Very inspired and excited by your solo hiking trip!! I hope it’s detoxing for your mind and helpful for your soul to move your body and be away from the obligations of digital life 💕
Trip sounds incredible. I will closely follow. It sounds challenging!! But exciting. I’ve just joined the subscription. He everyone. I’m Orit and live in Australia 🇦🇺 👋
Just came back from climbing in Chamonix and you are going to LOVE the TDMB! The refuges (the photo you shared might even be Cosmiques?? my favorite) are super civilized. Yes, the beds are pretty cozy but unless the refuge is 100% full, they try to space you out. People are really respectful of others' sleep. There are charging ports just outside most dorm rooms, inside a few of them, and always in the main dining room. Most provide indoor footwear as soon as you step inside (possibly the only known case of French-approved Crocs-wearing!). You'll even get great food, coffee, and of course a carte du vin at dinner :)
It's a perfect season for this trek, wishing you the best!
Not that I’m surprised, but I Iove that there’s a cross-over audience here!! What kind of climbing did you do and how was it!
From the beginning my main and pretty much only concern is that I need a CPAP machine to sleep or I will wake up the entire refuge with my snoring. Mine is too heavy so the day before I left I dropped a small fortune on a travel one 😭. It’s an investment in the long run, which is how I should view a travel steamer as well….
Also I just realized I left my disc in the suitcase I sent back with my husband!
So much to say about the climbing (and the crossover!) and will post later, but the CPAP is important! I don’t have a CPAP but if I recall, you can plug the travel ones into an external battery instead of an outlet. I would bring a charged power bank and use it for the CPAP when there’s no outlet handy, then recharge the bank in the evenings at the refuges. (I did this for my cellphone in refuges, since I needed to keep the phone in bed to wake me up at ungodly early hours.)
To the crossover point, I'd guess there are quite a few of us! My packing for Chamonix ran the gamut from Tibi balloon skirt, Flore Flore tanks, and Jamie Haller sandals to crampons and climbing helmet. If the outdoors and physical challenges are a part of you, why not? You WILL be the most stylish person around in your pearl trekkies :)
Oh wow! You truly did it in style!!! I’ll try in Chamonix when my train arrives in 30 mins. Half of my hip belt strap fell off somewhere in Paris so I’ll have to pick that up too!
Wishing you luck! There’s a store for just about every outdoor brand in Chamonix, so you’ll be able to find a hip strap for sure. Snell and Tech Extreme are multi-brand 🙌🏼
A week of solo walking and cozy refuges (and maybe a full Kindle?) sounds like absolute heaven.
Major kudos to you for always taking some time for yourself. I haven’t done it but also I have an office job so my holidays are family holidays. But I love this! And I stayed in the huts in Bavaria a long long time ago and it was totally spectacular. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Margaret! I recognize that I’m lucky to have a supportive partner and the ability to take this time to myself. I hope you’re able to carve out some regular alone time for yourself too!
I really appreciate that, Xue! I’m so bad at turning off and I’ve been a bit stressed about how I’m going to keep with work without my laptop, specifically for this newsletter actually, bc the rest of it I can do on my phone.
I’m pretty confident I speak for your subscribers when I say we want you to have fun!!! You more than deserve 10 days to yourself. Go and unplug, recharge, enjoy!
Wow this is amazing! It’s making me think that as a mama of 10 years now I should penciling a solo vacation in. I’m sure it resets you in a beautiful way. Blissful silence. Haha. Good luck on your trek! As a backpacker myself- I am very impressed you are doing this alone. Have fun! Enjoy. Be well.
I hope you do! I travelled solo a lot when I was younger, for months at a time, and I always say that the best trip I ever had was my first 2-night trip to NYC by myself when my youngest was 15 months old. I did nothing but sit at the hotel bar and savour my wine (I was still drinking back then). The elation I felt!!!! I will always remember it.
Honestly, just walk anywhere! I would start on the trails near your house, for half day then full day hikes. If you want to do overnight hikes, Google x-day hikes in x city and find one that works for you! We have trails all through our city and around our province. One of largest parks is Algonquin - they have 20 mins hikes (which we did with our kids) or options for camping - something for everyone! Good luck!
Oh yes I forgot!! We are blessed with so many trails in the city and just NW of us at Rattlesnake point or in the NE in Bluffs. So many you can do locally. If you’re worried about safety, that’s another conversation!
Irene, this is so exciting that you are doing the TDMB! How brave to do it solo. Thanks for sharing your hut to hut packing list. I'm hiking in Austria the end of this month and was planning on a 60L pack and may downsize based on your input. I was also thinking I could rinse out cetain items. I can't wait to hear more about your adventure. PLEASE share a trip report newsletter with all of us when you return.
I definitely will and I’m excited for you!! Are you carrying or transporting? For the latter, I think they have a weight limit too (I read 22kg for one company). I’m also planning to sink wash my clothes as I go. Also my pack is from 2003 - packs are so much lighter nowadays.
Very inspired and excited by your solo hiking trip!! I hope it’s detoxing for your mind and helpful for your soul to move your body and be away from the obligations of digital life 💕
Oops! Sent that to the wrong person… thanks Kelly! Husband was saying, “it will be interesting to see how this goes….”
Trip sounds incredible. I will closely follow. It sounds challenging!! But exciting. I’ve just joined the subscription. He everyone. I’m Orit and live in Australia 🇦🇺 👋
Hi Orit! Happy to see you in the comments 😉.
I stayed in a hotel alone all week and thought that was a lot. Hello perspective! You look like a hot warrior!
I get it! That’s hell to an extrovert but more than a-ok with me 😜.
😂 😘
Just came back from climbing in Chamonix and you are going to LOVE the TDMB! The refuges (the photo you shared might even be Cosmiques?? my favorite) are super civilized. Yes, the beds are pretty cozy but unless the refuge is 100% full, they try to space you out. People are really respectful of others' sleep. There are charging ports just outside most dorm rooms, inside a few of them, and always in the main dining room. Most provide indoor footwear as soon as you step inside (possibly the only known case of French-approved Crocs-wearing!). You'll even get great food, coffee, and of course a carte du vin at dinner :)
It's a perfect season for this trek, wishing you the best!
Not that I’m surprised, but I Iove that there’s a cross-over audience here!! What kind of climbing did you do and how was it!
From the beginning my main and pretty much only concern is that I need a CPAP machine to sleep or I will wake up the entire refuge with my snoring. Mine is too heavy so the day before I left I dropped a small fortune on a travel one 😭. It’s an investment in the long run, which is how I should view a travel steamer as well….
Also I just realized I left my disc in the suitcase I sent back with my husband!
As for shoes, I brought my pearl trekkies :)
So much to say about the climbing (and the crossover!) and will post later, but the CPAP is important! I don’t have a CPAP but if I recall, you can plug the travel ones into an external battery instead of an outlet. I would bring a charged power bank and use it for the CPAP when there’s no outlet handy, then recharge the bank in the evenings at the refuges. (I did this for my cellphone in refuges, since I needed to keep the phone in bed to wake me up at ungodly early hours.)
I didn’t bring one 😭
Ugh! Can you pick one up in Cham?
To the crossover point, I'd guess there are quite a few of us! My packing for Chamonix ran the gamut from Tibi balloon skirt, Flore Flore tanks, and Jamie Haller sandals to crampons and climbing helmet. If the outdoors and physical challenges are a part of you, why not? You WILL be the most stylish person around in your pearl trekkies :)
Oh wow! You truly did it in style!!! I’ll try in Chamonix when my train arrives in 30 mins. Half of my hip belt strap fell off somewhere in Paris so I’ll have to pick that up too!
Wishing you luck! There’s a store for just about every outdoor brand in Chamonix, so you’ll be able to find a hip strap for sure. Snell and Tech Extreme are multi-brand 🙌🏼
A week of solo walking and cozy refuges (and maybe a full Kindle?) sounds like absolute heaven.
Love the hiking content! Have an amazing time and please tell us all about it
Thank you and will do, Miranda!
Major kudos to you for always taking some time for yourself. I haven’t done it but also I have an office job so my holidays are family holidays. But I love this! And I stayed in the huts in Bavaria a long long time ago and it was totally spectacular. Enjoy!
Thank you so much, Margaret! I recognize that I’m lucky to have a supportive partner and the ability to take this time to myself. I hope you’re able to carve out some regular alone time for yourself too!
Enjoy the hiking trip! It sounds amazing. I hope you fully unplug and just focus on yourself. Enjoy!
I really appreciate that, Xue! I’m so bad at turning off and I’ve been a bit stressed about how I’m going to keep with work without my laptop, specifically for this newsletter actually, bc the rest of it I can do on my phone.
I’m pretty confident I speak for your subscribers when I say we want you to have fun!!! You more than deserve 10 days to yourself. Go and unplug, recharge, enjoy!
Be safe and have fun!!!!
Thanks, Michelle!!!
Amazing to read, Irene. I wish you the best adventure with your mind wandering to wonderful places as you put one foot in front of the other!
So lovely of you, Darci. Thank you!
Wow this is amazing! It’s making me think that as a mama of 10 years now I should penciling a solo vacation in. I’m sure it resets you in a beautiful way. Blissful silence. Haha. Good luck on your trek! As a backpacker myself- I am very impressed you are doing this alone. Have fun! Enjoy. Be well.
I hope you do! I travelled solo a lot when I was younger, for months at a time, and I always say that the best trip I ever had was my first 2-night trip to NYC by myself when my youngest was 15 months old. I did nothing but sit at the hotel bar and savour my wine (I was still drinking back then). The elation I felt!!!! I will always remember it.
I LOVE this! Thank you. How would you reccomend getting into solo hiking? Is there a trail that's a good place to start? I would love to do this
Honestly, just walk anywhere! I would start on the trails near your house, for half day then full day hikes. If you want to do overnight hikes, Google x-day hikes in x city and find one that works for you! We have trails all through our city and around our province. One of largest parks is Algonquin - they have 20 mins hikes (which we did with our kids) or options for camping - something for everyone! Good luck!
I’m also in Toronto :) I grew up hiking but never solo—will test it out locally and see how it goes. Have a great hike!
Oh yes I forgot!! We are blessed with so many trails in the city and just NW of us at Rattlesnake point or in the NE in Bluffs. So many you can do locally. If you’re worried about safety, that’s another conversation!
Ohh! I'm looking forward to hearing how this goes. I'm heading to do the Larapinta at the start of September, no husband, no child. Can not wait!!
That’s amazing? Do you live in Australia?
I do! I'm based in Sydney. We have lots of great hikes here. My other favourite is The Overland Trek in Tasmania.
Irene, this is so exciting that you are doing the TDMB! How brave to do it solo. Thanks for sharing your hut to hut packing list. I'm hiking in Austria the end of this month and was planning on a 60L pack and may downsize based on your input. I was also thinking I could rinse out cetain items. I can't wait to hear more about your adventure. PLEASE share a trip report newsletter with all of us when you return.
I definitely will and I’m excited for you!! Are you carrying or transporting? For the latter, I think they have a weight limit too (I read 22kg for one company). I’m also planning to sink wash my clothes as I go. Also my pack is from 2003 - packs are so much lighter nowadays.
Wow! I am so impressed on so many counts! Annual break sans famille—-wish i had done that! And a hiking trip solo…💕