An adventure is always a good idea

I’ve been thinking about adventures a lot just lately.

In part, it’s the time of year - I always feel more of an urge to challenge myself as the winter begins to ease and I can feel the first inklings of springtime in my bones, but I think it’s also a bit of a slow burner that’s been quietly simmering away for some time now, and 2025 feels like the year to begin putting some ideas into action.

I think back a lot to our years of IVF in my 30’s and the (sort of) adventure that was, but I think it’s the last 5 years, since we gently closed the door on that chapter, and as I’ve slowly regained myself and remembered who I am, that I’m ready to adventure (in an intentional sense) again. I’m beginning to feel teeny tiny shoots, from seeds that were dormant in the darkness of that decade, pushing through the cracks and up to the surface.

The fact that we got back recently from almost a month away in New Zealand might have something to do with it too. We camped, hiked, caught up with old friends -and made plenty of new ones too! - across the length and breadth of the country on an trip that we’ve been promising ourselves for years and it was every bit the adventure I had hoped for.

While we were there, we walked a section of the Abel Tasman coastal path, and passed a few people who were walking the Te Araroa trail (an epic 3,000 kilometre route that spans the full length of NZ). It jogged my memory to a book by Anna McNuff that my mum bought me several years ago. ‘The Pants of Perspective’ was her story of running the trail, and I remembered loving adventuring across the country with Anna (and how brilliantly captivating, endearing and laugh out loud funny her writing about it all was) so I downloaded it on my kindle and reread it, followed by her other three books. By the time the plane was touching down at Heathrow, the small flame of adventure that had been quietly flickering away had been well and truly reignited.

Last year I spent a glorious chunk of time with my own adventure hero, Jessica Hepburn - the first woman in the world to swim the channel, run the London marathon and climb Mount Everest. Hands down she’s one of the most inspiring, encouraging and supportive people I’ve ever had the joy to get to know, and who I now get to call a dear friend and it’s another silver lining of my infertility because without it, I’m pretty sure our paths would never have crossed.

Mid-way through the year we shared a glorious day down in London together, and then in September I joined her and a small group of amazing women on a magical weekend in the highlands of Scotland to recce for a retreat she was working on, ‘Save Me from The Waves’. (More about that later) We spent three days swimming in icy cold lochs, climbing Ben Nevis (or Mr Ben as he became known to us) and exploring inside ourselves too.

In December we returned to Scotland for the inaugural Save Me From The Waves Retreat, and this time rather than being a guest, I had the joy of co-hosting the retreat with Jessica and another incredibly special human Alice Todd and her company SwimQuest holidays. I boarded various trains and buses from Peterborough to Glasgow (an adventure in itself!), and drove on to the wild and windswept coastal village of Arisaig for an experience I will never forget.

All this is to say that over the last year, and the last few months especially, I feel like my eyes and my heart have been opened to another of the gifts that infertility has given me, and I’m grateful to be in a space now where I’m able and ready to acknowledge it.

It’s the gift of being able to dream, plan, experiment and explore what adventure means to me and to have the freedom, both time wise and financially to be able to follow some of those dreams through, and to live them.

A life without children wasn’t the one we expected, and it wasn’t the one we hoped for, but it’s the life we have and I guess, in a way that’s another adventure, tentatively beginning to seek out all the silver linings and then being brave enough to really try to live them - I think maybe that’s what I’ll be writing about more here.

For now, Inspired by Anna and Jessica, I’ve started a list of adventures I’d like to go on. There are many, and lots of them are small, because at the grand old age of 44 I know myself well enough to know that small and slow is what works best for me in the most part.

But alongside the micro adventures we have planned (we just bought a roof tent for the car so I’ll be sharing more on where that takes us this year) the most exciting BIG adventure right now is our very first full week Save Me from The Waves Adventure Retreat that we’re getting ready for.

It’s taking place in May this year on a breathtakingly beautiful little island off the coast of Ibiza called Formentera (look it up, the beaches are insanely beautiful!) and I am SO looking forward to everything single thing about it.

Before I sat down to write this, I hopped over to the SwimQuest website to remind myself of all the retreat details, and reading it, I caught myself thinking ‘Oh, how I need a week like this’ before remembering that I’m part of it! What a joy! Here’s a little excerpt from the site that explains a bit about what we have planned…

The week has been carefully curated to include a combination of inspiring activities that will take you on a joyful journey into nature, as well as into your own creative heart and soul. By the end of the week our aim is that you feel like you've been part of an experience that has been profoundly enriching; that you have challenged yourself and met that challenge with love; and that maybe you've got to know yourself a bit better and feel inspired to go on your next adventure in life.

You can read about it in more detail here, just know when you do, you might need to be ready for that same feeling of realising how much you need a ‘Save Me from The Waves’ week in your life! As one of the retreat hosts, I know with certainty that it’s going to be an incredible 7 days, and that the magic and the power of it will last far longer than our time together out there. In fact I have a feeling that for all of us taking part, however big and brave or small and slow we need it to be, it will add a whole lot of loveliness to our memory bank.

It’s likely the biggest adventure I’ll go on this year, not least because it’s something so new to me - but it’s also a space I feel so passionate about venturing in to. I’ll be leading our yoga and movement sessions - from sunrise beach flows to gentle restorative yoga and journalling classes, and I’ll be weaving some of my knowledge and skills as a health coach into our sessions too.

The retreat has just two remaining spaces and I wanted to share the details with you here. If the idea of adventuring into the sunshine with us feels like it’s coming at just the right time for you, we would love you to join us. Part creative journey, part adventure challenge and part soulful wellness retreat - with music, delicious food and great company (if I do say so myself!), it’s going to be an unforgettable week, and the start of something really special for Jess, Alice and I going forward.

So, here’s to all the adventures we might dream up. Micro ones, massive ones and everything in between. As Jess says, An adventure will always change your life for the better. I’d love to hear about your adventure plans for 2025 too!

Until next time,

Caroline x x

ps - If you know someone else who might need saving from the waves, do share this post with them :)