Life, Experience & Sunrises
- Tim Young
- Oct 7, 2016
- 4 min read
Welcome to my Blog. Tyco Travel Eco Adventures
As this is my first blog post, I'll start by explaining why I've set it up. I want to share my own stories with you and encourage you to create your own.
Making time for Change
Let me tell you a story. About four years ago, I realised that my life was flying by in a blur of work, family life and routine but leaving very little time for me and not much to say on Monday morning when my colleagues asked what I did on the weekend…”err, not much” being my usual response.
So, a month before my 40th birthday on March, I set about making changes. Not wanting the expense of taking up a new hobby that I might quickly get bored of, I just dug out an old pair of trainers and started running. I downloaded a smartphone training app to help get mme from sitting on the couch to running 5 kilometers. Anyway, that went well and soon I was running three times a week, fitting my runs into my daily commutes and early mornings on a weekend. A few months later, I had increased my fitness, bought a reasonable pair of running trainers and was already training towards my first 10K run.
By the time I was ready for my 10k, it was Winter and the regular running season was over so I signed up for the only run I could find online and in my area. The only one I found turned out to be a 10K run around Greenwich Park in London with hundreds of others dressed in Santa suits, but it was a good experience and raising a little sponsorship money for a good cause along the way felt good.
New Stories to share
This was becoming fun and it gave me something to talk about with friends and work colleagues on Monday morning.
Not happy to stop at running, I bought myself a bike and began riding. I justified the expense by also using the bike to commute. I was still running, but I found that my main spare time was now spent cycling.
I began riding on weekends, gradually stretching out the miles further and further, but never managing more than 20 miles in one trip. I then signed up for a 60 mile bike ride from London to Cambridge with some people from work.
Encouraged by others and with a lot of training and nutritional advice from the internet, I completed the ride five months later. I also entered another 10k run that October, and this time, I found it much easier to get back to my running fitness.
Progress was being made and I now had some of my own experiences to share.
In the August I signed up for a scuba diving course. I had always loved any water based activity, having been a keen windsurfer when I was younger, but that was 20 years ago.
This was a great course, lots of new skills to learn, great gear to dream about being able to afford and breathing under water was cool.
Not imagining diving in cold UK water to be fun, I had to put up with Monday night practice down the local swimming pool. The following year, we went to Mallorca on a family holiday and I booked a day’s diving while the family stayed around the pool enjoying the food and drink. I got to kit up in a whole bunch of diving gear and roll backwards from the boat into the water, like you see on TV. Once down there, I saw lots of small fish and swam through an arch, where you could see the most amazing light penetrating the water from the surface. I was hooked.
I also managed a few bike rides and took an early morning run along the beach during the week. My very own "triathlon".
Another experience, another story!
I became determined to have more experiences, no matter how big or small.
New Experiences
So, now, three and a half years and several new experiences later, I have completed several 10k runs, a number of 60+ mile cycle rides, walked up to the summit of Mount Snowdon in Wales, gone walking in the Lake District with friends, dived with fish in the Mediterranean and travelled through Europe by train with my daughter. All because I made a decision to do more.
I now set myself a couple of challenges per year and I am always looking for new experiences and adventures that I can fit in around my life. I’m not looking to convince the family to travel round Europe in a camper van (yet!), but I have found that actually saying yes and doing something a little out my comfort zone has given me some amazing experiences.
My three tests for a new challenge are
Will it challenge me personally?
Will it be fun?
Can I fit it into my life, by making small incremental changes?
So far, it’s working and next I’m planning to train for a 100 mile cycle ride, cycle and scuba dive abroad more, start learning Spanish, and set up a small business promoting cycling travel adventures.
Each day is a new sunrise and an opportunity to do something new.
I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences and adventures, and they encourage you enjoy some of your own.
I would love to hear from you about your experiences so feel free to share your own stories and comments below.
If you want your own stories to tell, just decide to #domorefeelmore #loseyourself #discoveryourself
Comentários