Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim

As some of you know, I went to Arizona for two weeks last year to drive around and get lost in the beauty that is the great American West. I've been in love with Arizona since 1994, and although I've been back a number of times, last year was the first time I was really able to explore the state by myself. The idea was that it would get it out of my system, but what it actually did was just make me want to go back again.

I visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon for the first time last year, and it was spectacular. In many ways better than the south. I realised that this seeing the canyon from above business wasn't enough, and I began to dream of getting a good hike done. In fact, by the time I left Arizona, I was already hoping to get back soon and get my feet dirty. Or at least my shoes. 

I didn't have any kind of date set for this next trip, it was more of a when I can sort of job, but after just under half a year later, I realised I'd have to get back pretty quickly. By Christmas 2014, they'll be three of us in this household, and I'm fairly sure the wife wouldn't be so thrilled if I decided to up and leave her with a tiny baby. Besides, I want as much baby time as I can get. She can't have all the fun.

My wife, being the exceptional being she is, told me to get going. We agreed that I would be here for her third trimester, so after searching through hikes and flights, I booked a trip from September 6th to the 16th. I'll give myself a few days to adjust and then embark on a 4 day rim-to-rim hike of the canyon (not by myself, I should add). I love my wife. She is, quite simply, the best thing in the world. 

Below is my approximate route, excluding drive to north rim and hike to south. Oh, and the side trip to Page is just if I have time. I do love that place. They have great burgers. 

I'll be writing as I go like last time (bar the days in the canyon of course), so if you feel like it, tag along. 

Things You'll Regret in Your 30s

A thread appeared on reddit a couple of weeks ago, entitled 'For those of you 40 or above, what do you regret about your 30s?' Popsugar made a list of 11 out of the thread, which I thought was very good. I've no idea how they chose these 11 over the hundreds of comments, but there you go. I think these 11 are enough. I will, however, add a little anecdote. 

When I was in my early 20s, I worked at Starbucks. I loved the job but it was very much a temporary thing while I figured out what I wanted to do. The problem was, of course, that I had absolutley no idea what I wanted to do and I very often got panicky about it. It had been drummed into me from a very early age that you should know what you want to do. From the career talks we had at school when I was 13 (!) to GCSEs, A-levels and talking about university. It really scared me that I had no idea about it.

One typical morning, as I sat outside on my break enjoying a coffee and cigarette (there's a combination I miss), a regular asked if he could sit on the spare chair at my table. I said he could, and we began to chit-chat. We talked about Starbucks and London and life, and then he told me I seemed very happy here and it looked like I really enjoyed my work. I do, I told him, but it wasn't a job for life. He then asked me the question I dreaded but had really invited; what do you want to do? But I was honest, and said I had no idea, and that this scared me as I felt I should. Then he said something that had a huge impact on my view of things, and I'd even go as far to say my life. He said, "Don't worry. Don't even begin to worry about that until your mid-30s. Just don't worry." What struck me about this was that it was the complete opposite to everything I'd ever been told, and add the fact that this was a guy who I'd have pegged to be a broker or banker (I never did find out what he did), and there I was, dumbstruck. It might sound daft, but it opened a door. It let me not panic. It would come. I didn't have to have it all figured out at 21 years old. I was barely an adult. It would come. I wish I could somehow find him and tell him that I think of him often, and that he, as a regular in his local Starbucks had far more influence on a barista's life than he probably would ever guess.

But there you go. If you don't know what you want to be when you grow up, don't worry. You'll figure it out. Just don't worry.

The list below is directly copied from Popsugar.  

The shoulds

You'll feel societal pressures in your 30s more than ever before, but don't let the shoulds hold it back. You may constantly worry about how you should own a home, you should have kids, you should be married, or you should have a steady career. Drop all those expectations, and live life the way that makes you the happiest. Don't feel like a failure just because your life happens to deviate from the norm — you've got one life to live, so live it your way.

Not spending time with parents

One common regret that many people in their 30s have is not spending time with their parents while they are young enough to actively participate. Simple pleasures like taking a walk, traveling, or even having a conversation may be harder to come by once your parents age.

Putting work first

Something to keep in your mind in your 30s: if you put work first, you're going to regret it. Spend time with people you love, because those are precious moments that money and moving up the ladder can't beat.

Spending time on negativity

And you thought those negative people would disappear from your life in your 30s. Nope, there may be some hanging around, so don't waste time on them. Watch out for people who don't make you feel good about yourself, and reevaluate your relationships with them. Be careful of spending time on negative thoughts and issues that you have no control over. Just. Let. It. Go.

Thinking your 30s was old

"I'm too old for this!" may be a common phrase you use in your 30s. You know what? You're not. And I bet people in their 50s and 60s will agree. The world was your oyster in your 20s, and it still is. Take a chance, live, and enjoy life as the young'un you are, and never lose that child in you.

Not putting yourself first

Maybe you're putting everyone else first in your life but you. Snap out of it! Know that once you put yourself first, everything else can fall into place. Putting your needs first will make you a happy camper, which will result in better relationships — a win-win. When you take care of yourself, you'll have fewer regrets in your 30s. The partner your life revolved around? You probably won't regret that as much if you had focused on your needs and chased your dreams as well.

Not taking better care of your body

It's quite the paradox — you say you're too old for something, and yet you still keep the junk-food-fueled and antiexercise habits of the younger you. Those habits are harder to drop, but treat your body right early, or it'll catch up with you before you know it.

Not taking chances

Maybe you're overly cautious at this age and perhaps it's the shoulds we mentioned earlier that are holding you back. Don't play it safe, and live a little. Not saving and investing enough This seems to be a huge, huge regret that a lot of 30-year-olds carry. If you start saving earlier, you'll be reaping bigger rewards by the time you retire. And if you don't put off saving and investing in your 30s, you'll be more likely to retire at the age you want.

Not traveling enough

The world is at your fingertips, so take off on a travel adventure! Don't keep procrastinating and putting this off — it'll be harder to make time for travel as you get older.

Caring too much about what others think

It seems we're guilty of this at every age. Don't waste more time on this useless habit in your 30s. Stop investing time and energy into caring about what people who don't care about you think. The ones who do care for you will accept you as you are.

This picture has nothing to do with the article, but looks sort of deep and meaningful. And it's pretty.

Fasting. It's Not For Everyone

I'm writing this on our beautiful wooden balcony that juts out from our wonderfully cosy yet luxurious room. My view is palm trees, mangroves, fan palms, dozens of flowers that are completely unknown to me, and various other trees and bushes. I can hear birdsong, see another couple of bungalows, and can just make out the natural lake belonging to The Spa, Koh Chang. It's verging on a tropical paradise.

We were glad to finally put our bags down for longer than a night or two after about 8 days traveling through Bangkok, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Bangkok was as hectic and tasty as ever, and Siem Reap and Phnom Penh proved to be fascinating glimpses into a truly beautiful country, one I very much hope to go back to. I struggled - and am still struggling despite having read two books on the matter since our visit - to really comprehend the fact that the horrors that happened in Cambodia were so very recent. Somehow I just can't quite believe it. If you're looking for a first hand account, you could do a lot worse than First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers.

The Spa wasn't the first place we stayed on Koh Chang. First off, we spent a few nights by Lonely Beach on the other side of the island. We didn't do much except unwind, and I ate quite a lot, as I always seem to do in Thailand. Though this time, eating was a good thing, as when we arrived at The Spa, it promptly stopped.

My wife, Thilde, is a yoga teacher. She's probably one of the healthiest people I know (if not the healthiest). She doesn't drink, smoke, eat red meat (anything with four legs, basically), and she's calm, collected and generally very together. I, however, drink, I love cheeseburgers, I only recently (December 31st of course) quit my stupid drunken smoking habit, and to work out I love an aggressive CrossFit class. However, I used to do yoga, I eat healthily 90% of the time, and I love my wife, so quite often we find ourselves in spas, in India or Thailand. Usually, Thilde will do yoga, and I will run up and down the beach. She will meditate, and I will read. She will fast and detox, and I will eat and drink beer. The locations are always absolutely stunning, so it's a win-win situation.

This time, however, I thought I'd do something different. I thought I'd fast. And hell, why not throw an enema in there too.

We tried a fast once before. We had just got a great juicer as a wedding present, so we decided to do a three day juice fast. I’m not sure why this seemed like a good idea as I'm a big eater, and always have been (to the point where, when I was little, my parents left a pot of yoghurt by my bed so that I'd eat something before I went in to see them), but we had met some people who swore by fasting, and from what we read about it, it sounded like an altogether (potentially) very promising experience. You feel healthier, lighter, your mind is clear, you rethink food in terms of what you eat and how you prepare it, and you clean yourself out (sometimes literally). 

But I love my food, and I really, really need my food. Without it, I lose all will to live, so obviously I came to the conclusion that a fast would be a great idea. Besides, it was only 3 days and it was supposedly incredible once you got over the aching hunger pains. Needless to say, I didn't make it. I got to just over two days before cracking. Thilde made it, and really seemed to enjoy it. She felt brighter, more alert, cleaner, and happy. In fact, she liked it so much she did a six day fast last year at The Spa on Koh Samui. I generally drank and admired her. In fact, she coped so well I started to forget the misery of my two day fast and found myself curious about the whole thing again. And that's how I ended up at The Spa on Koh Chang. Seeing as I was already going booze free for January, I thought it’d be the perfect complimentary process.

It probably was, but that doesn't make it right. I broke my fast two days ago, and can once again but quite definitively this time, say that fasting isn't for me. Turns out I don't handle not eating much very well. I didn't sneak any food in, I didn't kill anyone, and Thilde and I are still married, but a bit of me died for those three days.

My pilot light went out and I just couldn't care about anything or anyone. Yes, I was in paradise, but whatever. Yes, the fruit we could have for lunch exploded with flavour on my tongue, but whatever. The juices we had for meals were varied, fresh and mouth-wateringly good, but you know, whatever. I just didn't care. While I never got to the starving point, I had a constant hole in me. I'm not even sure I'd say it was in my stomach. It was if my brain was running on fumes and my muscles had turned to limp spaghetti. I couldn't get started in the morning and wanted to do nothing except lie down and read. Walking up the stairs was hard work. Getting dressed was an effort. We went kayaking one morning through a beautiful mangrove forest, but all I cared about was the fact that my bum got wet. Mangroves and views could stuff it. One upside I definitely noticed was that I slept well. Real blackout sleeps. Perhaps I was just quietly dying, but whatever it was, for the two days I've been back on food, I've noticed the change in sleep quality. But I'm loving eating. Definitely enough to let my sleep suffer a tiny bit. I feel myself. I can literally feel the energy in me, and I can't tell you how good it feels to have it back.

Thilde has been incredible. I've no idea how she's put up with my pathetic attitude. She’s a rock. Although she is pretty happy I've started eating again. As am I.

I won't dwell too much on the enema suffice to say it wasn't my cup of tea. It made me feel sick, not physically sick, but something about the process, and the equipment; I can't say why exactly, but I felt as if I was going through a kind of medical procedure that involved my bottom and I just didn't like it. I had two on my programme, and after very seriously considering doing the second, I decided to skip it.

So, here I sit on the beautiful balcony with a belly full of porridge and coconut water. Yesterday, I had to be careful about what I ate and how much I ate, but today I think I'll push it a little further. I missed my food. I missed feeling full and having a warm belly. I missed having energy and being sharp and focused. I understand and do believe that for some people, fasting gives them energy and allows them to tone and focus their mind, but it does the complete opposite for me. I am glad I tried it. I'm glad I now at least have an idea of what Thilde does, although it's not the same. I think she's one of those who can shift her mind from food, and meditate with the energy she gets from fasting. I admire her for it, and while I wish I could experience it as she does, I'm just an eater, a simple eater, and I like me just the way I am.

I did lose around 4 kilos though so it wasn't all bad (although it hasn't all stayed off...).