In order to forget about all the terrifying/unfair/sad things in the world, I’m off to do a fairly long hike in a fairly small amount of time, and am taking less stuff than usual in the hope it will help me walk faster.

In reality, from previous experience this means I am still thinking about all of those things, and the work I should be doing, but while being distracted by the following:
cows,
bogs,
how long I still have left to walk,
rain,
even boggier bogs,
whether my feet are really wet or just damp,
food,
whether or not I’ve lost my handkerchief(/camera/phone),
trying to decide whether those cows were actually trying to kill me/didn’t know how to stampede properly/just curious/trying to escape being imprisoned and murdered/whether I should be helping them escape instead of going on a self-indulgent hike,
thoughts of my friends and family,
geology,
bird identification,
falling in love,
realising I’m hungry,
how long I still have left to walk,
sheep,
being glad that sheep do not try to kill me,
yet another hill,
being glad my shoes are still attached to my feet (I hope),
food,
vegetation,
wondering which things in my backpack are totally unnecessary,
chafing,
how long I still have left to walk,
repairing a gate,
falling out of love,
how long I still have left to walk,
how much battery is left on my phone,
should I call the hostel,
running,
cows/tides and scrambles down/up cliffs for hazard avoidance purposes as required,
how much food I have left,
sunset,
moonrise (if I’m lucky),
realising I’m hungry again,
food,
and…how long I still have left to walk.

Thanks to all these distractions, I should feel like I’ve accomplished something just by reaching my accommodation in one piece before they lock the doors, and fall asleep before I can start worrying about the fate of the world again.

Tehnuka (@tehnuka) is a volcanologist and writer who enjoys finding herself in unexpected places.