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Well hello goeiedag bonjour, how are you?
Welcome to the blog, you’ve already found the first article in good health! Let me use this opportunity to break the ice by introducing myself. A few keywords: Floor, 28 y/o, illustrator/musician/hiker, libra, Brussels. Phew, we got through that. You’re here to read about my hiking adventures. So let me start at the beginning, in the summer of 2017, where this whole story began.
Shaky relationship
The summer months of 2017 weren’t easy for me. A heavy event in my relationship at the time turned my whole ‘existence’ upside down and marked the beginning of a chain reaction where I slowly but surely began to question every certainty in my life. I slept alone again, and that led to late-night scrolling through social media. I also scrolled through groups about travel and backpacking on Facebook. There, a young woman asked a question about the ‘West Highland Way,’ a multi-day hike that I had never heard of until then (let alone the concept of ‘multi-day hikes’). But the fact that a young woman posted this planted the seed in my head that I could do this alone too… And the more I researched it, the more determined I became: I wanted to do this.
Teenagers on campsites
Since my parents divorced when I was eleven, my brother, my sister, and I have been traveling annually with my father to a country in Europe. We would drive there by car, and to save money, we slept in a tent. And just like that, we traveled from one campsite to another for two weeks. That tent caused some friction at first: three teenagers and a tent, you can imagine. But after setting up and taking down a few times, we were so well-coordinated that we could set up our campsite in no time.
Looking back on these trips, and the (limited but fundamental) camping experience I had gained there, I thought I could manage in those Scottish hills.
“Every summer, we drove to a European country. To save money, we slept in a tent. That’s how we spent two weeks moving from one campsite to another.”
Little Floor
Partially naive, partially brave, partially cautious, I began planning for the West Highland Way. I bought my first tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag…, scoured hiking YouTube and hiking blogs, and slowly but surely acquired enough knowledge and tips to know what to expect on the hike. My surroundings were apprehensive; as the youngest of three children, I was still seen as “little Floor” in their eyes, and years later my sister admitted that at that moment she gave me three days before I took the plane back home (thank you, Goele).
But I didn’t know that at the time, and I was determined to see this adventure through to the end. I wanted to prove that I could do this; to others, but deep down, most of all to myself.
What followed was a journey that unfolded in two completely opposite dimensions. On one hand, everything was new, and things were still a bit rough. I was struggling with the rain, the midges, homesickness, wet feet, getting lost, and the hopelessness of such a long journey. On the other hand, deep inside, a new Floor emerged; someone who took charge, who handled things, who approached fellow hikers, who learned to be comfortable in her own presence. I was on my own, and that translated into both fear and courage.
Grabbing the bull by the horns
Fast forward to the end of that journey: I arrived in Fort William in one piece, and I was hooked. That is to say: not only the taste for hiking, but also the taste for doing things in my life in Belgium. To seize the opportunity, to start projects, to create things, to think bigger than my Flemish brain had done up until then. The hiking trail taught me to take responsibility and to realize that if I didn’t move, nothing around me would move either. For example, I enrolled in an accounting course, which led to starting my own business/webshop, which in turn led to the launch of this blog. Full circle moment!
Even my mother, who was primarily in the “what would you do without that” camp beforehand, told me that she saw such a change in me, “that from now on I might as well go hiking every year.”
And that’s what happened. I learned from the mistakes I made on the West Highland Way, tweaked my pack list to a slightly lighter setup, and set off the following summer to hike the Kungsleden in Sweden. Nowadays, I set out every summer, and I feel more and more at home with each trip (for example, on my last hike, I slept for 14 hours straight in my tent – something I couldn’t even have imagined on my first hike). The mountains and forests always reveal something new from my subconscious, which allows me to continue growing in my life in Belgium. My plea for hiking is almost done, just this: I think I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t be the same person today if I hadn’t made these hikes.
“The hiking trail taught me to take responsibility and to realize that if I didn’t move, nothing around me would move either.”
Captured on film
Also this: ever since I hiked the West Highland Way, I also document every hike on camera. It started just for fun, so friends and family could see how the adventures went. But as I saw more and more people inspired to go hiking through this, I now make them for everyone. People who have been hiking for years and have tons of experience, but also people who, due to circumstances, cannot hike, people who (yet) don’t dare to hike for several days, people who are simply interested in the ins and outs of such a journey… Well, everyone.
And now I’m here. Knitting a new stitch into the hiking chapter :). Feel free to stick around (or come back anytime), as I plan to share a combination of personal stories and hands-on hiking tips here. It will definitely be a warm and cosy place, that’s for sure.
Many kisses, enjoy the hike
