Holistay

So this last week was half-term for the kids, usually a time we would pack a bag and go and do something that involves staying away from home. Not this time. Limited funds and extensive flooding around us as a result of 2 back-to-back winter storms have not done anything to fuel our enthusiasm. So we decided to stay put and see what we can do locally. This is an account of our half-term staycation or, I prefer, holistay.

Did I mention that 2020 was also going to be a year of firsts? Well it is, feeling the need to up my game when it comes to adventuring, I felt the need to push myself more. Why? Isn't what I'm doing enough already? Nope, there's always room for more. I've made a pact with myself that I need to try at least one new thing every month. So far, I've tried magnet fishing, climbing and laughter yoga – completely bonkers. So far, I've exceeded my one a month quota!!

We decided to stay put and gave ourselves a £75 entertainment budget for the week. We managed to go over budget by only £3.20, so I'm super proud of that. Here's how how half-term shaped up:

Saturday and Sunday, not much because the weather was a real shocker. Just local dog walks and quite frankly, they were not impressed and really did not want to leave the house. Tough love little doggies, you need to poop and I need to escape these 4 walls!!!

Monday wasn't much different to be honest, except a trip to the vet for the poorly cat. £78 later and the cat is now fine. It was interesting trying to safely navigate a none flooded route to the vets and back home again.

Tuesday and the real fun begins after a few days of a really slow start. First was a lovely long dog walk - Dominic on his bike, then leaving the dogs at home we head off to attend a willow weaving session. This isn't the first time we've attended a workshop run by the wildcraftist, last year we made some really amazing lanterns and they're still proudly displayed in my lounge. This time we made willow hearts and they're proudly hanging up on the wall.

Wednesday was a non-exciting day, we spent the day at the local hospital. Just routine, but something we have to do every so often.

Thursday back on the half-term fun, though not necessarily adventure related! We went to the cinema to watch Dr Doolittle and then to Pizza Express for tea. Why have I mentioned this on this adventure blog? Only because I used what I call 'free money' to pay for it. My nearest petrol station is Tesco and I always use my clubcard when paying. They currently have a deal on their vouchers where they treble them up. I spent £25 of clubcard vouchers (I had £50 of vouchers in total) and this paid for a meal for three of us + drinks + pudding and a trip to the cinema. Use your loyalty cards peeps, this would of cost me nearly £90 out of my own pocket!!

Friday and we're back in the world of adventure. Axe-Throwing. Oh my goodness, I have never done this before and I honestly did not realise it would be so much fun. We got a mini-league going between us and ended up leaving with both Dominic and me deciding that we're going to have our birthday parties there. The best thing is that they can print out poster size pictures of people or things and they'll stick it on the board so you can throw you axes at it. You can literally throw axes at the head of someone who you hate, its brilliant! I NEED TO GET THIS DONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY PARTY – who will be in the poster I hear you ask? You'll have to wait and see x

Saturday was archery and luckily it was indoors. This was the first time at this club and it was organised by the Shropshire Scouts. This is a really fun way to spend the morning. All three of us enjoyed this and we'll do this again I'm sure. I've had a go at archery before, but this is the first time I've actually had an instructor on hand to give me a few basic tips. It really made all the difference. All three of us showed huge improvements in just the 2 hours we were there.

We thought we'd utilise the local swimming baths for a change on the Sunday. Again the weather was crap and I personally hadn't been swimming in a long time. The kids beat me into the pool and I found them alone in the deep end. I decided that I was going to bomb myself into the pool and nearly drowned them both in the resulting tsunami. The funniest part for them was watching the lifeguard trying to telling me off whilst trying not to laugh. The kids decided that I must have annoyed him as the wave I created managed to soak him too. You'd think getting wet would be an occupational hazard for a life guard hahaha.

So how much did we spend:

Willow Hearts £15 (£5 each)

Cinema and meal £0

Axe-Throwing £45 (£15 each for 45 minutes) (add £6 for the poster next time!!!)

Archery £9 (£3 each for scout members)

Swimming £9.20 (not sure how much each)

Total £78.20

One thing that I have realised is that I haven't done on these blogs is to actually tell you my name. I'm Fran and I live in the most beautiful county of Shropshire. My nearest town is Ironbridge and I get to frequently drive past the iconic bridge that is a world heritage site.

Sadly, at the moment Shropshire and surrounding counties are struggling with the worst floods in 20 years. Its terrible to hear the stories of those effected. Floods, fires, polar caps melting its all impacted on by the threats we as humans pose to our planet. We can all do our bit to help and in my next blog, I will talk about the little things that I do that will go towards helping the environment. Take care x

Starting life as an Adventurer

You came back for more!

Thank you for that, its much appreciated. Today I thought it might be a good idea to give you some background into my adventures so far, how I got to do them and a little bit of reflection.

Not all my adventures are big expedition size, most are what people might call micro-adventures. Some have been officially organised expeditions where I had to be selected to be part of the team, some on my own, some with amazing friends and some with my awesome kids. Like most people, I'm on a really tight budget and we try and keep costs down wherever we can, I'll share my tips on how to do that as we go along.

About 4 years ago, I suddenly woke up to the realisation that my life had become boring. I didn't do anything any more that was outside of ordinary and my life was plagued by routine. So what did I do? I got a dog. We had family dogs growing up, but this was my first dog. I researched the kind of dog I was looking for. I wanted a dog with stamina and energy, but one that was quiet and kind. The breed I was looking for was a Bedlington Terrier. We found a litter relatively locally and Honey soon became a firm member of our tribe. Soon after Honey arrived, we were also joined by Bob, a Jack Russell Terrier. Having these two soon kick started my love of walking and they have both been loyally by my side ever since. We must of walked thousands of miles over the last 4 years. Part of me wishes that I knew exactly how far I'd walked, maybe I should start keeping a log now!!

Interestingly, I knew I wanted to get out into the big outdoors, but my motivation was not to get slimmer, it was simply to have adventures. This ambition so far has come true. I really haven't got any slimmer, though I do feel much fitter and I've had lots of adventures. Since getting the dogs, we have climbed Snowdon 3 times, completed the 36 mile South Loch Ness Trail, completed the 79 mile Great Glen Way and we're slowly ticking off sections of the 229 mile Shropshire Way. I've also completed an organised week long woods survival expedition with Love her Wild. This is in addition to lots of smaller challenges on the way. These will be discussed in more depth in later blogs.

This summer I am planning the biggest adventure yet. Me, the kids and the dogs are completing the 227 mile Severn Way. This follows the UK's longest river, from source to sea. We are hiking, canoeing and mountain biking the entire length. Yes, that's right, I will actually be riding a bike over a significant distance. Not bad for a fat bird – she says with mumbling confidence. In all seriousness, there is good chance with any of these adventures that I / we might not complete them. I don't start them knowing we cannot complete them, more believing that we can complete them, but it is going to be tough. It wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy and fearing failure is not a reason to not try. Having the fear of failure has been almost paralysing at times in my life and its taken me to relatively recently to realise that the true failure is not even trying.

I'm also completing a child-free challenge this year. In April, I have been selected to part of a crew that will sail a tall ship. I've never even sailed a dinghy before and I get seasick watching the boats from the safety of the beach. Cue a well rehearsed quote from my kids “you're going to die”. I'm not going to die, its going to be ace and I cannot wait. I'm really excited to share a write up of this adventure with you once I've done it.

It is half-term this week and due to storm Dennis and extensive local flooding, we've ditched our excursion plans and completed some smaller challenges, a couple of which are completely new to me and I've loved doing them. I'll enlighten you in my next blog. 

Until then, keep being courageous, yet stay safe xx

Fat Lass Adventures

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a lady that thrives on doing things that take me out of my comfort zone. Call it a midlife crisis. I'm 44 and only really found this new zest for life in the last few years. Maybe due to being middle-aged (does that mean that every day from this point is me being old?!?!), maybe due to actually not being in a situation where I need to consider the needs of another adult. Who knows, maybe through this blog the answer will appear, I am open to suggestions.

I am single and I have 2 amazing children. They are Penny, aged 12 and Dominic, aged 10. I'm not being biased (honest!) when I say that they are just the best kids. They are simply up for doing anything and only occasionally say “you're going to die” when I line up a random challenging expeditions that seriously push me out my comfort zone. So far, I've proved them wrong. Most of the stuff I do, I do with the kids and I genuinely think that they are my motivation for doing this adventurous stuff. I am determined to show them a life of adventure and to develop their passion for nature and the environment. So far, we are ticking every box, but there is still much more to be done.

I also try and complete an expedition every year that is away from the kids. Something for me, but also something that I hope my kids will see and think “my mum just did something pretty cool”. This years child-free expedition is already lined up, I will tell you about that very soon.

So why have I set up this blog? I am someone who always sticks up for the underdog, the minority and the excluded. Why, because I have been that person and it takes a lot of mental strength to get through it. Now I feel in a position where I can provide a platform where people who are in the situation that I was in can listen and hopefully be inspired. The title “Fat Lass Adventures” has been developed because its describes me perfectly. I'm a fat lass who has the best adventures.

Historically, I've come across many challenges to being an adventure-fatty person outside, not all necessarily obvious. Some of the comments, highlighting my size, I truly believe were not spoken out of malice, some maybe were. Often they were disguised as something else, such as concern for my health, or they think they're being motivational, but the reality is its just fat-shaming under a hidden agenda.

I think the most hurtful comment was from a toxic parasite that was briefly in my life. Following my decision to move away from that persons poisonous company, they highlighted my size on a national UK hiking Facebook page. I was initially gutted and then realised that I had as much right to being on a mountain top and also on that Facebook page (as well as any other outdoorsy page) as the next person. I'm sure their intention was not to actually inspire to shout from the rooftops that I'm fat, my body is ace and I love it, I love being outdoors and in the process of doing so, I complete some pretty cool stuff. Incidently, after setting up the Fat Lass Adventures Facebook page, it was reported for promoting a negative self image (cue an eye roll!). Anyway, this is a blog designed to promote and inspire us adventure-fatties to get your outdoorsy kit on and get outside, no more air time will be given to that fool in this blog!

So for my next blog, I'll tell you about my world of adventure so far and what I have in the planning. This is along side tackling some of the challenges that us adventure-fatties face. Until then, be nice to others and to yourself. x