h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's been a pretty solid year so far. This year's season of camps has, for the first time, extended into September - this is great work and a handy bonus, but it means I've got a little period of time where I haven't had a break again. I usually get to August, get the main holiday time over and look forward to a little downtime in September just before the autumn hits. This year I haven't.

The September camps have been brilliant; lots of time pressure with the early sunsets and late sunrises, but I'm getting six hours of sleep per camp rather than the usual three - and that's with a good hour or two around the fire at the end of the night. I felt autumn coming a couple of weeks ago, though, and beautiful as this time of year is I can't help but feel a little depressed at the thought of the long haul through to spring. I get an odd sense of melancholy at the start of autumn every year; spring and warmth feel so far away.

So I've got two more camps, starting tomorrow; I get back on Wednesday, work Thursday and then fly to Granada (the one in Spain; not the Caribbean or the motorway services) for a few days. I've travelled extensively in Andalucia, but haven't been to Granada. That whole period of Moorish occupation fascinates me, and I'm looking forward to putting my feet up and wandering around the Alhambra, soaking it all up.

A bit of good news is that they've responded to my suggestion of doing day versions of the camps by asking me to put a programme together; they'll promote and handle the admin and logistics, and I'll do the work on the ground. This is very exciting; at last I have a chance to organise and manage my own project.

Once I've had a break, I might start to think that things are looking up a little

for your own project!

Enjoy your break Rich - you 'richly' deserve it

only you, Rich, would title your journal 'Putting My Feet Up' then write about a walking holiday in Grenada!

have fun!

Enjoy your holiday

Enjoy your holiday, have fun, plenty of when you return (ah home comforts)

x7

Walking Grenada on his hands, of course, Sho.

how did you get in to this line of work Skanky?

you know, Leo, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he did

Now you're making presumptions about me I didn't mention that I was going on a walking holiday, and I'm not. There's the old city to explore, and the Alhambra is quite a big place, but my walking boots are staying at home. If I want a really big walk any time, I'll just arrange to meet Alex in London again I'll be spending most of my time looking into all things Moorish. It really is an interesting period of history, full of wonderful stories and names - King Wilfrid the Hairy or Sancho the Fat, anyone? How about the Visigoth king who was overthrown through embarrassment after his nobles dressed him up as a monk and shaved his head? Or the lovely (if apocryphal) story that the Moors only came to Spain for revenge after a lustful king courted an Arabian count's daughter? There's a real richness in the tales of the time, and I really want to immerse myself in them. Walking is right down the agenda

I got into this work as a volunteer, Opti. I needed to get experience working with groups for my mountaineering qualifications, and happened to be in an outdoor centre when they has a call asking for volunteers urgently. Six years later, they're still stuck with me

it still sounds like an awful lot of activity for "putting your feet up"

but I am it sounds fab

I don't think Rich really knows how to put his feet up....maybe we should show him!

evilgri??

I hope you enjoy yourself!

I have been looking at walking holidays, staying in B&Bs. The trouble with a motorhome is that I do have to keep moving it to find new or different walks, and I can only do circular walks.

Hearing about the long distance walks there are make me want to try some, but I can't carry all the stuff I'd need for all of us, and although both dogs and the child have backpacks, it's going to be less enjoyable.

So I'm trying to find a weekend where we can do two or three days walking, with a nice man in a van moving our luggage between B&Bs, and if it goes ok, and we can all manage the distances, I might try to organise something a bit longer. I'm going package at the moment, so they do the hard work looking for dog friendly B&Bs and lunch spots!

I'm hoping for something in October half term, but otherwise it'll have to be next spring. As long as it's not raining!

Don't worry Skanky - if you ever do come up again I'll have an A-Z handy

sounds like volunteering may lead some people to their dream job.

Tell me about it.

was that last comment directed at me?

Er, yes. It was my way of agreeing with you.

shall we move this convo elsewhere? sounds like it could be leading somewhere and we are going off on a tangent from Skanky's original post.