August turned out to be a very difficult but surprising month. I’ve had so many adventures in August around Yorkshire and Wales and Scotland! But it’s been a really tough time. Things are really up in the air with my job now, and I’m unsure what the future will bring. It’s been a stressful few months since the pandemic hit, and I live in a pretty constant state of stress and anxiety. There’s not much I can do, so I’ve been trying to enjoy the time and got around to a lot of different places in Britain! Here’s what all I’ve got up to this month!
Where I Went
York, Ilkley Moor, Spofforth, Hovingham, Helmsley, Rievaulx, Thixendale, Kirby Underdale, Harewood House, Fridaythorpe, Hay-on-Wye, Pen y Fan, Brecon, Pencelli, Penderyn, Four Waterfalls, Merthyr Tydfil, Llyn y Fan Fach, Cadair Idris, Dolgellau, Neston, Burton, Hoylake, New Brighton, Parkgate, Levisham, Hole of Horcum, Inverness, Fortrose, Dornoch, Dunrobin Castle, Wick, Keiss, John O’Groats, Dunnet Head, Thurso, Coldbackie, Tongue, Ben Hope, Durness (United Kingdom)
Best Moments
Doing the North Coast 500 (NC500) around Scotland! Wow. What an incredible part of the world. The beaches are stunning, the scenery was amazing, and I felt so remote and secluded at times. Wild camping and having no set itinerary was so freeing and it was just the best trip. There is so much of Scotland to see and I still feel like there’s more to explore. I finished off the month about halfway through this trip and it was just awesome! I can’t wait to share more photos and posts soon.
So many great hikes. I’ve tried my best to make the most and spend as much time outdoors as possible lately. I’ve gone on some excellent walks, lucked out with weather, and experienced incredible views. I’ve loved it!
Making it up Ben Hope. At 927 meters, Ben Hope is the most northern Munro in Scotland. Adam suggested we do this for a big walk one day and I’m so glad he did! We really lucked out with the weather and had amazing visibility and views from the top. It is a very steep hike and was very challenging for me. But I did it and it was so so worth it!
Finally exploring the Yorkshire Wolds. I had two hikes in the Yorkshire Wolds this month, and I’m embarrassed to say I had never been properly before this August! I did a loop around Thixendale, and a loop around Fridaythorpe about a week later. This is such an incredible and underrated part of Yorkshire—on both of these hikes, I only saw a handful of other people!! This whole area has lots of great hikes and it feels like a secret.
Driving! I’ve done a lot of driving (some by myself) this month. I’ve struggled so much with driving in the UK, and I’m so immensely proud of myself for doing so much driving this month. I drove on single track roads for the first time ever, up and down hills!! I drove new places I’d never been to before and I drove on the motorway by myself for the first time. I barely have any anxiety when I drive now and I’m really happy with how far I’ve come. And yes, I drove a tiny bit in Scotland too!
Returning to the Brecon Beacons. I first visited the Brecon Beacons National Park back in December 2013, when I was studying abroad in Nottingham. My friend Peter and I spent a few days traveling together in South Wales and we went to a fantastic whisky distillery, Penderyn, in the Brecon Beacons. I hadn’t been back to this part of the UK until this month and I loved it! I had so much fun getting to explore properly, and seeing so much more thanks to having our own set of wheels.
Great walks and great views in the Brecon Beacons. I finally made it up Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales! Thankfully, the clouds started to lift and we got just enough visibility to see some views. I also loved the hike out to Llyn y Fan Fach. The road to get to the starting point was a bit treacherous (and we had several sheep traffic jams!), but the lake felt so quite and remote when we got there. Definitely one of my favorite places in the Brecon Beacons!
Making it up Cadair Idris and doing the horseshoe! I had high hopes for hiking Cadair Idris, the highest mountain in the southern part of Snowdonia, and one of the Welsh Three Peaks (with Snowdon and Pen y Fan). It was extremely windy, but thankfully didn’t rain much. The Minffordd path is the steepest path up, and I definitely felt every step. Even after a disappointing fake summit, I managed to make it to the summit! Not only that, but we bagged Mynydd Moel on the way down to complete the horseshoe along the ridge! This is such a fantastic walk and the scenery was incredible.
Hiking the Hole of Horcum and seeing the heather. Every year for the past 4 years, I’ve hiked the Hole of Horcum in the North York Moors in August. The heather blooms towards the end of August and blankets the countryside in a carpet of purple. It is just the most beautiful part of the world and makes me so grateful to live in Yorkshire. We did the hike between Wales and Scotland, and the heather was just spectacular. It makes me so happy, and makes me feel so connected to where I live. I love it so much and this is still one of my favorite hikes in the entire world.
Getting into Instagram Reels. I didn’t get on the TikTok hype, but when Instagram released their own version I thought I’d try making a few. I actually really enjoyed making them and it’s really fun to have a short 15-second video to share your adventures!! I’ve made a few so far and had lots of fun making them. Now that I remember to take short video clips I’ve got the content to make them!
Worst Moments
My job is officially at risk of redundancy. I found out part-way through our Wales trip that my company is restructuring and my role is at risk of redundancy—they are downsizing my team from 12 of us to 9. The stress about work has been up and down since I was put on furlough in the middle of May. But now it’s official—I might actually lose my job. It was so difficult for me to find a job in the UK in the first place, and now that the country is officially in a recession I doubt that things will be any easier for me if I do lose my job. I should know by the end of September if I’ll be made redundant and while I can’t do anything to change it, it’s still been such a stressful time. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.
To make matters worse, I shared this (possibly losing my job) on Instagram and had a reply from someone who told me I was “so privileged” and “complaining at the highest level.” …… I regularly get mean and rude comments/messages, but this one really stung. I was trying to share what’s actually going on with me, and get responses like that. I just blocked them and brushed it off, and I try to focus on what’s important: for every mean message I get, I get 10x as many good messages so it’ll always be worth it for me. But seriously, you have to have tough skin when you share your life online!
The worst week ever. Adam went to France for over a week, the same week that we should have been in the US and spending time with my family in Minnesota. I felt so homesick and so lonely and it was really overwhelming. So many things were happening at once and I just felt so alone. Things have gotten better (minus the situation with work obviously), but it was still just a really, really hard and difficult week.
Rain in Wales. I didn’t think we’d get as lucky with the weather to avoid the rain for most of the week. But we had a lot of rain starting Pen y Fan, and got absolutely drenched on the Four Waterfalls walk. I had a lot of wet clothes and wet socks and wet boots and wet everything and it just wasn’t the greatest.
Posts Published
I tried to be really on top of things and publish lots of posts during the first half of the month! I didn’t publish much as I wasn’t at home that much, but I’m still glad I published what I did!
Plane Wrecks In The Peak District: Hiking To The B-29 Superfortress Wreckage
A Quick Guide To Aysgarth Falls In The Yorkshire Dales
Hiking Roseberry Topping And Newton Moor
Goathland To Grosmont: A Classic Hike In The North York Moors
Kirkham Priory: A Short Walk In The Howardian Hills
Hiking Around Rosedale In The North York Moors
Instagram Top 3
I’ve put so much effort into my Instagram these last few weeks and I really feel like it’s paying off! Here are my most-liked 3 Instagram posts this month.
Coming Up In September
I’ll be starting September on the North Coast 500 in Scotland! Besides spending the first week of September in Scotland, I have no plans for the rest of the month. Until I have some clarity as to what’s happening with work and my job, I don’t feel like I can make any plans (both for time commitments and financial reasons). Hopefully I’ll get back to the Lake District for my birthday weekend, a tradition we’ve had for several years now.
What did you get up to in August? Any plans for September?
[…] to even start? I’ve put off writing this recap post. And like last month, I would 110% skipped doing it this time apart for the reason that I’ve been writing these […]