Back

Out and back - a good long walk in the mud | Day 215 of my 2023 Journal

Cecilie Conrad·Aug 4, 2023· 2 minutes

The longest walk we managed to do within the five days we spent with my friend and her sons was around Stocks Reservoir. We all had the feeling we were walking in the Shire. Beauty unfolds all the time, new angles, new hills, new beautiful horizons and small details, flowers and totes, and sheep and cows and birds.

In the bird observatory, we saw an eagle hunting.

We walked on small paths between trees and along wide ones uphill and downhill. It is amazing how wet it all is. In my mind, water will run down and not be on top of hills, but it was just wet everywhere. In a beautiful way. Especially after I just gave up on shoes and walked barefoot through streams, wet grass, mud, on stone, and along paths.

We had a good lunch break halfway and laughed at the sign explaining it was forbidden to swim because cold water can make you exhausted, and as it is also deep, there is a risk of drowning. Being Scandinavians, we know the deep cold lakes in Sweden and found it a bit fun. Especially because on the sign, at the end of the explanation, it said, “So no swimming, sorry.”

 Only in England, there will be added the word sorry, after the explanation of a rule. We laughed a lot.

Later on, another sign gave the real explanation: Underwater machinery that controls the artificial dam can create sudden changes in the water currents, even ones that will pull you down; therefore, don’t swim.

 Makes total sense.

Well. This was fun.

And the walk was long; there was no rain, and we all enjoyed it very much and were very tired when we came back to cook, play games, share favorite youtube videos and laugh some more.



Happy days. With very dirty feet.

Love and light

Cecilie-Underskrift-300x133

Cecilie Conrad

Thank you for reading
I would love to hear from you. Listen to your thoughts and reflections - or praise :) It is often emotional to share our life like this, and we get very happy when we get your feedback. So feel free to share a comment below 😋 


See more images on Facebook

Ten years ago, we visited Italy in our first van conversion; we went for one day to Cinque Terre. This time we wanted to come back to walk the trails…Read more
I believe teenage girls need their mothers much more than our society appreciates and that the way we raise children in institutions, pushing them t…Read more
One advantage of living in a van is the number of things that need fixing/maintenance is much smaller compared to living in a house. Another advantag…Read more
This is a general warning for everyone who loves Shakespeare. For everyone who loves literature. Maybe for everyone in general. Do not visit Juliet's…Read more
It is sometimes emotionally complicated to stop. I remember someone said: “Vacation is doing something you are not usually doing.” Now we do not do v…Read more
Personal freedom is about waking up with loads of options, but more importantly, about having the courage to choose between options and knowing what …Read more
Before we went to Venice, I almost booked a place to stay in Murano, not Venice. It looked almost the same. From Venice, you take the public boat and…Read more
Why do we do what we do? It is obvious that traveling is an adventure and from the outside, it looks like a lot of vacation. The first part is right,…Read more
The feel of Venice is closely connected to walking. The experience of walking between houses, alongside canals, over bridges, over piazzas (and repea…Read more