THE ‘W’ TREK – TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK
THE ‘W’ TREK – TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK
WHAT
A 5-6 day hike which is considered one of the most scenic treks in the world.
WHERE
Chilean Patagonia
WITH
Some people pay thousands to do this trek with a tour company but it can be done for a fraction of the price. I rented my own equipment, took my own food and paid the general admission to the park.
DIFFICULTY
8/10 – A tough 4 seasons in one day trek with some steady and steep inclines. Go prepared, fit & well. I struggled with the weight of my pack on steep sections.
ANTI-BUCKET LIST WORTHINESS
10/10 – One of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet scattered with glaciers, forests, granite peaks and breathtaking valleys. Guaranteed to light you up inside.
TOP TIP
Do it from end to start to avoid crowds and to be pushed along by the strong westerly winds. You’ll also get to end at the mighty Torres (towers) instead of starting there.
Happy hiking gang!
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VISUALISATION AND THE 101 POSE
I spent last night trawling through just some of the many thousands of photos I’ve taken over the past few years when I stumbled upon this little beauty.
This was the very first 101 photo I ever took. My friend Gemma was taking a pic of me in front of the stunning Cathedral of Leon in Nicaragua when she suggested I turn around to get the 101 logo in the shot instead.
And with that, the 101 pose was born.
I’m going to be sharing some of the classic 101 shots over the next few months which I hope will give you inspiration for possible future destinations but also encourage you to get out there and take your own 101 pics!
101 t-shirts are now on sale so pick one up via the website and get out there and do something you love.
It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it helps you feel good! Send in a pic and we’ll plaster it all over 101 to inspire others.
VISUALISATION
Just visualising being in a place can evoke all the same sensations as actually being there.
Having things to look forward to helped me get over my own mental darkness during my worst time with PTSD.
Research has shown that when we visualise ourselves being somewhere or succeeding in something, it releases that feel-good chemical, dopamine, in the brain which can often be the first step in alleviating the symptoms of anxiety or depression.
So when you look at these photos or make a list, visualise yourself being there and I guarantee it will help light you up inside.
Happy visualising gang!
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MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
Mental health is a topic that is very close to my heart. This week myself and the inspiring Sarah Page from award winning insurance company Insurancewith.com had the chance to chat about our personal experiences via Facebook live interviews for the International Business Times and Hello!
You can find the links to both below:-
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#mentalhealthawarenessweek
HOW I GOT TRAVEL INSURANCE
A video explaining how a guy with one kidney, half a bowel, deep vein thrombosis and in remission for cancer managed to get travel insurance.
THE AMAZING LYNN – 101 GUEST BLOG
“It’s been one year since I finished treatment for breast cancer. Physically I feel fine but mentally is a very different story. Some days I see it as a success when I manage to get out of bed and make it out the front door.
Buying one of your Tshirts and reading your story is helping me to move forward, although I wish there was a fast forward button in learning to cope with the emotional side.
Here are my first 2 pics with the T Shirt, hiking in Chamonix with the view of Mont Blanc, on a recent holiday”
Lynn
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GUEST BLOG BY THE INSPIRATIONAL ALEXA
“I like this picture because of me and the world around me. I look at the picture and do not care about my funny hair, my long arms and huge hands, my grin, my funny trousers. I see my friend taking the picture on a warmish day, I can hear her laughing and I feel safe.”
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I am Alexa. I relocated from Germany to London, my favourite city, in June 2012. In 2014 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a mastectomy, followed by 6 cycles of chemotherapy and 3 weeks of radiotherapy, all at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, near to my new home in Chalk Farm. For at least the next 5 years I am on Tamoxifen.
My friends and family wanted me to return to Germany for treatment but I decided not to. I could not stand the thought of living in a guest room while I was ill and feeling down. I wanted to be surrounded by all the things I love, including my new life in London. For every chemo cycle one family member or friend came over to help out for a few days and after they flew back home I had help from friends and colleagues from London. They brought me cooked food, laughter and distraction. It was in this time that I realised that some colleagues turned into real friends.
From Facebook and 52 Lives I came across your Facebook page and bought one of the 101 Things-Hoodies. Please find attached 2 pictures where I wear it:
The first picture was taken by my friend Birgit. I go to see her and her family in Felixstowe, Suffolk regularly. I went there and because the weather was quite nice I wanted to see the port of Felixstowe. The best place to see it and have a good overview is from the Fort Felixstowe.
I like this picture because of me and the world around me. I look at the picture and do not care about my funny hair, my long arms and huge hands, my grin, my funny trousers. I see my friend taking the picture on a warmish day, I can hear her laughing and I feel safe (It´s maybe because of the walls surrounding the fort).
I also like to look at the other people/strangers in the picture. The girl in the right corner seems to thing “What is that crazy lady doing?”. And other visitors do not notice me at all, they just do what they were coming for, to visit the fort.
Sometimes it is such a good feeling that, although my life changed and shifted so much during the last 15 months, the world has not changed much and people keep on doing their things without knowing me or my story.
In the second one you can not see the logo well but I am getting something I always wanted to get, a tattoo. I never knew what design to get and where on my body to put it but when I was diagnosed with cancer I knew it before I started treatment. It is a “C” around my ankle, starting as a black dark letter, turning into a bird swarm.
One of the birds is red symbolising a hot spot in my pelvis, doctors found in a full body scan after my diagnosis which could be a metastasis. I always loved birds. So I hope to turn something really scary and horrible into something beautiful.
Alexa
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THE TROUTS TAKE ON BERLIN
I’ve wanted to visit Berlin for such a long time and I got the chance earlier this year but as it was for work I didn’t get to see anything at all.
So when the Pharmaceutical company Roche asked me to go and speak at a conference over there I cheekily asked if they wouldn’t mind delaying my return flight home so I could do some sight seeing.
My mum has always wanted to go to Berlin so I asked her if she fancied coming to meet me and when I told my brother we were going he also jumped at the chance. Sadly my dad couldnt make it otherwise it would have been a complete family affair.
We don’t often go on trips like this as a family so this was a rare treat.
I met so many amazing German people on my trip I immediately fell in love with Germany without even going there.
There is so much to see in Berlin. It’s not the prettiest city in the world but it’s packed with character and it’s history is beyond belief.
The highlight was without doubt spending some quality time with my family. We ate, we laughed, we chatted and we walked….a lot… but In-between all of this we also saw some incredible sights.
Here are a few which make Berlin a worthy addition to your anti-bucket list:-
BERLIN WALL
There are parts of the wall located all over the city but our favourite part was the EAST SIDE GALLERY which consists of a mile long stretch of all which is the worlds largest open air mural collection. Over 100 paintings which help describe the nations euphoria when the wall finally came down. It’s quite surreal to think that this wall once separated an entire city.
BRANDENBERG GATE
The idea for this incredible gate was conceived when the artist visited the Acropolis in Athens. It’s amazing in the day but even more incredible at night. At the weekends illuminations are projected onto the gate which literarily took my breath away. Have a look at the video further down on this page to see it in action.
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
It is difficult to describe how it feels walking through this maze of concrete blocks but you cannot help but feel moved by it. The memorial covers the area of a football pitch and consists of large concrete blocks at different heights designed to to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.
As I walked through in silence it was hard to grasp how 6 million people could have been murdered for doing nothing more than being Jewish.
THE REICHSTAG
This incredible building is the used as the German seat of Parliament. It’s been burned, bombed and damaged throughout the years but it’s risen from the ashes and is a must when in Berlin.
The famous glass dome is something of architectural genius and blew us all away. You can walk right up to the top.
Best of all were the 360 degree views of Berlin from the roof.
THE JEWISH MUSEUM
Both heartbreaking and inspirational. This incredibly designed museum is an education in Jewish history.
It’s is packed with real life artefacts each with their own story. Many of the stories are heartbreaking but one which warmed my heart was that of jeans maker Levi Strauss. See pic to read story.
We stayed in Berlin in for two and half days which was a good amount of time to see the main sights.
There is still so much more to see and do so maybe add on a day or two to fit it all in.
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THE MACMILLAN PROFESSIONALS EXCELLENCE AWARDS
An immense honour to be the closing speaker at the Macmillan Professionals Excellence conference and awards ceremony last night.
This ceremony is used to recognise the amazing work of teams and individuals across the country and celebrate all that Macmillan Cancer Support stand for.
To receive a standing ovation from anyone let alone from such inspirational people was a truly overwhelming experience…..as was meeting Strictly Come Dancing legend Gethin Jones who hosted the event! My true Strictly geekiness was fully unleashed on the poor guy!
Hearing of the projects and services that have been implemented by Macmillan to support families affected by cancer never ceases to inspire me.
I can’t emphasise enough just how lucky we are to have a charity like Macmillan Cancer Support this country.
Amazing people doing life changing things.
A VISIT TO NUMBER 10
At number 10 today discussing all things Kindness! Exciting times ahead for the School Kindness Project.
Donald Trump, we’re ready to convert you!;)
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HAMILTON ISLAND AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
Seeing the Great Barrier Reef was one of the first things I added to my list back in 2012. For years I had stared in awe at photos of this incredible reef in my National Geographic magazines. I missed out on ticking this off my list when I was last here in Oz…but not this time!
Thing No.21 on my list was initially to ‘Dive’ at the Great Barrier Reef but I had so many varying opinions from my vascular doctors about whether or not it was safe to dive with my blood clots I decided I wouldn’t risk it so Thing No.21 became – Snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef!:)
To achieve this particular thing on my list, Jaime and I ventured to Hamilton Island which is one of the 74 awe inspiring Whitsunday Islands located right in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef.
We were on a bit of tight budget this year, so we booked just two nights in a self catering apartment. Eating out costs a fortune in Australia, so doing it this way saved us loads of money. To be honest though, when you have a view like we had, you don’t really want to go anywhere else.
As you will see from the photos, the island and apartment views were breathtaking. Everywhere you look is a picture perfect view. It was such a surreal feeling waking up in the morning to the view of the emerald green waters and cockatoos sitting on the balcony railings. We were both in heaven!
Hamilton Island is pretty small but to help you get around there is either a free bus service or you can hire a golf buggy which we did for a few hours on the last day. So much fun!
We hadn’t done any research before we got there, so to see the reef we went with one of the on-island tour operators called Explore and did a half day snorkelling trip to a stretch of reef about an hour away. This was great fun and the company were so friendly but I must confess we were both slightly disappointed as we expected to see the brightly coloured coral we had seen in all the magazine photos. We thought this lack of colour might be due to coral bleaching which is a result of rising sea temperatures but it turns out the reef we were taken to was just pretty deep and as a result quite dark. It was also quite cloudy which didn’t help either.
It was of course still stunning but just not what we expected. The fish however were bright and beautiful and floating there and letting them swim around us was just incredible.
The reef stretches for over 2300km and is filled with so much beauty and diversity, so this is a definite addition to your list. An amazing experience and to share it with Jaime made the whole experience a dream come true.
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