Picture this – an 8 hour hike all by yourself, but literally all by yourself. Not another human being to be seen the entire time. All I had for company along the way was a skunk, some woodpeckers and a lot of cows! Backpacking around South America for 9 months was a dream of mine from childhood, and taking that crucial first step and actually doing it is something I will forever be indebted to myself for. It has been one of the most monumental stages of my life and to describe the feeling of having seen, heard, smelt, tasted and touched, a culture and land so far and different to ones’ own is nigh on impossible. I knew it was going to be hard; however nothing and no one can prepare you for how hard it actually is. Loneliness, the uncertainty of where you will sleep each night, sharing a room with 11 other snoring people, tiredness, a whole different language, and being with your travelling companion for a longer period of time than most married couples are, and more!
That solo hike in El Chalten in Argentina was truly one of those “ah-huh” moments in life for me. Every woman has those insecurities that they deal with – I’m too fat, I’m not pretty enough, I’m not funny enough, my thighs are too big, I’m not interesting enough – and the list goes on. However, as cliché as it sounds, it is so true – how can you expect others to love you if you don’t even love yourself? As I puffed my way up that huge mountain, alternatively belting out my shower songs, and stopping to appreciate the raw beauty that surrounded me, I realised that if I – a 27 year old from a tiny little country in Africa, called Zimbabwe could make my dream of travelling around the world a reality and experience the jaw dropping splendour of life and being alive, then the size of my thighs is truly as insignificant as they are compared to the huge mountain I had to climb in order to reach the summit of my hike!
Pushing yourself to the limit, when you really don’t think you can take even one more step, when your breath is coming out in laboured gasps and your leg muscles are screaming in protest, is extremely hard. Being alone with yourself for that length of time with no mobile, TV, iPod, iPad or anything electrical really shows you how powerful our own thoughts are. I kept catching myself thinking such negative and hurtful things – no wonder we all struggle to love ourselves! However when I eventually made it to the top (and finally stopped hyperventilating), the vista that greeted me was nothing short of life changing. I had accomplished this – me, and me alone! Our world is so full of places that blow your mind quite literally. I decided to set my camera on a 10 second timer and capture, as best I could, the feeling that now encompassed my whole being – I was now a friend of my own soul.
A lot of people say that most men are not attracted to independent women, that they are intimidated by them, but if independent means not seeking the approval of others to love yourself then those people are wrong, because what person wouldn’t want their partner to be happy with who they are? With my back to the snow-capped mountains and glistening lakes, thumb and index fingers linked in unity and a smile on my face that radiated from very heart and soul, I felt alive, I felt happy and I felt free!
Thank you for reading and commenting. Please enter the Independence Travel Writing competition and tell your story.
