Hiking Through

Modern, Western lives are noisy and busy. Digital devices and the Internet allow us instant contact with the world, an unbounded stream of limitless data, while the clock owns us as never before, reducing everything to a schedule, measuring our value on a per-hour basis, and sucking away the net worth of our human existence. It’s even hard to imagine life before the clock and then Internet took control.

We have to be in control of things, we have to be on time, we have to hurry along to the next appointment, the next task, the next item on our to-do list. Our ‘hurry sickness’, the ‘chase for more’ and the ‘busy-mentality’ create a continuous struggle and attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time. Constant engagement, days full of commitments, and no time for mind to wander can wear us out. In the evening, we are totally drained and emotionally exhausted. Weeks rolling from one to the next hinder us from the real things we love ourselves.
I’m old enough to know that the peace of my life became too fast, and that I need to slow down, to pause, to start living in a slower gear, and to have more time and space to appreciate what is going around me. My soul cries out for solitude, a sniff of fresh air and a dash of the wild.

Walking has become one of my favourite pastimes, and the best antidote to digital overload, and over last several months, I and my family did many unforgettable hikes on our own ‘doorsteps’ here in Ireland, with many more still to come.

Our walks ranged from very well-known landscapes like Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry, to places walkers seldom bother with putting high on the to-do list such as Seefin Mountain in Co. Limerick; from lazy coastal strolls like Dunmore East Cliff Walk in Co. Waterford, to more challenging climbs like Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park, in Co. Galway; from short loops like Erris Head in Co. Mayo, to longer hikes like Meelin Hill Circular Walk in Co. Kerry which took us some 4 hours to complete.

As we wandered Ireland, we passed farm villages, barns and pastures with sheep and cattle. There were views from cliffs, memorable lakes, great bogs, rocky paths and forestry roads, and places where the legend has settled on ancient structures like the cairn crowning the summit of Knocknarea Mountain in Co. Sligo, which, in Irish mythology, is the burial place of the beautiful Warrior Queen Maeve of Connaught. We walked in drizzle, fog or in a gorgeous autumn sun. Sometimes we strolled slowly, enjoying the surroundings, sometimes laughing and giggling, sometimes in silence each lost in our own thoughts. Often sweaty, tired, yet excited.

The sheer physical sensation of being somewhere, the blend of nature, family and togetherness made all those little adventures special. So many places, so many good times, so many wonderous moments. They all create our story. They’re real and I wouldn’t trade them for any amount of money.

We spend so much time making plans for the future neglecting to enjoy the present and assuming we have all the time in the world, when all we ever have is the gift of yesterday and our life today with its choices, opportunities and chances to create moments that matter. So, instead of waiting for ‘someday’, we try to create as many of them as we possibly can before we are out of time. Because the moments, added up, create a life. But who knows if we will have tomorrow? Tomorrow, is not guaranteed.

Walking is a fantastic recreational activity, the kind of wandering and exploring that puts us in touch with the countryside and opens us up to wonders of the world without noise. It’s companionable, healthy, hugely enjoyable, and free.

So, get your boots on, go out and explore.