Day 59 – Jausenstation Neuschwand to Lingenau

Daily Distance – ~16km
Daily Ascent – ~430m
Daily Descent – ~3000m
Total Distance – 970km
Distance Remaining – 26km

Having started this journey alone, it seems somewhat fitting to be finishing alone, having met good people along the way. Not that I have quite come to terms with ending yet. While I look forward to reaching the lake and laying down my rucksack for a time, the journey also seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. Hiking for long periods is a curiously doubled-edged sword. Often during the journey I miss home, but also miss the simplicity and clarity of hiking life once settled back into “real” life.

I have often tried and largely failed to explain this tension to both myself and others. The quotation below is the clearest explanation of this tension that I have yet found and still resonates today.

So, a weekend camping recharges my batteries. A week, maybe two, provides an opportunity to get lost in the outdoors and completely relax. Occasionally, though, every two or three years, my yearning for something more rewarding starts to gnaw at me. If I was a normal chap, I’d ignore these feelings, but I’m not, so I don’t. I sit up and take notice. I get excited about the prospect of what I could do. At any given moment, I’m contemplating numerous ideas: cycling around the world, taking a year out to explore the canals of Great Britain on a boat, restoring a camper van and travelling through Europe for the summer or – and this idea always takes centre stage – walking a crazy distance through a part of the world that beckons.

The anticipation of throwing my gear into a backpack for the weekend and venturing out curls my mouth into a smile. Escaping the annoyances of everyday life and instead discovering the energising, invigorating quality of the countryside makes me complete and content. The restless rush and needless stresses of the working week are left behind.

I work to earn enough money to satisfy my wandering tendencies. I receive different reactions to my lifestyle. People think I’m weird, which I find flattering. The rest respond with either interest or envy.

I do not subscribe to the idea that life is about school, then breaking my back to progress in a career, having two kids, accepting the standard two to four weeks’ yearly holiday and handing over my hard-earned cash to fund a pension annuity that the financial company swing in their favour. It’s just not for me.

Keith Foskett (The Last Englishman)

How best to balance living life with the sensible necessities of earning money to not be impoverished in a (hopeful) retirement is still very much an open question.

Anyway, having spent the entire hiking day hiding under my umbrella, I am off to get wet in the hotel swimming pool before taking a final early night. 21:00 hiker’s midnight still applies one last time.