I know I shouldn’t get my self esteem from what others think. I know that how I feel worth as a person should come from within and not from the praise of others. For example, I shouldn’t look for acceptance of my decisions from friends and family, because they don’t necessarily know what’s best for me or what my specific circumstances or feelings about something are.

I am very lucky though because I have had support for some of my more reckless recent decisions. So even though you shouldn’t need that approval, it’s definitely nice to have it. I know a lot of people have to do some of the things I’ve done without that approval, or even had to put up with total hostility to them. So I am lucky.

But, I’m not real talking about that here. This is about how I was walking today from Croyde to Widemouth and bumped into Finn and Kerry-Anne. We had a really long conversation, the sort of conversation you can only have with people that are doing the same thing as you, as only they understand what it’s like. Where you end up talking about hygiene and how to cope on the trail. It terms out Finn, a teenage boy, had better hygiene than me – although I gave him something to aim for.

What I really liked though, and I’m being big headed here, was when Kerry-Anne first spotted me, she said to Finn, “he’s come all the way from Poole”. I don’t know why but it made me feel so proud. So, yes, I should be proud of this on my own, but wow, it does feel good when others notice.

Wet tent

I’ve decided, as a hiker, I’m more a leave late, end late, type of person. I’m only a leave early person when I have a lot of miles to cover. And then I’m a leave early, end late. I’m very rarely a leave early, end early person. Which a lot of hikers are, which is much more sensible. But not me.

This morning it was raining heavily and I decided that as I wasn’t in a big rush I’d try to wait for a break in the weather, maybe even the tent would dry, and then head off.

I waited a long time, there was no break, there really never was going to be a break until the afternoon, so I eventually, and belatedly, accepted my fate and packed up. Tent very wet and heavy.

Even on these wet mornings though, once I get going, things are ok. And the forecast was looking ok later on so I decided at one of my breaks I’d try to dry the tent out. It’s funny because on past walks I’d never had had the confidence to stop and get out my tent to dry it but now I’m not bothered at all.

Booked early

I’d made the decision to try and use campsites now all the way to Minehead. I could see on the map how I could split the remaining miles into manageable daily chunks and that there were campsites roughly where I needed them.

Today I went one step further and also called ahead to make sure I could use the one I wanted. This turned out to be very wise because today’s manageable chunk turned out to be quite a big chunk – almost bordering on not manageable thanks to my late start and time resting, drying out tents and chatting. I was glad I had a spot reserved for me.

A good days walking

Because I was so organised, and knew exactly what I was doing, I could really just concentrate on enjoying the walk. It’s so pretty around here and I particularly enjoyed how the mist slowly lifted to reveal sights like Baggy Point and Morthoe. It was almost worth starting with the rain so I could see the transition.

I know I say this a lot but I can’t help but reflect on my state of mine this time compared to last. I remember before wishing I could stop in the campsite I was heading to today, but I needed to cover more miles. Today was much better. And although I was still quite late, arriving at the campsite for 7:30pm, it was still early enough to relax in camp, have a warm shower, and get something to eat.

I really do like this slower pace.