May 2018: Dehydration, Farewells, and Deep Peat
This Month
It finally happened. After an awful lot of anticipation, we took off from the (tiny) Stewart International Airport on Sunday May 13th. Our flight was to Edinburgh, and we already told you how we snagged a crazy cheap ticket there. We're officially long-term travelers!
(FOOD) PREPARATION
A big part of May went into planning for the trip, from sending out grad cards to backing up our computers. One of our best discoveries was the many uses of the dehydrator (remember all that free shit from Wholefoods)? In the days before we left, we dehydrated: strawberry, banana, pineapple, basil, bell pepper, jalapeño, tomato, peas, corn, carrots, tuna, chicken, beef, tomato sauce, and salsa. We're planning to write a bit more about the dehydrator, and why we think everyone that travels or hikes should get one.
Unfortunately everything wasn't totally peaches n' cream in food prep heaven: in an act of stressed out desperation, Stef nearly chopped off his finger frantically slicing carrots. A trip to the ER, a chemical burn, and a too-tight bandage later, he's finally nearly healed, minus a few finger prints.
SURVIVING THE BOG
It wasn't all prep in May. We actually did something, well, pretty big. It was the Cape Wrath Trail, in the very north of Scotland, and it was 240 miles long. We'll be writing a lot about the trail in the next weeks, but suffice to say that it was pretty intense. We jumped right in to traveling on a lower budget than we ever have before, not touching money for nearly 2 weeks while we wandered in the barren backcountry. It was a bit disconcerting, actually. And beautiful. And fucking boggy.
The terrain was much harsher than we'd imagined, as we chuckled at home about how much easier the "elevation gain" would be compared to hiking in Peru. It turns out unmarked means next to no trail, and weak knees mean a whole lot of pain after two weeks of walking - like Tori is out of commission and taking elevators kind of pain. So that will be an interesting start to a year of backpacking... Here's hoping 23 isn't too old for regeneration.
THE BLOG
We're just adjusting to life on the road, and the blog has been quite quiet since we left (although we're continuing to write some pieces offline, like this one). Laptops simply aren't suited to two week hiking trips, especially in a country notorious for its precipitation. Updates will come as they materialize, and likely one day soon, the site will be filled with the stuff in our heads. Hint: we came in under budget by a long shot. Check Instagram for updates, as that will likely be the first thing we edit. Scotland is simply too photogenic not to!
UP NEXT
We're currently on a flight to Georgia, where we hear we're in for gorgeous mountains and copious amounts of wine. After Scotland, we doubt our tight budget will be a problem, but the bum knee and rainy forecast might put a slight damper on the festivities. Here's to the next adventure.
♡ Stef and Tor