Today is my 29th birthday (An Update)

Today I turned 29 years old whilst waking up in a converted VW T5 campervan in the middle of Switzerland. Not a bad story to tell I guess. But there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes in recent times for this to happen. With this post, I not only want to remind myself but also to hold myself accountable for future goals and ambitions also to finally pull the trigger on the most important goal I’ve set.

 

Let’s rewind a little.

This blog, www.explorestronger.co.uk was started after selling my gym and planning to travel the world. I discovered a love for writing and for telling stories of my travels not only to inspire others to travel more but to also look back on the things I did and have done. It’s a double-edged, kinda win-win situation.

This all came to a grinding halt after leaving Europe in 2019 and setting my site on cycling across America. Blogging was hard after cycling 50, 80, and sometimes 100 miles a day. I decided it was a good idea to just put pen to paper and catch up someday. That day never came.

Throughout some more travels through South Africa, Madiera, Croatia, and Bosnia, and during the entirety of the pandemic, I always yearned to get back into a routine with writing but felt like reviving something that was inevitably dead, was never going to end well.

However, some major life events have happened since then and I am now excited to be in the creative headspace to be writing more frequently and that is one of the goals for my 29th year on the plane.

On turning 30…

Now, I appreciate that 30 isn’t old. I know that. We all know that, of course. However, when I realized that next year I would be turning 30, this spine-tingling, weird feeling came over me and something just didn’t feel right.

See things were kinda going OK for me. I’d a lovely little cottage in Wales, I’d been offered multiple salaried jobs, I have communities in golf, in football, and in the gym and everything was ‘as it should be.’ That was until I realized that next year I would be turning 30. Something didn’t feel quite right and I felt like something was left undone.

It was this blog.

It was pursuing something that gave me a drive, a purpose, and a passion.

It was writing.

Sharing stories.

There’s nothing quite like a time-based goal and it just felt right to go all in on doing something before ‘life’ inevitably happens and I’ve got to start being a little more responsible and safe.

Throwing the towel in

Having just gotten back from a trip to Croatia and Bosnia and something just felt right about being on the road again. Now for some context, I am an Online Personal Trainer and I am very fortunate to work 100% remotely. But whilst away in Bosnia and Croatia, my business actually grew. I enrolled new clients, launched a new program, and got some incredible results. All whilst being away from home and on the road.

This planted the seed for me and made me realize that if the time isn’t now, I don’t know when it will be.

Covid took it away from me, and us all, in 2020.

Personal reasons took it away from me in 2021.

2022 wasn’t going to be swept under the carpet again.

That was that.

I returned home. Handed my notice in on my cottage and begin the move from cottage dweller to full-time van dweller and digital nomad. I absolutely hate the term digital nomad, but unfortunately, I kinda guess, I am one now.

The first stamp on the passport

I had an invite to a road trip through America with one of my best friends, this was something I wasn’t going to turn down. Perfect timing for my notice on my cottage, after handing in the keys I went to the airport and started the next adventure.

I’ll keep this fairly short and fairly sweet, as I want to write more on the USA road trip separately, however, the trip was out of this world.

America is one of those weird places where everything feels like a movie, almost novel-like. Every corner there’s something ‘American’ and you can’t help but laugh or smile.

Covering over 4000 miles in just over two weeks in our rental van and seeing some incredible things like:

– Wolves hunting in Yellowstone
– Bears in Yellowstone
– Hiking in Zion National Park
– Climbing through slot canyons in Utah
– Stargazing in Bryce Canyon
– Playing golf at a US Open golf course

I absolutely love America. The people. The places. The scenery. The diversity. It’s a country that has it all, within its own borders. Truly amazing and I would LOVE to be able to take my van overseas next year to explore for longer.

So, what’s next?

Last Sunday I left Wales in the van to catch the ferry from Dover. After a long drive down, and thankfully not much in terms of queues at Dover we made it safely to France.

Not a country I had been to before so was cool to visit some old WWII sites and get a feel for the French way. After some breaded goods, and testing out the new fridge it was a short drive over to Belgium.

Again, a country I hadn’t visited before. Stocking up on Belgian chocolate.

Then spent some time visiting sobering sites from WWI. Humbling experiences visiting some of the gravesites of thousands of lost lives during the war.

Belgium is absolutely beautiful, one of the cleanest countries I have ever visited, and some of the architecture is some of the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world.

A spontaneous trip south into Luxembourg, just to say I’ve been. A cute little city with some impressive buildings, and more importantly cheap diesel!

Then into the gem of Europe, Switzerland.

After having the pants pulled down by the French toll roads, and just managing to get them buttoned back up, the Swiss then wanted £35 to just drive on their roads. I’ve decided to leave my pants around my ankles for the entirety of the Swiss adventure as not sure it’s worth even trying to keep them up…

That leads us to today, my 29th birthday.

A weird feeling. Like what are you supposed to do on your birthday? I’ve never really understood them, or what the social norms are.

However, hiking through a gorge, paddleboarding on a glacier blue lake, and eating carrot cake aren’t a bad ways to spend your birthday, in my opinion.

So, what is next?

Well, I’m glad you asked.

Currently, I am going to be traveling in the van for the next 3 months. Because this thing Brexit now stops me from traveling Europe for longer.

Bastards.

From Europe, I’m going to head to Nepal for some winter hiking.

Then I’m going to catch some sun in Asia. And probably typhoid.

After a winter catching some Asian sun, the plan would be to go back in the van.

If Smyrlllines are nice enough to have me, I’d love to take the van over to the Faroe Islands and Iceland before the summer starts.

Then the dream and the hope are to take an extended trip to the states, and Canada.

If that fails, it’ll be the Balkans in the van for the summer and leading to my 30th birthday.

The action plan, batman.

Write more articles and blogs.

This will include all hikes from the past, present, and future.

I ALWAYS get asked where something is, so I’m going to do better at writing my hikes as I do them. Making this site more of a resource than a, ‘Hey, where’s Lou today?”. Ya, feel me?

More reels and posts for Instagram.

Editing more photos daily.

Take more photos daily.

I really want to improve my photography this next year, so focusing on daily actions is what is going to get me there. Will get into the art of taking and editing photos daily.

Continue to run my Online Coaching business, which I am most excited about, to be honest. Being on the road allows me to have more creative freedom and actually makes me work harder. That makes me excited to see what can come for online clients over the next few months as already have the juices flowing for how to get better results, improve more lives and deliver a better service.

For you?

If you’re wanting to see more adventures, hikes, and the likes. This blog is going to be the resource for you, please just bear with me as I write over 100 posts on hikes, adventures, and tales from the past few years of travel.

If you’re wanting to see more fitness and nutrition stuff, I plan to cover and write more about that too. As let’s face it that is what I am best at in this very large world.

If you’re wanting to see what Lou is up to, then I’ll be writing a weekly actual update from the road, or the plane and where I am in the world.

That’s about it, I think.

If you’ve got this far, thank you.

I think this post was more about writing and getting the first one in the books than anything else.

Breaking the seal, if you will, and marking a big X on the calendar.

Now, how long can we not put up a zero?

Thanks for being here, and thanks for your continued support, always.

To more adventures than mis-adventures,

Lou