A cure for lockdown wanderlust? | Pinnacle Newsletter #83
#83 A cure for lockdown wanderlust?
I’ve really struggled with this newsletter, and attempted several drafts before ultimately scrapping them all and going off on a different tack. My original intent was to write about the hard-to-articulate mental health impact of being unable to spend much time in the hills this year. It’s something that many of us can identify with, especially during Lockdown 2. In the end, though, I gave up. It’s too hard to write about this without it coming across as entitled or whining, and I wasn’t sure what of value I could actually add.
Instead, I’ll say this: the cure for wanderlust, for the deep longing we feel for mountains and wild places when we’re denied them, is to make a plan.
In early October I found myself heading towards a spiral of negativity, weighed down by the all-too-familiar anxieties we’re all facing at the moment combined with the realisation that, after an almost entirely mountain-free summer, I might not get another chance to head for the hills for six months. After I’d wallowed in this for a couple of weeks, I realised that I needed to get my teeth stuck in to some serious planning.
I roped in my brother James – who said yes right away when he heard what I was proposing – and then it was time to get to work.
I’m not yet ready to publicly declare what we are working on, but it ticks all the boxes for me. It’s a big, ambitious mountain project that will take place well over a year from now, requiring a great deal of planning and research, training, specialist gear, and good old luck – plus the easing of COVID restrictions, which I’m choosing to be optimistic about. The journey itself has the potential to be quite something (although future me may end up cursing the fact that I ever dreamed up the idea). For now, I’m immersing myself in books and maps. This is just what I need to keep myself going through what may be a difficult winter.
So if you live far from the hills and are struggling at the moment due to the national lockdown, give this a try: set yourself an ambitious plan, then get planning. I guarantee that it will help you feel better by giving yourself something to focus on.
In other news…
Availability for freelance editorial work: limited availability from June 2021. I’ve said yes to several new projects lately, and a few more are tentatively pencilled in, which means that my calendar is filling up.
A lot has happened since my last newsletter:
Pleased to announce that I am the new editor of Sidetracked magazine. I’ve worked as Sidetracked’s sub-editor for around five years, and I’m thrilled that Andrew Mazibrada approached me to replace him as editor. I can’t wait to make a start on our next issue (the 16th I’ll have personally worked on). It’s worth pointing out that this change of role won’t affect my freelance work elsewhere.
I’m running a charity fundraiser for the John Muir Trust, auctioning a copy of my new book, Wanderlust Europe, plus a day out on the hill with myself and Chris Townsend. You can bid at jumblebee.co.uk/wanderlusteurope; we’ve received 16 bids so far, and the fundraiser runs until December 17th. To learn more about what we’re doing and why, check out this blog post.
I’m in talks with Vertebrate Publishing about a new book project. Early days yet, but I hope to sign a contract soon. The Farthest Shore is now in the editorial and publication pipeline, and I’ll let you all know when we have a publication date.
I’ve been helping to run The Great Outdoors Awards 2020: coordinating the Reader Awards, and helping to judge the Gear Awards (which has involved a huge amount of gear testing with the rest of the team). We’ll be announcing results soon.
I’ve started working on a big outdoor book project with a new client, and I can already tell that it’s one of the most promising manuscripts I’ve seen in quite a while. This one is going to be a thrilling ride.
A few of my images were published in Big Trails: Great Britain & Ireland by Kathy Rogers and Stephen Ross (Vertebrate Publishing), out now.
Recently published
Five-minute storm – a few verses penned after a particularly vivid sky at the end of last month.
When Glen Coe resembled the Himalaya – images and memories from the Winter of Legends.
Don’t forget that I publish a weekly ‘what I’ve been reading this week’ blog post containing links of note. You can catch up on these at alexroddie.com/blog.
Until next time,
Alex
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