Tag / hiking

by Kelly Mattei

Let’s Walk…It’s Not That Far

Let’s walk…it’s not that far.

This morning, I woke up to find a message on Facebook Messenger from my friend, Angela. She and I have been friends for 35+ years. We have been through a lot together. We have changed a lot over the years, but one thing has remained consistent: my need to walk…and walk fast. This was what she sent me this morning:

It will likely happen again this weekend, when she and I visit Tuscaloosa for the Alabama/LSU game. I will say, “Let’s walk down and see our friends! It’s not far!” And off we will go. I’m sure she will be thinking, “Right. Not far.” Add in the fact that I’m fast walker, and she’s a not-so-fast walker. I’m sure she hates it, but I can’t help myself! I love to walk! Until I had sciatica this year, I thought walking was my superpower! Now, I just consider it my superpower that needs to be rebuilt.

Last month, I visited Panamá with my cousin, Patti. I always research a place before I visit, and I had done good research on things to see and do in Panamá City, Panamá. I never overschedule, because really, I’m not a type A personality. I like to go with the flow. I like to fly by the seat of my pants. However, I do like to do at least one cool thing each day on vacation. One thing I wanted to do in Panamá was visit Cerro Ancon, also known as Ancon Hill. It’s a hill just on the edge of the city that offers a great opportunity to see wildlife (toucans, sloths, agoutis, and more), and it also offers a beautiful view of the entire city from one side of the hill. The other side offers a gorgeous view of the Panamá Canal. I had read that it’s not a difficult hike. It’s paved. It’s a gradual ascent.

On day three of our stay in the city, my cousin and I set off early one drizzly morning for Cerro Ancon. We had hired a “bodyguard” to take us anywhere we wanted to go, and he went with us too. The starting point of the hike is at a place called Mi Pueblito, which is a mock village depicting three Panamanian cultures. It’s a cool starting point, and a very sweet gentleman showed us around the mock villages before we started our hike. Then we started “climbing,” which, to me, meant “walking.” I told the cousin, “It’s one mile up and one mile down…no biggie.” That’s what I had read! However, somehow it turned out to be more like two miles up and two miles down, I think…with lots of stairs to climb too. As we walked, I would encourage her by saying, “It’s not much more, cousin.” Then, we would round a curve only to see more road and stairs ahead of us. She would say, “Sure…not much more. Grrrr.” Seriously, I had no idea it was as long as it was, and the more we walked, the madder Patti got at me. I made light of it, but I think she was really mad. We saw several beautiful toucans, lots of agoutis (they look like small capybaras), and at the very top of the hill, we saw a sloth! A real live sloth in the wild! That was my goal of the whole climb…to see a sloth in the wild! Well, that, and I wanted to get photos of the incredible views. Mission accomplished!

For the rest of the weeklong trip, my cousin cussed me for that adventure. She was not happy with her walking cousin, but I jokingly pretended I didn’t notice. I said to her, “Aren’t you glad you did it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have seen the sloth!” I got a few looks from her, but she has to love me, because I’m her cousin. Plus, she does have one heck of a sense of humor, and thankfully, she laughed at BOTH of us pretty regularly during that trip.

I know we will always have memories of Ancon Hill.

If you’re considering walking any distances, I recommend you wear some good shoes. I prefer On Cloud 5 sneakers. You can purchase them on Amazon here. I take out the factory insoles and replace them with Dr Scholl’s insoles you can purchase from Amazon here. If you need a good travel cane, I recommend this one from Amazon…purchase here. I purchased it in pink when I was suffering with sciatica. I never had to use it, but it was nice to know I had it if I needed it, since I didn’t want sciatica to keep me from doing the things I wanted to do.

**As an Amazon Associate, I might receive small compensation if you purchase through my links.

by Kelly Mattei

She’s Home

facetune_13-07-2018-10-05-40

My 14-yr-old daughter is home from her two-week adventure in Iceland. She doesn’t even seem tired after hiking, backpacking, rafting, sleeping outside, and all the other stuff she did.

I admire her and all the kids who did this challenging trip. I couldn’t do it. Well, I suppose I could, but I wouldn’t want to…tent sleeping = deal breaker. She said Iceland is a beautiful country, and she had a great time, but she did miss talking with us.

I totally get that. First, I missed her more than I knew I could miss someone. My husband and I said it to each other several times a day, “I miss our girl.” We could hardly wait for her to return, especially as I stood at the airport waiting for her plane to land. It seemed like forever. I was excited at that point, but time moved slowly, like waiting for Santa. Another reason I understand is that I visited Mexico with school friends and a teacher when I was fourteen, and we all experienced some homesickness. The difference? I could call home. Back in the 1980s, calling the US from Mexico was expensive, but my parents were OK with it. I didn’t call every day, but I did call a couple times…especially when I was homesick.

So, yesterday, I stood outside customs/immigration with my big sign, “Welcome Back!” I listed the girls’ names at the bottom. Waiting. The lady next to me was waiting for her grandson to come in from Iceland too, so we distracted each other.

After clearing customs/immigration yesterday, my daughter and her friends looked happy and relaxed. We did not cry (whew!), but she jumped into my arms. We did a group hug with her friends whose moms weren’t there. I was elated to see all of them! I asked them if they’d like to get something to eat before we got on the flight back to Charlotte. They opted for chicken nuggets, fries, and a Frosty from the airport Wendy’s.

On the plane, she asked me if I had missed her, and that’s when I cried. l told her she has no idea how much I missed her…and she doesn’t know, because until she has her own child who goes off on a two week trip with no communication, she will not be able to understand what it feels like to send your precious child 2,500 miles away. Think about that…I wouldn’t put my dog on a plane with someone to go 2,500 miles away. I wouldn’t send any prized possession on a plane with someone to go that far away.  Yet, we had to let her do this trip. And there will be more trips. There will be more experiences.

After we got home yesterday, a friend came over, and as we were talking, I told her how desperately I missed my daughter while she was gone and how it gave me a new appreciation for my parents’ experience. They must have missed me like crazy when I was gone too. At least when she goes off to college, she’ll be able to pick up the phone and call. As for this trip…I’m thrilled she had the experience. I know she learned a lot about Iceland but even more about herself and her ability to persevere. But honestly, I don’t want to be anywhere that I can’t call home for two weeks. In fact, I don’t think I even want to be at a posh resort in a beautiful setting with fun things to do and fabulous food if I can’t call home whenever I want! We are a talking family.

We want her to be independent, and that’s why we let her go. We’re already planning next summer. Will she do another one of these trips? I don’t know. If she wants to do another one, of course she can.

We are thrilled to have her home. She’s my favorite child.

***If you enjoy Kelly Mattei’s Favorite Things, please like our Facebook page and invite friends to “like” it too!***

by Kelly Mattei

I Just Sent My Daughter To Iceland

My 14-yr-old daughter just got on a flight to go to Iceland with a teen travel group. We have been looking forward to this for months. I say “we,” because I am so excited for her. Really, I wish I could go, but her group is just for teens. Plus, they will be staying in tents and hostels…no thanks. I’m too old for that. I want to go and stay in hotels, but my adventure will have to wait. This is her turn.

This trip came about because she wanted to travel to Costa Rica and Belize. The same company offers a trip to those countries for students her age, but space is limited. As it turns out, I signed her up a day too late. They called me and said the Costa Rica/Belize trip was full and offered trips to Colorado, Utah, Oregon…no offense to those lovely states…and they ARE lovely…but I knew she didn’t want to go back to school in the fall and tell her friends who had been to Costa Rica that she went to Oregon.

When they called, she was in school, so I needed to make a decision for her. While I was talking with the representative, I had my laptop open. I started scrolling through the trips they offer, and I said, “What about Iceland?” I had never spoken with my daughter about Iceland before, but it looked pretty, and the trip description sounded great too. I think the rep was surprised, because Iceland and Costa Rica are two very different destinations. She said there was space available on the Iceland trip, and she also told me it was an awesome trip.

That afternoon, my daughter went home after school with a friend. She called me and asked, “Well, am I on the Costa Rica/Belize trip?” I told her, “No, I’m sorry, but you’re on a better trip. I signed you up for the Iceland trip.”

Oh, you’d have thought I was telling her she was going to be locked in the basement for the summer. The crying…the anger…the disappointment!  After we hung up, I started sending her texts with pictures and videos I found online of Iceland. In a little while, she called me back, saying, “Iceland looks awesome!” I didn’t say, “I told you so.” But, well…I told her so.

photo-1466872732082-8966b5959296

All this happened way back in September. Since then, we’ve watched every video, read every article, and looked at any pictures we could find of Iceland. I have friends who have traveled there in the past year and posted photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram, and every time I see one, I call my daughter into the room, and we check them out together.

It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime, no doubt. She will see all the beauty Iceland has to offer, which is plentiful. I’ve been checking the recent temperatures there, and they appear to be hovering between 42 and 51…a little colder than it usually is this time of year. Interestingly, she’ll also get to experience midnight sun. They’ll have full sunlight for 21 hours of the day and only three hours of civil twilight, which is much like dawn or dusk. I’ve told her she’ll need to take a sleep mask…especially for those nights they’re sleeping in tents.

Months after I signed her up for Iceland, we received a call from the tour company telling me some space had opened up on a Costa Rica trip, and they asked if she might like to do that instead. It was during school hours, so I couldn’t talk with her. I told them I’d talk with her about it, but I doubted she’d want to switch, because she was pretty psyched up about Iceland. And I was right. When she got into the car that afternoon, I asked her, and her immediate response was, “No way!”

Score one for Mom!

As we purchased and gathered all her gear…and it’s a lot of gear…we packed it into her carry-on duffel bag. Fortunately, the tour company told us exactly what she would need. There was no guesswork…just get what they said. She got some of the gear for Christmas, and then we purchased more as we got closer to time for the trip. And we got more and more excited.

Earlier this week, we hopped on a flight from Charlotte to New York, so we could spend a little time in the city before she went to Iceland. A friend from Charlotte and her daughter, who is also going to Iceland, joined us, and we had some fun in the city. The girls enjoyed our dinner their last night in NY at Sugar Factory. The food was basic bar food, but the drinks and desserts were great fun! It’s a fun experience, so if you find yourself in New York, we recommend a stop at Sugar Factory. See the website here.

So, my friend and I dropped off our daughters at JFK Airport today and put them on the flight to Iceland. It was fun to see the excitement on their faces. I did the “drop and run” tactic at the gate from which the flight was leaving. I didn’t want to linger, because I know that is more difficult for us. It’s easier for us to just say our goodbyes and part. My friend and her daughter sat down and had a talk for a little while. Different people do different things, but I could tell mine wanted me to vamoose, and I get it. After I left them at the gate, I walked to an eatery way down the concourse, sat down, and had a couple of glasses of Prosecco, partly to celebrate the fun they’re going to have and partly because I just needed a glass of Prosecco. My friend joined me in a little while, and then we, the moms, returned on a flight to Charlotte without them, still talking about how excited we are about our girls’ upcoming experience.

They’ll go rafting in cold water, kayaking through fjords, see wild horses, see puffins, climb waterfalls, go ice climbing, hike a glacier, see lots of geysers, and they’ll visit the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa…and more.

photo-1462993340984-49bd9e0f32dd

While I can hardly wait for her to experience Iceland, I’ll be even more excited about her return. She will have done lots of things I’ve never done, and she will have lots of stories to tell. In fact, I feel pretty sure she will learn a lot and even change some while she’s gone. She’ll learn about a different culture and landscape, and she’ll learn a lot about herself. After all, this is a teenager who has never slept outside. She’ll be sleeping in hostels and tents, a whole new world.

As we enjoyed our last night in New York, I asked if her she was nervous, and she said, “No, I’m just mad that I’m not already there.” I guess I’m the only one who’s nervous. Well, my husband’s nervous too.

img_8442.jpg

While she’s gone, we will go on a little vacation of our own, and she won’t think about us one bit. I know my husband and I will turn to each other every day and ask, “What do you think she’s doing now?” If I’m nervous about this two week adventure to Iceland, I can only imagine how nervous I’ll be when she goes off to college. My friend, Linda, whose son is halfway through his college career, told me at lunch last week to get ready…time flies, and our daughter will be going off to college before we know it.

Bon Voyage!

***If your family or child is embarking on an outdoor adventure, here are some ideas on things to purchase and where to get them:

GoPro Hero5 Camera…we needed it in a hurry, so I purchased it online at Target and selected “store pickup.” A few hours later, my item was at the guest services desk of my favorite Target.

Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag…we purchased the 60 liter bag, and it holds way more than I thought it would. Plus, it’s waterproof. We purchased this directly through the tour company, but you can find them at REI for $129.00 in store or online here.

For most other items, we shopped at Jesse Brown’s in Sharon Corners in Charlotte and REI at Carolina Place Mall, and I highly recommend both laces. 

img_8442.jpg