Out of my Head

There is something magical that happens when you take off and work on the road.  You realize that you spend way too much time in daily life doing the mundane stuff that seems to matter at the time but really is negotiable: dishes, laundry, cat box scooping, playing on Facebook, obsessing over email.


My sister said years ago that she wanted to go to Ireland before the big 5-0.  I said, ok.  And so with a few months to spare, we did it.  She decided that she wanted to do a walk around the Dingle Peninsula as her way of seeing Ireland the first time, and I said, ok.


I highly recommend this trip with a few lessons learned:
1. Don't walk from Tralee to Camp.  It's crazy rugged.  I'm glad we did it and that we didn't know how hard it was, but honestly unless you like boulder hopping and falling in the bog, avoid the Heath and start in Camp.
2.  Take a daypack like this one from ChicoBags/Reuseit.com.  This thing was perfect.  I also stored my wallet, passport, and my euros in a dry-sack inside the daypack.  Perfect.
3.  Be OK with taking days off when it's going to rain all day.  For real.  Walking for an hour or two in the rain is ok if you have some gear, but honestly just take the day off if it's going to rain all dang day.  You won't see anything anyway, and it's perfect for grading papers.


Those are my top three tips; I found that with all of my domestic duties gone that grading was so much faster and more organized.  I do love being at home, but travel always makes me so much better at time management and priorities.


Now, did I get any writing done?  Heck, no.  But I didn't expect to.  What I did come back with is a clear plan to take a tea break every day (my Pinterest is filled with digestive biscuit recipes now).  A cuppa Barry's tea and a couple of biscuits are all I need to remember that things can easily be stripped down and there's little that can't be accomplished if I just keep looking for the trail markers and keep going.


Interested in a walking tour?  We used Wonderful Ireland as our tour company.  Basically, they arranged our stays and ensured we had a cell phone, maps, detailed directions for the trail each day, airport pick up and drop off, and even pick ups when it was too rainy to walk (we only skipped two days due to rain).  They do a variety of packages and I'm sure Peter over there will work with you.


Just remember--start in Camp or some other spot on the Way, not Tralee.