People often ask, why climbing? Like you could pick one of a million other things to do with your time, that are probably far less risky and equally as “fun”…?
But climbing isn’t about what it appears on the surface to me, it’s not about the adrenaline hit you get when you're hanging off the side of a cliff or the “oh look at me I’m a rock climber” vibe that you sometimes get off other climbers.
Climbing is multi-faceted, it starts without any actual climbing, to the places it takes us, it then takes me on a journey, both mentally and physically.
In 2016 Jacob and I did your standard, stereotypical ‘Euro Trip’, we went to all the major cities, did all the touristy things, spent a heap of savings, and while it was amazing and we had a great time, we knew there had to be more. In 2018 we went back, and we did it completely differently. We hired a car, avoided major cities at all costs and went from ‘big city travel vibes’ to ‘off the beaten path’. We absolutely LOVED it. Two completely different trips, two years apart, and at the end of our second trip is when we found climbing.
We were in Chamonix, a small town south of France when we set off on a forest hike. At the base of the hike we noticed a few people on the wall, with some ropes and thought oh that’s pretty cool, they must be rock climbing. We continued on our hike, and our trip, but the itch never went away. Our next stop was Lagos in Portugal, a smaller town in the far south. We had a spare day and thought why not give this climbing thing a go. We hired a local guide who took us out to his hometown, a tiny little community about 30m drive and this is where the magic happened. We spent the day on the rock and were both mesmerised by the experience, and the feeling.
From there we headed home and climbing became integrated into our everyday lives, it’s the best decision we ever made.
Back to where it takes us, our travel now revolves around climbing. Not just overseas but locally too. We look for where there is a high concentrate of good quality climbing, ideally with an easy approach (especially now with the bub) and we plan our trips around that.
It's unique because it means we go to places we never would have otherwise found or probably visited, and we get to experience places our way, integrating with the local communities and experiencing the area how they do, see it through their eyes, through a local lens rather than the standard tourist experience.
More than just the actual location, climbing takes us to the most beautiful places, seriously, places I could only have dreamed of existing and being able to see them in real life is often literally breathtaking. From huge cliffs looking down onto crashing ocean waves to the middle of the jungle surrounded by monkeys and squirrels.
It’s often quiet, private, and it takes you to a deep place of calm and contentment which is incredibly valuable to me. I am an anxious person by nature and it's something I have worked on, a lot, over the years. Going to these places and taking myself out of my comfort zone, away from the day-to-day hustle and fast paced life, loud noises, crowds, bright lights, it really does bring me back to this state of calm.
I struggle to find the words, it allows me to just be, to exist in the present and to really breathe. It’s a feeling so powerful I wish everyone could have the chance to experience it.
More than just the places we go, and the beautiful scenery, another important factor is the physical (and mental) health component. I struggle to exercise, I always have, I lack motivation and enthusiasm to make exercise happen, but being out in nature and watching others climb it’s hard not to want to jump straight on the wall and give it a go. It’s hard work climbing up rock walls and naturally you don’t want to fall so you really hang on with everything you have kind of without realising it. You get, and stay pretty fit.
The second part, mental health, climbing is a big mind game and constant battle with yourself. You have to constantly tell yourself that you are ok, you will be ok, you are safe and really just go for some of the moves knowing that you might fall. This aspect is HUGE for me. I get so scared, so easily and being able to talk myself down when on the wall is so something that now translates into my daily life.
I am more calm in stressful situations and can talk and work things through a lot better. I notice if I haven’t climbed for a while, on a somewhat ‘easy’ climb I will panic, I will physically shake and a lot of the time, I will cry and won't be able to make the moves. Watching myself become stronger mentally to being able to go up harder climbs, quite relaxed really is a huge win for me and probably more important to me than the physical aspect.
So, climbing, it's huge in so many ways and it's something I am so grateful to have stumbled upon back in 2018 and I now doubt it will ever leave my life. It's also a love and constant adventure that I hope to share with Kaia as she continues to learn, grow and experience what we do daily, on this crazy journey called life.
Til next time,
R
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