wanting to hike

I'm wary of making New Year's resolutions - why make big decisions based on a date on the calendar? But I do want to try new things this year.

I've recently moved back to Australia to a small city where nature is really close by. This isn't to say that there was an absence of nature in Denmark; rather there were many lovely walks that I could do around my neighbourhood in Copenhagen. But while the density of Copenhagen is its advantage in allowing a lot of active mobility such as cycling or walking around very planned parks to take place, you're committing to at least 20 minutes by car or public transport to get to some wide open spaces.

I've spent the last few years daydreaming about big walks. Watching Martin Sheen walk the Camino De Santiago in The Way made we want to drop everything for six weeks and walk through the Spanish countryside. Side question: why does everyone (either fictional or IRL) seem to have a moment of therepeutic catharsis or a major epiphany on the Camino? I would love to do some big walks in North America - would I through hike one of the big trails? Probably not, but definitely a portion of it. I watched some YouTubers walk up Mt Fuji the other weekend and thought, "wouldn't that be a good idea to mark an upcoming 40th birthday in a year or so from now?". When I had weeks of summer holiday to spare in Denmark, I had tabs of walking holiday websites for the west coast of Jutland open on my browser. Never booked it. Low-key regrets. But I've come to find that I rarely regret a walk.

I'm a homebody by nature, but I think I'm willing to make the change. Where I live now, there are mountains and lakes and trails to take advantage of. And I would regret it more if I didn't try to go out and do some walks. I done a handful of walks in some of the flatter, (sub)urban parts of the city, but now I'm keen to up the challenge a little bit.

I'm on the cusp of getting some walking gear so I can be more comfortable, sensible and safe on the low key adventures. Next stop are the outdoor shops, thankfully there's one near my gym so I can pop in the next time I'm there. At this stage, I'm not after advice, I'm reading and looking things up. This post is more an accountability thing, a way to state an intention.