TMB (Tour Mont Blanc) September 2020

Ended up at a campsite in Chamonix yesterday, today the last day 😥

Made the video below with the realization that it’s going to take a while again before you get to walk from ground level, step by step, through the tree line , to the top. Not going to try to include a literary treatise on that feeling here but have tried to capture the puny, almost submissive feeling during the walk, relative to the depths of the valley (again, is not really literary).

By the way, are going to do this again, for my next book, because it is very nice would be if I managed to put my thoughts and experiences on paper. These past few days again have been wonderful time to think but also to switch off and just be busy with/in the here and now. My next book, of course, is about the (especially under the current, challenging, circumstances) putting into practice my “Priority Time! adage” “make choices, set goals and then strategize to achieve them” but also:

Big (the overall journey) v.s. small (the next step).
Stagnation v.s. movement (looking at what you can do instead of getting stuck in the negative).
Acceptance (“walking conditions” like the weather, exertion and navigation as a metaphor for “reinventing yourself” and getting used to “the, new, life”).

The fact that I understand from myself that I do have to rise above it, otherwise I go crazy, but again this can come across as arrogant; the distance you create towards people who might, well, be genuinely interested.
I often say now “I don’t want to talk about that” when, in some cases, it might actually help.

The confirmation (just like during the earlier Scotland trip) that at home I have to plan the few appointments I make well and then recover (even if it’s just a simple coffee appointment or evening dinner with the family) whereas now I plan nothing, hike, rest where and when I want, pitch my tent where it’s convenient and each day only gets stronger. The fact that before (in my case literally 😉 ) you were just running while now, again literally, you take small steps but still achieve your goals / cover distances (metaphor for the, difficult, road to acceptance);
I’m going to include it in my book but not here and now!

(Am already chuckling at the reactions if you guys read this, otherwise I’m fine but consider this “italicized” in advance as a preview of the book!)

During the “ascent,” I hold a rest (strategy, awareness/awareness; I’ll go on for a while 😀 ) every 100 paces as standard; on the one hand, to enjoy the scenery (dwell on that for a while) but mostly to recover! Consciously taking a break until “the head” but in fact my whole body can “move on” again which again sounds floaty but just under my current circumstances fits perfectly and is an ideal replacement for triathlon and marathons but also for the lack (the satisfaction) of work).

On this day, during these breaks, I deliberatelygrabbed the GoPro (too) frequently and captured my surroundings.

The realization that one moment you are still walking among the city sounds (even on an early Sunday morning) while during the hike it becomes quieter with every step, in the forest still birding . That same environment becomes more and more beautiful, more impressive, and during this hike you will see that not only in relation to the city in the depths but also precisely through the mountains on the other side of the valley.

Just this day when, like yesterday when I walked the last part through Chamonix, you are part of that city to be there then looking out from above where you, literally, put more and more distance between you, was therefore (after all those days wonderful, alone, in nature) a nice transitional (goodbye?) day.

Pretty? Ridiculously beautiful!
Still going to work on video skills regarding transitions between images; promise!

On a practical note, by the way, a train runs over that track very regularly!
(Somewhere in one of the videos you can also hear this in the valley).