My name is Tom Smallwood and here you will find my posts and those of guests, on the positive effects of time spent outdoors.
We ended up watching a few films which were very interesting but sitting in a comfy chair, in a dark room with a large coffee being whisked off to amazing places also meant we missed the Patagonia Adventure Activists session that we had paid for…
Read MoreSweat is anxiety leaving the body. I don’t remember much about the drive along Loch Ness to the hills above the isolated white cottage that is the Cluanie Inn nestling in the depths of Glen Sheil the steep sided Highland glen. In the hour or so it took me to drive from my home in the Highland capital I took little notice of great expanse of water I drove beside, my mind spinning in turmoil.
Everyone is beset by some sort of struggle. It can be a myriad of things like family conflict, addiction, health or workplace stress. For me, on this spring day, it was the sense of being let down that persecuted me. I had applied to take my workplace pension two years early. At first, I’d been led to believe that it was a mere formality; that I’d simply have to apply to get my pension released.
Read MoreSkimming stones on Kleifarvatn Lake
I spent four nights over the Easter weekend in Iceland with my family - a wonderful early birthday present from my impeccably brilliant genius of a wife. I have long wanted to go there.
But four days in Iceland is like dipping one crispy salted pretzel in Nutella and eating it. You can’t stop there. You need more...
Read MoreIt was mid-July, and my first experience of the French Alps bare of snow. Based in Morzine in the Haute Savoie for a spot of climbing, via ferrata and a substantial hike, it was a trip that I had been looking forward to with childlike enthusiasm.
Read MoreIf you had told me 8 years ago that I would soon be exploring the wild outdoors, seeing places very few people ever get to experience, I would have scoffed. With no outdoor experience, having never wild camped or walked a trail, I was out of touch with the nature.
Read MoreIt's not often I cry watching TV. Like many in the developed world I am probably overly sensitive to my own suffering and somewhat de-sensitized to that of others. But occasionally something strikes a nerve.
In this case my friend Dave had recommended I watch an episode of Channel 4's World War II's Great Escapes: The Freedom Trails. It was all about Operation Galia; a story of courage, slaughter and resilience in the mountains of Italy during a particularly dark period in this young nation’s history.
Read MoreHaving had the honour of being invited to a christening in Mileševa Monastery, outside Prijepolje, on Thursday and having spent a night in an almost inaccessible village, reached via a one hour 4x4 ride up and down a dirt track, we sped across country on Friday to stay in Kopaonik; a mountain resort best known as the centre of winter sports in Serbia and, as is always the case with such places, a rather drab and untidy building site in summer.
After a short pitstop in the city of Niš we saw out our last weekend of the road trip walking in the Balkan Mountains.
You may not have heard much about the Balkan Mountains or Stara Planina (Old Mountain) as the areas is known in Serbian, but this range stretches from the south eastern corner of Serbia, spanning Bulgaria, to the Black Sea.
Read MoreIt was a superb day, which started off cold and misty but was soon bathed in sunshine. The array of flowers in Durmitor National Park is absolutely spectacular and the climb itself gives equally stunning views.
Amazingly a stray dog which was kicking around the car park followed some other people to the very top. Perhaps she has climbed this mountain more than any other living creature!
The view from the summit is uninterrupted as Bobotov Kuk totally d
Read More30 Days Wild, has primarily been an opportunity for me to share this with my daughter and to introduce her to a few micro-adventures to help her connect with all things wild, even if only in a small measure.
It has been a pleasure, mostly simple, occasionally difficult to find the time to write a blog post, but never boring. Both Emma and I have had great fun doing it. I have been able to share some things I enjoy with my daughter and she has grown more confident from experiences such as making a video, camping out at night, paddling on the river and "playing" with creepy crawlies.
Read More"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men,
Gang aft agley"
So wrote Robert Burns in his poem To a Mouse; an apology for upturning its nest whilst ploughing a field.
I am in the Alps this week and I feel like the weather in the last few days is Burns' plough and we; the mice. Our plans have certainly gone awry, although no apology has yet been forthcoming. It is often true that time spent in the mountains feels as if it is snatched from the gods that govern the wilderness. We choose our moment ahead of time and then sit tight hoping above all hope that we shall be blessed with the conditions to enjoy nature in all its sunny glory.
Read MoreI am writing Day 25 from Chamonix, in the French Alps. My daughter and I agreed that on this day we would both spend some time reading a wild poem.
Emma's favourite poem; one she likes to recite, is The Grass House by Shirley Hughes.
The grass houseRead More
Is my private place,
Nobody can see me
In the grass house...
If, like me, you don't read as much as you might like to, you probably want to get the most out it. so here are three books you absolutely must make time to read!
With less time on my hands as well as the proliferation and accompanying distraction of other media, such as podcasts, I certainly do not read as much as I used to but my love for the written word, and specifically the printed word, is undimmed. My modest library is still a sort of refuge for me in moments of stress.
Read MoreWhen I was sixteen we lived in a rented house in the Gloucestershire countryside and I had fields, woodland and nature as my companions every weekend. For all the restrictions I may have had when it came to socializing with my peers, my parents always allowed me to roam across the fields providing they knew roughly where I was and when I would be back.
At the time I was going through a phase of reading survival magazines. Long before Ray Mears hit the popular consciousness or Bear Grylls inexplicably chewed off a snake’s head, I was fantasizing about the possibility of surviving from the earth and from my own wits.
Then, one day, I had a sort of epiphany...
Read MoreVideo is already important and will continue to become more so, especially on mobile devices. Nobody with an online presence can deny this importance and all small business and brands should be looking at ways of engaging with their audience and customers through video.
We are just under one month away from the British Medical Council holding its AGM and the executive committee facing a vote of no confidence.
Whats that? Oh sorry, its the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. So I guess its the citizens of Mumbai who are not happy… no? BMC Software Solutions? No.
Read MoreDifferent generations. Back in '93, when being really, really thin and pale was cool!
Morphine and Memories. It's all I seem to have these days.
Ok, perhaps a tad dramatic but I am writing this hunched and twisted in agony. Another night of fitful sleep saw me turn up to ER at 06:30 this morning seeking pain relief. I am pinned by a trapped nerve in my back which is particularly excruciating. It means that yet another week goes by in which I cannot get close to doing what I want; namely spending time outdoors. Walking boots gather dust and a new packraft lies deflated and unloved.
Read MoreI went to the physio again yesterday and although it seems my "quads might be loosening" and I might be getting better, I have still not been able to run beyond 2 - 3km without knee pain since early January. It all happens at a time when I feel stronger than ever due to the specific strength training I have done and yet I have no way of demonstrating this to myself through a good, long and cathartic thrash across the fields.
Read MoreI am writing this from Seville, the capital of Andalusia.
A year and half ago I spent a magical few days in this region with my family and some close friends. I was at a lowish point in terms of my working life and the seeds of my idea to change the way I work were first sewn...
Read MoreIt is 3 months since I quit the rat race to live and work in a slightly less conventional manner. Last Thursday I was flying home from a work trip (something I have not done for some time) and it got me thinking about how I manage my time and what I fill my days with and perhaps most importantly where my priorities lie...
Read MoreIt must be a good 12 years since I last went to the Kendal Mountain Festival (the Mountain Film Festival as it was then known) so it was with some excitement that I venture along this year. I remember watching the premiere of Touching the Void, meeting Joe Simpson and having to go back to the hostel long before I had drunk as much as I wanted because they had a curfew!
Many things have changed in the intervening years, not least of which I became somewhat disconnected with the outdoors.
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