The beauty in the generalist

Having spent years training as a climber and not doing much of anything else, moving to a wee Scottish isle without a car came as a bit of a shock. I didn’t climb for months and my years of training kept me cooped up indoors waiting for friends to visit so I could climb once more.

A sport I started for the love of adventure, had stopped me doing that very thing, and made me deeply unhappy in myself. I needed to find something to escape but had very little access to anywhere but the sea on my new doorstep. So, with my first pay-cheque, I embraced my inner granola girl and spent every cent of pay on a paddle board.

This purchase naturally led to lots of accidental swimming sessions which slowly began to crack through my lifelong fear of open water, to the point where, on windy days, I’d swim along the route I would otherwise paddle

The search for new ways of exploring the world had begun and I had new, more optimistic eyes.

After a couple days scrolling the #vanlife page on instagram my feed became full of vans, skaters, climbers, surfers and hippies. I was stoked. First on my to do list was downhill skateboarding. I already had a board i’d been using as a commuter for years and so I was away!

Next was to spark my age old love for wild-camping. So one clear night I set off from a rocky coastline and headed for a wee coral island off the coast. I slept on a grassy pinnacle and as tide came in and night descended, I was surrounded by ocean and engulphed by solitude. In a word, Bliss.

All this in the era of covid meant covering huge areas of the landscape on foot, slowing me down and allowing me to experience the best of scotland’s mountains and wildlife at a pace that allows you to appreciate every little piece. It also created many a sufferfest, putting all stress and anxiety into perspective. I’d gone from a die hard climber to an outdoorsman and I couldn’t be happier.