Why L|ve the Outdoors? Simply, I just can’t resist a pun – but on a deeper level it’s as I’m happiest in the middle of open spaces.
That love came at an early age from my father who completed plenty of technical climbing in his youth – culminating in exploring the Himalayas where he tackled Everest (bailing pre Khumbu-icefall due to no supplemental oxygen back then) as well as trekking through Europe and spending a year travelling through India. The outdoors and backpacking ‘bug’ caught me early and has been always been a part of life.
Day trips quickly became weekends away and rapidly I was planning holidays to climb things instead of lay on a beach. Sometimes this meant hotels, sometimes bunkhouses and often carrying a shelter for a wild camp. It wasn’t important where, just that I enjoyed the fresh air and wonderful places.
I’ve done a fair bit of ski touring and winter snow-shoeing, in particular in Norway having lived there for quite a few years – and consider it one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Not only is the quantity of the outdoors astounding but the quality of it and way it has permeated the culture is something which brings me a lot of joy. It seems most Norwegians have fostered a fierce sense of national pride in their surroundings, culminating in a vigilance in how they protect and maintain it.
The national parks of Jotunheimen and Hardangervidda especially are places I’d encourage anyone to visit if their soul sings in wild places. If anyone out there is a fan of Scandinavia and content from there – I have an open invitation to do some glacier walking over there with my former colleagues, so expect that to appear on this blog at some point in the future. I may even end posting some Scandinavian traditional food recipes if I end up inspired!
I’m an analyst and project manager by trade which does allow me some flexibility when it comes to trips – a real blessing. I’m also qualifying myself as an outdoors professional with the intention of taking groups out in a variety of conditions across the world. Swapping the warm office and spreadsheets for gas stoves and group shelters seems an odd choice, but the more time I spend in the outdoors I’ve realised I love being able to instill some enthusiasm when I’m out with others.
I’ve been an active member of a Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) for a good few years now and have thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Meeting fantastic people who are passionate about the outdoors has been deeply rewarding, especially when we work together to achieve a positive outcome for a casualty. I continue to train as an active member and rescue teams are set up to respond to callouts 24/7, any day of the year. It is worth mentioning that MR members in the UK are ‘professional volunteers’ and despite many cumulative thousands of hours of training – the team incurs their own costs (in lost time at work, fuel and so on) to respond to callouts – so if you ever see us jangling a bucket in our free time consider throwing in a few quid so we can keep the lights at the base on, and we always appreciate a chat even if you don’t have any readies to spare.
Lastly, why blogging? I use the blog not only as a diary of my trips for personal reference but as a method of keeping my photography, videos and trip reports together. Often hard drives or phones are full, or you end up forgeting about those pictures which sadly then get lost to time – and this gives a purpose for me to sort through them whilst hopefully giving everyone else an enjoyable read and beautiful photos as part of that process!
If you wish to comment on the articles or simply say hi, I usually get back to comments within a few days at most. So don’t be a stranger!
L|ve the Outdoors 