’d ditched our non-essentials for the journey, admired the freebies in our cabin and settled in, we headed to the bar-restaurant carriage.

As we’d paid for a Club cabin, we were prioritised upon entry and guaranteed a seat in this carriage over those who had paid for seated or classic tickets. This is also the case for those who book the Caledonian Double cabins. We had ourselves a couple of drinks - Irn Bru and Whisky, of course - and then ordered a delicious dinner from the on board menu which prioritises Scottish dishes with ingredients which are locally and responsibly sourced.

Once we’d eaten a hearty dinner and sampled several Scottish Whisky’s, we retired to our cabin to enjoy the plush surroundings and get to grips with the en-suite toilet-cum-shower; of course I used it even though I was clean - I’d never showered on a train before and the water pressure and temperature was great.

The shower/toilet room - lifting the lid on the bench seat revealed the toilet - a very clever design.

We had a very peaceful and comfortable nights sleep in our cabin. The quilts and pillows provided were of exceptional quality and we were warm and cosy on board in March. We didn’t use the eye mask and earplugs provided but they were a welcome addition in case we did struggle to sleep. There were ample plug sockets, USB charging points in the cabin and also multiple light switches and temperature controls. There was also a “Host Call” button which our carriage attendant informed us we could use any time in the night if we wanted a hot drink or snack or simply needed assistance.

In the morning, soft light streamed in through our cabin window as we got up and dressed slowly and lazily, enjoying the comfort and privacy our cabin provided us with. We watched various stations whizzing past and at around 7am we went to the restaurant carriage again to have our breakfast which was included in the ticket price - you can choose from porridge, cereal and continental style choices, or opt for something more substantial such as eggs on toast or a full Scottish breakfast. We got to eat our breakfast whilst enjoying incredible Scottish scenery and were ready to depart once we arrived in the Cairngorms.

To travel by the Caledonian Sleeper is an adventure that I think everyone should experience at least once - for a comfortable and luxurious travel experience with amazing food and outstanding service from the staff, the price is actually incredibly reasonable.

The worst part of the journey was getting off the train - I’d loved every second!

Who are Hitched and Hiking?

We’re Jess & Tom, a couple of 20-somethings (just about) originally from Gloucester, UK, but we just can’t sit still. Our feet itch and our souls need feeding with new places and new experiences. We got together when we were just 19 years old, and the thing that binds us together more than our love for coffee, quizzes or spicy food is travel.

Travel has always been the epicentre of our relationship. When we were 21, we set off on the trip of a lifetime, where we ended up travelling for 2 years straight, visiting 4 continents and 14 countries. We don’t usually count the countries we travel, and we tend to deal more in the experiences we have, and the people we meet along the way. I couldn’t tell you much about the sights we saw in Manilla, but I can still remember the taste of the pumpkin curry at Gacayan, a cafe in Port Barton, Palawan, The Phillipines, and that it cost 60 pesos for that and a drink (approx. £1). I still have the drawing that the daughter of the homestay we were living in drew of Tom and I and still regularly think of the host and her families’ generosity whilst we lived there.

As you can tell by the blog name, not only are we married, but we absolutely love to hike, walk, roam, wander, explore, move. Every new place we go, we like to explore on foot as well as by other transport. We feel that walking around a place gives you a much better connection to the land; literally, physically and mentally. Walking also allows to you understand how the place flows, what roads lead to where and what footpaths there are. Plonk us down in any place and we are wandering around it before you can say “walking boots”. We also have a head for heights and constantly look up hills or mountains we can hike up. We will be posting about our favourite walks, hikes and jaunts on here as often as we can. Please feel free to share your favourite walks with us too - we’re always looking for new ideas.

In 2022 we took a big leap of faith and rented our house out long term, effectively making ourselves homeless. We now do housesitting which enables us to travel slower, explore places we would never have visited otherwise and look after people’s lovely homes and pets. We did housesitting in the UK for six months straight and now have various sits booked in overseas for the rest of the year, in between travelling to countries we’ve always wanted to spend more time in. I’ll be trying to keep the website as up to date as possible with guides to cities we have spent time in, housesits we’ve done and hikes we recommend. Alongside this I’m currently writing a travel book, and Tom is working full time as an accountant (someone’s gotta pay for our caffeine addiction!).

This is my blog to document our travel exploits, be that abroad or in the UK, hiking or flying, rainy or sunny. I hope you find it interesting enough to read on, and I hope I inspire you to do what makes you happy.

Be authentic, be the real you, and don’t apologise.

There’s no perfect time to travel

I’ve come to realise over the last decade that there really is no perfect time to travel.

There will always be something that makes you feel it’s not quite the right time to take that leap of faith.

We tell ourselves that next year we’ll have saved more money and be in a better position financially.

That next year we’ll have brought the right gear.

That next year we’ll have researched into the countries we want to go to more fully.

That next year we’ll have received a qualification or milestone at work and once that’s under our belts we’ll go travelling.

That next year travel may be safer, cheaper or more viable for us.

That next year maybe I’ll have found a travel buddy.

That in a few more years I’ll have got that big promotion, and a big salary increase to match it.

That in five years I’ll have saved enough to buy a house, and isn’t that more of an investment?

That in five years I may need these savings for something big like a new car, deposit or wedding.

You can see how quickly it turns from next year to five years, and before you know it travel is a distant dream you once had when you were young and able to do “those things”.

Then there’s the “Well if I wait a few more months” voice telling us that we want to be around for a parents’ big birthday, a family wedding, a christening or an anniversary. We book tickets to concerts and shows sometimes years in advance and then we use those things as an excuse that we can’t possibly go away now.

The truth is, there will always be events and occasions that you have to miss, if you want to live life on the road. But here’s the golden nugget - you can do both. Last time we went travelling, we went away for 2 years straight, no returning home. Some family came out to see us, but we didn’t go home to see the ones that couldn’t come to us. Was this selfish? Yes. Did our family mind? No. They supported us. We kept in contact with calls, facetime and postcards (yes I’m a bit old school!).

This time, we have decided that we are going to make time to come home for events or pre-booked things if we can afford it. So, we are going home in a couple of weeks for my nieces birthday party. She’s going to be 4, and I know she’d like us there! We are planning to be around an hour from home at Christmas so we can see family then too. And there’s a concert in May that I’ve got tickets to which is in Bristol, which I will fly home for.

There is no easy way to ignore the voice in your head. It will always be there, and you will always get home sick and miss your family. But if you want to make a lifestyle that works for you, you need to work out how often you want to go and visit friends and family, what events can’t be missed, and which ones you’d just quite like to go to. Then, make the time in your trip to facilitate this.

We have decided that this is our time to live the way we want to, carving out a life which works for us and we are both content with. You know what I think? I think it’s time for you to do the same too…

How to make a difference to the places you travel

For those of you that travel, whether short term or long term, we all leave physical and environmental footprints. This is inevitable and we should all consider how we can off-set these footprints and make a difference to the places that we travel.

Community

All cities, towns, villages and hamlets have a community. A group of people that live there and are the life-force of that place. If you are going to travel somewhere, try to talk to the community that live in that place, speak to the locals and find out what they love about the place they live. Get tips off them; you may find some little known walks, viewpoints or things going on in the town whilst you are there. You may find out where to get the freshest vegetables or best cup of coffee in town. Mostly, you’ll gain the respect of the community members that live there; you have taken the time to speak to them and find out how you can make a difference to the place they call home. You may even make friends and have people to call upon should you ever return.

Support independent businesses

Most areas encourage visitors as people need places to stay, places to eat and almost always buy souvenirs or gifts. This means that the economy in that place improves dramatically. You can help encourage the growth of the economy by supporting local or independent businesses. This way you will also undoubtedly buy things of better quality which last longer, eat food which has travelled less food miles and stay in accommodation in which the host truly cares about your experience.

Go to local events

If you see an event advertised in a small village, go to it! This could be a fete in a small English village, a religious event which says “welcome to all”, a yoga class, a talk presented by the local horticultural society, a wine and cheese night or literally anything else. Yes you may feel out of place to start with but most people are friendly and you won’t regret going. Unless the talk on cacti is really boring of course! There really is a lot going on in the smaller places you visit, and it’s out there for you to find. If you are looking for the energy in a place, it can usually be found in the people that live there.

Treat the place as if you lived there

No littering please. We see these signs everywhere, but I know that some of you still litter, as I see litter ALL OVER THE PLACE. There is usually always a bin nearby too. Come on people, get it together! Treat the places you travel as you would treat the place you live. If you see litter, pick it up and put it in the bin. If you see a problem with litter, speak to someone local about organising a litter pick. If you see someone struggling with their shopping, help them. If you see an unkempt frontage and an elderly person living there, see if you can donate an afternoon to them to help tidy the place up. Look around you at the places and people you see, look properly, and you will see proactive ways you can assist a community. Then the hard part - once you’ve seen it, do it!

Stay longer in each place

If you have the luxury to travel slower, it is not only better for the environment but you will have a more wholesome experience of a place. You will get to know people in that area, find your preferred walking routes, develop a “local” drinking place and a favourite restaurant. I can vouch for this; I have travelled quickly from place to place due to a dwindling budget and a need for speed! I needed to see as many places as possible so I could join in those hostel conversations of “Oh yes I’ve been there too, but I much preferred this well-known place 4 hours down the coast”, and so I could tick things off on my bucket list. Maybe the inclination to travel slower has come with age. When we left to travel hastily across the world (ok, some people may not call two years a hasty trip but trust me, it felt it!), we were just twenty-one years old. Now, we are twenty-eight, and the difference we feel in our mindsets is quite staggering.

If you take my advice and stay just a tad longer in each place, you will feel as though you know the place differently, as more of a “local” yourself, and that you are entitled to form a full opinion of the place as you have given it the time and respect it deserved.

How to travel the world for free

Yes that’s right, it is now possible to travel the world for free!

We were in China in 2016 when we met a family who were slowly travelling the world by looking after other peoples houses and pets. “Slow travel” sounded appealing to us, as we’d spent the last few months hopping from place to place. All in all we spent two years travelling quickly, working out how much time we could spend in each place by looking at our ever shrinking bank balance.

The family we met told us all about something called “Housesitting”. At the time, 6 years ago now, this was a foreign concept to us and something we’d never even heard of. We had a rough plan in place for our travels but we had always planned to come home to the UK at the end of it (or when we ran out of money). We were still young then, returning home in 2018 after two years away and being just 23 years old. We settled down in our home town, got “proper” jobs and bought our first home in 2019.

However, our feet were always itching to go away and explore new places. We knew that although we had family and friends here, deep down we both had a longing for travel. We only felt truly at home when we were on the road. We realised it would take us quite some time to save up travel funds again and we had plans to visit India and South Africa in 2020 but then Coronavirus hit and we ended up cancelling our plans.

The covid-induced lockdowns that then struck us throughout 2020 and restrictions that lasted long into 2021 meant we put most of our travel plans on a halt. We had also gotten engaged in 2020 and planned our wedding for September 2021, which kept us very busy with planning and honeymooning until early 2022. Yes, we had two honeymoons - do you know us at all?! - We went to Malta for a week in October 2021 and Italy for 3 weeks in December 2021.

Over the two year enforced break from real travel, we kept fuelling the fire that we had inside us to travel and we added a gazillion places to our “we need to go here” list. We started saving again after the big spend for the wedding and we decided that it was now or never. We wanted to get moving again. No, we needed to get moving again. Our spirits had been damaged by corporate workplaces and the inflexibility of life - it just gets in the way!

Tom started looking for a fully remote job which he secured in July 2022 and I decided to be brave and quit my job completely in order to focus on our travels and hopefully start to write. It seemed as though the stars were aligning and so we rented out our house and booked in several house sits.

Let me tell you more about house sitting…

The family we met in China all those years ago had inspired us to look into housesitting as a way of moving around the world. We signed up to Trusted Housesitters and created a profile. Trusted Housesitters is a network of people looking for reliable house and pet sitters, and those looking to do the “looking after”. We both love animals and new places, so this seemed like a great thing for us to do. We immediately started house and pet sitting in our local area in order to build up reviews.

Once we had started getting reviews (all 5* thank you very much!) and realised how much we enjoyed the process, we agreed this was the way to kick start our new form of “slow travel”. We also quickly found that the longer the sit the better, as you could really relax into the space, form bonds with the pets and get to know new areas and neighbours.

We started being picky about the locations and lengths of the house sit we would apply for, and also started looking in advance. House sits go onto the site as much as a year in advance, and can be as long as the host needs. We have seen house sits in Australia for as long as 4 months, with only a pond of fish to look after. The best thing about Trusted Housesitters is that it is something you can do worldwide; you can house sit for a parrot in Panama or a cat in Canada.

So, here we are, about to embark on 5 house sits in the UK that will take us forward 6 months. Most of the house sits are around month long in duration and we have a variety of pets to look after. Best of all, our mortgage is covered by our rent payments, and we don’t have to pay any utility bills. We simply need to feed ourselves and enjoy life, exploring new places as we go!

Wish us luck…

Mrs H x