THE WEEKLY #106: BACK TO SOLO IN BOQUETE

Solo travel. It’s back. I said Josh farewell as he headed back to Australia to get ready for the launch of his book and to consume four smoothie bowls daily. I was left in Boquete, to explore the final few hikes on the agenda.

I had left the best til last. The hikes proved to be incredibly off-beat and one of them, Piedra de la India Vieja had no trail at all and was a huge challenge. To be honest it shocked me back into solo travel mode. There were moments during that hike where I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep going. I was neck deep in vines and struggling to get out. I didn’t think I would perish in the jungle, but turning back and giving up is just as bad as a result for me.

There is a raw feeling of vulnerability in the knowledge that if you do sit down and give up, no-one cares. You are out of service and no-one is coming looking for you. It teaches you very quickly to summon the strength, find grit and back yourself. It’s solo travel and solo adventures. This wasn’t some epic survival story but it was an afternoon where it kind of hit me that I was back in solo mode and if you go missing while out adventuring or fall off a cliff, it will be a week before anyone notices you are gone. It isn’t a negative outlook it is actually quite exciting for me but it does make you feel alive.

 

I caught up with Angel and Joey from Magic Trips Panama. We hit up a few more waterfalls in the Chiriqui region and they helped me not suck quite so bad at Spanish. After more than a month in Panama, I should really know ‘cliff jumping’ and ‘hike’ in Spanish although there seems to be some dispute about the direct translation.

 

In my last few days in Boquete, I continued with my running despite coach Josh going home. I am determined to run no less than 30km a week for the rest of the week and if possible head nearer towards 50km. This isn’t incredibly easy for me as I am doing lots of full-day adventures and hiking. Everyone has an excuse and that is mine. A pretty valid one but still an excuse.

Hiking for five hours after running 10km at a pretty solid speed is doable for one day but catches up with you on day three and your life just becomes eating and moving. I’ll try to balance it all as normal but that is the goal. You can follow me on Strava if you don’t believe I am running 30km while hiking every day in Panama.

I got up to a ton of adventures this week and I’ve not just been running most days but also daily editing and blogging. Life is busy but not really at the same time. I have just become pretty efficient at my craft of blogging. They aren’t essays but just me documenting the adventure of each day.

I’ll add all the links to the blog posts from this week. The highlight was definitely hiking to Volcan Baru during the middle of the night. The full blog post is beneath and if you read one definitely check that out for the pictures alone.

 

If you have made it this far into the weekly. You are loyal. I won’t apologize for the lack of Wi-Fi, but that is why this weekly has been posted late. There is no Wi-Fi in Santa Fe good enough to open my blog so I have 10 drafts open on my desktop. Daily blogging just not daily posting. Anyway, she must be live now if you are reading this.

Hope you had some good adventures this week and pushed yourself to try something new. Stay curious.

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