Microadventure #3 - Weeknight Wild Camping

Alastair Humphreys is on a mission to get people to 'claim back' their weeknights by going on a 5-to-9 microadventure. You can watch Al convince a group of office workers in Milton Keynes to go mountain biking and wild camping straight from the office in this short film: http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/5-to-9-microadventure-challenge/

So for my March microadventure, fellow Clapham Chaser Sophie Kelk and I decided to venture out of London on a dark drizzly Tuesday night and sleep in a field near the North Downs Way on the Kent/Surrey borders. I should probably add that wild camping in England is illegal (it's legal in Scotland) but as long as you're discreet you should be ok. I've heard of people bivvying in Richmond Park, but given the number of deer and Royal Parks patrol vehicles we decided it probably wasn't a very good idea.

Even my commute IN to work felt like an adventure. Switching a handbag for a rucksack, I felt like a kid going on holiday. Except nothing about my day was changing, just the promise of not knowing where I was going to sleep that night.

Getting the bus into work (bag too big to survive the northern line scrum!)

So at 6pm (Al's 5-to-9 timeframe was a little optimistic given I only started my new job just over a month ago) I changed into my overnight gear, loaded up my rucksack and headed to London Bridge station. I'm not sure my new colleagues know what to make of me...

Leaving the office

The Shard

London Bridge Station

Sophie and me with matching Chaser bobble hats at East Croydon

Sophie and I met up at East Croydon to pick up our connecting train. I'm familiar with the north Kent/Surery hills from cycling so we'd decided to go to Woldingham and picked out a pub not far from our rough camping spot of Botley Hill. But we were running late so, knowing that the pub stopped serving food at 8:30pm, we made a snap decision to jump off the train 2 stops earlier after a friendly commuter overheard us discussing alternative and suggested that the pubs in Oxted (our plan B) weren't that great. So we found ourselves at Upper Warlingham station based purely on a pub recommendation for The White Lion from a complete stranger. We even managed to get a lift to the pub in the village with said stranger. The microadventure had truly begun...

We totally lucked out at The White Lion. Not only was it a ye olde little gem of a building on the outsides, it was warm and cozy inside, and they did great wine and food with friendly service. We shared a baked camembert, bottle of red wine and each had a steak and ale pie, with the promise that the more you eat, the warmer you'll stay because your body will be burning energy. That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Best of all, they agreed to fill up my hot water bottle before we headed out into the night (virtually glamping, right?!)

It was already quite late so we only walked about 30 minutes before picking a field away from the road, and finding a corner next to a wooded area to pitch our tent. We'd wanted to wild camp the whole night but knew rain was forecast so decided to start out in the bivvy bags and have the tent as a back up. But what's a bivvy bag I hear you cry? It's basically a waterproof bag that you put on the outside of your sleeping bag, a one man cocoon that I'm sure is a lot more pleasant in the summer nights. We did manage 2 hours sleeping out but crawled into the tent at about 1am when the rain got heavier.

The road out of Warlingham

Setting up 'Plan A' bivvy bags

And 'Plan B' tent

Hip flask night cap

Sooo grateful for 'Plan B' tent option in the night

We both slept ok, but were so grateful for the tent. It was still drizzling when we got up and packed up around 6am. We then headed to (our originally planned) Woldingham station to get the train back into London.

Good Morning!

As we headed towards Woldingham across the fields and roads the rain got heavier and by the time we got to the station we were both pretty soggy.

Re-joining a train of commuters felt very strange, especially in our soggy outdoor gear alongside the office-wear majority. But it was exciting to think about what we'd crammed into the time that it had taken most of the train to get home, go to bed, get up and get back on the train. Definitely not something for every week (and we were both exhausted by the evening) but a lot of fun, and something I'd be up for trying again when the evenings start to get lighter, warmer and drier!

Spot the odd one out!

Sophie getting back on a busy commuter train at East Croydon

Back at London Bridge, re-joining the rat race

Breakfast back at my desk by 8:45am

Microadventure #2 - Cold Water Swimming

Anyone who has ever seen (or heard) me getting into cold water will know what a challenge this month's microadventure was. It doesn't even need to be very cold - anything below 'warm bath' temperature makes me shiver just thinking about it. 

So after parkrun on Saturday I headed to Brrrrr-ockwell Lido in South London to brave the very NOT 'warm bath' temperatures of outdoor swimming in February. When I got there, two other brave (foolhardy?) Clapham Chasers - Jane and Henry - were already doing laps (in training for a cold water swimming race in Glasgow next month) and another (Hannah) was already in the sauna post-swim. Meanwhile... I stood on the side in my wet-suit and TWO coats, watching and thinking of every possible excuse as to why this was not a good idea. 

According to www.loneswimmer.com, swimming in 5 degrees is classed as:

“F*ck!“ That’s a technical term. Swimmers like to remind people this is the same temperature as the inside of a quite cold domestic fridge. Don’t worry if you can’t remember actually swimming, getting out of the water or trying to talk. Memory loss is a fun game for all the family. This occurs usually around the middle to end of February.

So at 5.4 degrees it wasn't far off jumping inside the water jug I keep in my fridge. 

It may LOOK like a summer's day... but don't let that blue sky fool you!

With Jane and Henry by the temperature sign

Two coats, and wet-suit and trying to keep my feet warm

Cold water does funny things to your mind.... It wasn't until I'd got home, warmed up, eaten and looked at the photos that I realised I had my wet-suit on inside out!!

Spot the cold water newbie!

What AM I doing??

This is HAPPENING

2 lengths of the 50 metre pool

Gasping for breath

Hot water shower (wet-suit still on inside out)

How many people can you fit in a sauna?!

After a hot shower and sauna, I decided that swimming with a wet-suit wasn't enough of a challenge. (Proving the point that cold water does indeed make you lose your marbles...)

So, off came the wet-suit and I managed half a length (25 metres) in just my cozzie...

Psyching myself up

So, with my February microadventure done, we warmed up sharing a hip-flask of whisky and a brunch feast of 8 eggs and 24 chipolatas between the 4 of us. You burn more calories in the cold, right?

I can't say I'll be doing it again next weekend, and while I didn't enjoy the actual 'getting cold' part, I definitely enjoyed the whole experience, and the challenge of doing something so far out of my comfort zone. 

Now off to run a nice warm bath.......

Microadventure #1 - Overnight in a Scottish bothy

"Adventure is a state of mind...

... a spirit of trying something new and leaving your comfort zone.It's about enthusiasm, ambition, open-mindedness and curiosity."

Alastair Humphreys - www.alastairhumphreys.com/product/microadventures

In 2001, Alastair Humphries left his home in Yorkshire to cycle around the world. It took him nearly 5 years to complete and led to many more big adventures - rowing oceans and walking across deserts - "chasing the spirit of adventure" across the planet. 

Now back in the UK, he is an adventurer, author and motivational speaker. I've enjoyed reading many of his books and heard him speak at various events, but my favourite by far is his 'Microadventures' book, that encourages "normal people to find brilliant adventures closer to home... a refresh button for busy lives".

Over the last 15 years I've been incredibly fortunate to experience more than my fair share of 'Macroadventures', but as I move out of the international development sector and into my London-based job at The Smarty Train (www.thesmartytrain.com), I'm determined to explore different interpretations of adventure. So in 2018, I've decided to have at least one 'microadventure' every month, starting with a long weekend in Aberdeenshire...

Microadventure #1 has fulfilled a long-held ambition of mine to spend the night in a bothy, described by the Mountain Bothies Association (www.mountainbothies.org.uk) as "simple shelters in remote country for the use and benefit of all who love wild and lonely places". You don't need to book, they're never locked, and they don't cost anything to stay. Some have wood burners or open fires, some even have wooden sleeping platforms, but you never know who you might meet and exchange stories from the day with over a wee dram of whisky or hot chocolate.

Walking and overnighting in the Scottish mountains in January requires a bit more kit than the summer months. Fortunately for me, my friend and VSO colleague Gaby is also a qualified mountain guide and sent me a kit list of epic proportions as well as lending me some of her winter mountain equipment. Good thing the sleeping bag went down to -7, because that's exactly where temperatures hovered for the whole first day!

Gaby, her husband Jamie, and I headed out into the Cairngorms from their flat in Aberdeen on a perfectly clear sunny day. Open skies meant it was colder than when I went to northern Sweden in 2016, but the blue sky and snow covered mountains were absolutely stunning. No stranger to adventure either (and currently planning an expedition to kite board across Greenland), Jamie headed off to ski tour while Gabs and I walked to Loch Callater near Braemar (not far from the Queen's residence in Balmoral)...

It starts getting dark by 4pm in January in Scotland, so the last bit of our walk to Bob Scott's bothy was by moonlight. And as we arrived the stars were out in force...

Photo credit: Jamie Anderson

By the time we arrived, there were already 6 guys there and the fire wasn't just lit, it was roaring! So roaring in fact that we were soon peeling off layers and opening a window. The insulation and roofing were so efficient we were toasty all night, and barely needed our sleeping bags until the middle of the night. Dinner was rehydrated spaghetti bolognese with chunks of chorizo and cheese followed by chocolate. Call me crazy but I'd choose that in the atmosphere of the bothy over a michelin-starred restaurant any day...

Photo credit: Jamie Anderson

The next day we walked out of the mountains and headed back to Aberdeen for a night of home comforts before Gaby and I headed off for a bonus microadventure, driving up the coast, stopping off at Newburgh to see the seals before setting up camp near Pennan. We managed to get a fire going with some driftwood - enough to roast some marshmallows after a veritable feast of sausages and flageolet beans cooked over a primus stove. A bit too chilly to bivvy outside (I'll save that for a summer microadventure) we slept on comfy mattreses in the back of the van, waking up to the sound of the sea. Bliss!

On the way back to Aberdeen we visited Glen Garrioch distillery and climbed Bennachie hill with panoramic views of Aberdeenshire and the snow capped mountains of the Cairngorms in the distance.

Still time for one last microadventure on the way back to London (and my last 2 days of work at VSO), we got the Caledonian Sleeper train home, arriving at Euston during rush hour the next morning, a million miles away from the peace and tranquility of the Scottish mountains and coastline. It's incredible to think the amount of adventure we squeezed into 4 days without even leaving the UK. Already excited about where February might take me...