where art collides philosoperontap

We woke up this morning to a new year. I’m excited for the new year. I think it’s going to be a goodun. They by and large always are although the last couple of years have been tinged with sadness as first Anne’s dad Keith and then both our mums Eileen and Rene passed away.

That’s life though Jim and you just have to get on with it. This year will see the start of our new campervan hire business Anne’s Vans. The site is still in development but I will be spending time over the holidays populating rental sites and social media with details. Not today though. Today is being devoted to sloth and relaxation together with  bit of a walk at some stage.

The walk is all about the new attitude to lifestyle. I’ve ditched a lot of work baggage and stress and am now creating the time to get fitter and lose weight. It’s not going to be a totally austere existence. We are off to Venice for the weekend next Friday followed by a few days in the Isle of Man. I also have LONAP commitments which are most rewarding and enjoyable and the nature of the internet industry being what it is will involve the consumption of much beer. It’s going to be about getting the balance of life right.

The walking is part of that and to provide some focus we have booked a week in Llanberis at Easter to go hill walking. I don’t know whether the summit of Snowdon will be accessible due to the weather but the intention is to build up fitness in the three months between now and then so that I can do it if the opportunity allows.

Llanberis is also a staging post on the road to doing the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk with Tom in May. This is a 190 mile 2 week hike stopping at B&Bs each night. I will definitely need to be fit for that and expect to be even fitter by the end of it.

All this comes with new kit purchasing opportunities. I need new walking boots. My old ones, Zamberlan, are very good but my left foot seems to have grown in recent years and I now need a new pair. Tom and I were in Blacks yesterday trying on a variety of boots and to my surprise I found that whilst my right foot was a size 8 my left was now 9 – 9 ½ !!??

They didn’t have the right size in the boot that I eventually chose so we left the shop empty handed (empty footed?) and I now need to figure out how to get hold of a pair of Scarpa SLs in size 45 without running the risks of buying online. These ain’t cheap boots. It may yet come down to the internet for purchasing.

So 2016 is going to be an interesting and fun year and I’m hoping to maintain daily updates here on philosopherontap, cos that’s a fun thing to do. The featured image is of one of my old Zamberlan boots. Ciao amigos