I’ve been back for about two weeks now. I had the best holiday of my life. Three weeks of roaming in Norway, visiting friends and reconnecting with nature.
I went hiking in Jotunheimen for a few days and walked Beseggen.
But the main event was a 8 day thru hike of Trollheimen. I hiked 20-25km a day from cabin to cabin for a total of 130km, and it has been the best experience of my life. Surrounded by nature and silence, completely alone, I had all the time in the world to think everything through and to gain a new perspective on certain areas of my life.
When you set out in the morning the mind is very active for a couple of hours, bubbling with ideas and eagerly reflecting on life. But after a few hours the body starts getting tired, the mind calms down by itself, and when you realize you still have 6 hours of hiking to go, you automatically start focusing completely on the present moment and the task at hand. A deep calm arises and you are simply concerned with where you place your next footstep.
I have hiked thousands of kilometres before in my life, but this holiday it all came together somehow. Perhaps it was the contrast of working so hard for two full years to change my career without taking much vacation, and now finding myself in these new surroundings with a calm mind.
During my hikes I have gained a few insights and there are a few things I’ll be doing differently this year:
- Less productivity, more meditation
- More travel, more thru hikes. Plenty of opportunities in the Netherlands and Germany as well
- Take a more playful approach to running and exercise, not too rigid
- More playful approach to life itself
- Allowing space in my planning, taking things as they come
- Not trying to figure absolutely everything out beforehand, taking things more as they come
- Spend more time on my volunteering work for NA
- Spend more time with family
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