Crazy delicious things I loved about the coast to coast walk:

Putting my head on the pillow each night, not knowing where I’ll be the next night. I have a name of where I’ll be, but no picture in my head. What will it look like?

Not knowing where I am in the day—what time is it?  For that matter, what day is it?? I loved getting lost in the days, simply moving through beautiful places.

The feeling of accomplishment each evening. The satisfaction of having a singular end in mind and reaching that end. In life we rarely have the luxury of accomplishing everything we want each day.

Knowing when I wake up that I’ll discover a new corner of the world I’ve never experienced! The joy of seeing greener greens than I’ve ever imagined.  Talking to the sweet-faced sheep working hard all day, eating from dawn to dusk (I hope to become a sheep in my next life).  Spotting adoreable brown bunnies, always poised at the edges of landscapes.  Discovering grouse and pheasant and listening to birdsong.

Living in a world of stone cottages, dry stone walls, and English gardens.  Oh that the entire world could be so picturesque!

The thrill of looking across the landscape with the victorious knowledge that I’ve walked across that section of the world.

And above all, the memories with Joseph. We shared deep thoughts.  We sang songs and Joseph’s opera voice emerged.  Story time with Joseph became a ritual when we were tired and needed a distraction. The stories were always from the fantasy genre and often delivered with an English accent!

What I hated?  Getting lost–not lost in time, but really lost. I hated the uncertainty of wondering whether or not we were moving in the right direction. During the latter days when we had finite amounts of energy, it was unbearable to think we might be traveling a mile or two out of our way.

The final day was visually stunning. We walked through all the different landscapes we’d experienced: wooded forest, shaded paths beside a river, green pastures, highland moors with magnificent vistas. We even had a final quad-busting climb. And at last, we saw the North Sea. We had arrived.

My biggest regret? That I can’t redo the final day tomorrow.