The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Monday, 30 June 2008

Week 11 - Wishing Your Life Away

30 June
Distance to date: somewhere around 1115 miles

The end is within sight. If all goes to plan and no legs drop off, then we should reach JOG seven days from now.

I'm not wanting to wish my life away and it's no reflection on our enjoyment of this trip, but our minds have started turning to the After and all of the things to which we're looking forward.

They're all normal things that one usually takes for granted.

Sleeping in a bed for more than three consecutive nights.

Sleeping in the same bed for more than two consecutive nights.

Being able to get drinking water without looking at a map or having to detour further than the kitchen tap.

Having a cup of tea that doesn't taste of peat.

Being able to wash on a daily basis.

Having clean underwear every day.

Having a choice of different clothes to wear.

Not having to put on wet shoes.

Living in a room in which one can stand up - and in which we can both manoeuvre at the same time.

Having a shave (Mick's very beardy indeed after 11 weeks and my legs are positively yeti-esque!).

Of course all of that comes at a price. We will have to return to reality.

3 comments:

  1. Oh! I thought you were looking forward to your next walk :)

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  2. The next few days will surely fly by!!

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  3. Gayle - you are doing it wrong!

    Get Mick to wear the dirty underwear - you take all the clean stuff. He won't notice - his beard will be full of three days of dinners, breakfasts and peaty tea and will smell like his armpits.

    Pinch his thermarest and feed him extra whisky. He will sleep soundly anyway - through sheer exhaustion after you have made him carry your stuff for the afternoon...

    Just a thought - I'll leave it for you to think about - you still have a week to get it to work.

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