The Lycian Way – Fears, Prep, Digital Detox
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I’ve been wearing my hiking boots around NYC all week. I wear the clunky, unfashionable boots out to the grocery store, to go get beer, to run to the pharmacy, and to the apartment I’m staying in. After 7 years of being away from NYC have I finally lost my fashion sense?
No – I’m in training. Albeit, panicked, last-minute training.
Starting today as you read this I’m en route to Antalya Turkey to embark on my big adventure for the year – hiking the Lycian Way Trail on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. I first heard about this trail when I was coming close to finishing my hike on the Camino de Santiago and was looking for another challenging walk. When I heard about the Lycian way, the views, the villages, and the culture – I immediately put it on my list. At the time my friends Warren and Betsy Talbot had been following my journey and sent me a message saying that I had inspired them to walk the Camino. I responded back to them and said – forget the Camino – come with me to do the Lycian Way.
They were in and the plan was hatched.
Table of Contents
What is the Lycian Way?
Lycia is the historical name of the Tekke Peninsula, which juts into the Mediterranean on Turkey’s southern coast. The Lycian Way is a 509 km, 25-day way-marked footpath around the coast of Lycia in southern Turkey, from Fethiye to Antalya. The route was created by Brit Kate Clow and Warren and Betsy recently interviewed her in a podcast about the Lycian Way – take a listen here if you’d like to know more about what we are up against. I actually hiked one day of the trail last year as part of my Turkey tour that I did with Intrepid Travel. I used that day to get an idea of what it was all about – a little Lycian Way test run. However, we had a guide and stayed in a hotel at the end – quite different than the experience I’ll have the next 3 weeks. I do remember that the views just from that day were spectacular, but it was in July and it was HOT. So by going in November – the temps should be a bit better, however, it does mean that we will have a few very cold nights as we climb up into altitude in the mountains too.
The Plan
I’m flying to Antalya today, and will arrive late and stay one night. The next morning I find a bus to Kas and meet Warren and Betsy in Kas where they recently hiked into the day before. The Talbots have actually already been hiking for 2 weeks – they started at the beginning in Fethiye. Due to my travel schedule I couldn’t start with them at the beginning, so I’m joining them at a little under the halfway point in Kas and we will walk the remainder of the trail (3 weeks) together.
Even though the trail does go through a number of villages where there will be supplies and lodging, we will be camping for the majority of the time. So that means that I’m carrying a tent, sleeping bag, and sleep pad with me. We expect to finish around November 21st. I expect to be a few pounds lighter and much stronger.
And that’s all I know of any plan. The rest is simply to hike, find food in the villages, and enjoy the scenery.
How I’ve (not) Prepared
I haven’t. That’s the honest-to-God truth. And no, being this ill-prepared was not my intention – after all I’ve had a whole year to prepare, but besides running a few times a week and carrying my backpack around – I’ve done no physical preparation.
In a frantic last ditch effort this week I have been wearing my hiking boots around everywhere in NYC to get used to them again. I’ve also went on two 6.5 miles walks and NYC with a backpack full of 25 lbs of hand weights to try to get my knees and ankles prepared for the pain they’ll be experiencing the next 3 weeks.
Review my hiking packing list – essential hiking gear for any hike
I HATE being this unprepared. It drives me insane. I lay awake at night chastising myself. And then I hate that I hate being this unprepared! I’m a full-time traveler – I should be able to roll with this stuff better. See the vicious circle of that in my psyche? But it is what it is. I know that this challenge will be physically painful, mentally difficult, and at times defeating – but I’ll get through it. One foot in front of the other – I’ll get through it.
To borrow a phrase from the Adventurists – “It’s not an adventure if you know you are going to make it.”
Betsy and Warren on the other hand have been preparing all year. They’ve been doing a ton of hiking and other longer distance routes. They’ve been carrying all of their hiking gear along and have gotten used to wearing backpacks on the trail. All of this makes me wonder why they would want an ill prepared slug like me to join them – but they knew what they were getting themselves into, so I can’t worry myself about it.
Gear
I keep telling myself – I MUST pack light, light, light – this is my mantra. My goal is to keep my pack under 20 lbs – ideally 15 lbs. However when you are carrying a camping gear that makes it a bit more of a challenge. I am the proud owner of a new one person lightweight tent – it’s under 4 lbs. The instructions said it would take 4 min to set up – so last week I decided I better do a little test run and try to set it up. I went out to the Fort Tyron, and proceeded to take 40 min. trying to figure out how to set it up! Eventually with the help of a friend, reading the directions over and over, we figured it out. I’m expecting after 3 days of setting it up on the trail I will have it down to 4 minutes tops.
I’m taking extremely minimal items, in fact, I’m doing the unthinkable – I’m not taking my laptop or my camera.
Digital Detox
Strangely this may be what I’m most excited about – being away from this keyboard for a few weeks. Even travel bloggers need a vacation. My laptop will be taking the flight with me to Antalya, but that’s where it will stay until I’m finished with the hike. I’m not even bothering with backup drives – which makes me more than a little nervous.
I will be taking my smartphone with me for gps mapping, and I’ll have a Telecom Square MiFI – so presumably I’ll have a little access on my phone – but I don’t really intend to use it much at all. I’m taking it more for mapping and security. I’m also hoping to take my Kindle for some reading. But I will be journaling by hand – the way I used to do it!
The lack of my DSLR camera will most likely be my biggest digital detox challenge. The views along the Lycian Way are spectacular – begging to have photography done – and I get physically upset when I see a potential picture but can’t take it. However, I just can’t carry the extra weight that a heavy DSLR and lenses bring with it. I will have my smartphone and will be able to at least snap a few shots, but as we all know – it’s just not the same.
My Challenges and Fears (there are many)
So – you may all think that I’m fearless because I do this type of stuff all the time – but you are wrong. In fact I’m quite the opposite and am scared of many things. I decided to simply put it all out there in the hopes that talking about my fears would make them less. Or maybe you’ll just think I’m crazy – which I may be.
• Wild dogs on the trail (I’ve heard rumors about this and I really dislike dogs – especially wild ones in foreign countries!)
• We’ll get hopelessly lost. The trail is supposed to be marked – but it’s not going to be like the Camino – it’s much less traveled and maintained.
• Scorpions!
• My right knee will rebel and decide that I’m too old to do this.
• I will slow Warren and Betsy down.
• I will think too much.
• I will finish this and still won’t have answers that I’m searching for.
• Warren and Betsy will be sick of me or vice-versa.
• The trail will be narrow and steep which makes my fear of heights kick in.
• Dogs…yes, I worry about them that much.
• I won’t have packed the right gear for the temps.
• I’m not in good enough shape.
• I’ve done little to no research about the trail…a recipe for disaster? I do have a book and a map though.
The good news is that Warren and Betsy are experts at teaching people how to embrace your fear – so I picked some great people to hike with! Keep in mind though even though I’ve spoken with Warren and Betsy many, many times on Skype and via email, we’ve only ever met in person for 3 hours and shared a beer in 2011.
I will be writing about this experience on the blog in January – so you’ll have to wait until then for all of the details of how it actually went and if any of my fears materialized.
Offline But Posting
By the miracle of pre-scheduling on WordPress and by the hours of work I put in before I left – you’ll still get 3 Ottsworld articles from me a week even while I’m offline. And there are some great articles coming up about Vietnam, Canada, and Maui…so don’t miss them!
I’m off!
Best of luck Sherry! I, too, have done one day of the trail and think that doing more would be stunning. Have a great time!
Sherry, if anyone can do it… YOU can and any wait for updates from the trail will be worth it ’cause I know you’re gonna get amazing shots
Thanks for your confidence – hoping it rubs off on me!
I am really looking forward to reading about this adventure and maybe get inspired to do at least part of this walk. As a frequent visitor to Dalyan I would love to see more of the country. We did a half day walk just around the village last May (it was jolly hot) so November could be the right conditions for such a walk. Maybe I need to up my fitness and commit to it early spring? The dogs, good luck, they tend to follow you but are friendly. Once got home from an early morning walk covered in muddy footprints from one over enthusiastic doggy walking companion.
My blog about Dalyan can be found here. http://travellingcoral.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/dalyan-dont-feed-the-turtles-do-eat-the-cake/
Best of luck. I hope you have safe travels! Enjoy each step.
And, so my bucket list gets bigger haha. This looks and sounds amazing! Best of luck and look forward to reading all about it!
Have FUN, try to relax, it’ll be great!
I am looking forward to reading all about it afterwards 🙂
Be a wanderstrudel: http://wanderstrudel.blogspot.com/!
After the Tour de Mont Blanc, my biggest advice is take plenty of plasters! Feeling very jealous
This looks like one fun tour. The scenery and hiking are amazing in the region!
A group of 8 of us from the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club just returned last week from our Lycian Way hike, and it was fabulous! The scenery is breathtaking and you are literally walking through history as there are ruins all along the trail. We loved the culture of the small villages, where we stayed at pansiyons every night. Food was “cok nefisti” – delicious. Do not fear dogs – we didn’t see any on the trail and few in villages – though plenty of friendly cats. The trail does have steep, rocky ups and downs and was a bit of a challenge for those not prepared. The biggest problem was route-finding as blazes are inconsistent. Be sure to have the book with you as you will need to check trail descriptions often. We got lost at least once a day, but with much searching for blazes, eventually found our way without too much delay. To see the highlights we went from Fethiye to Patara, then got a shuttle to Adrasan and hiked from there to Antalya – about 2 weeks altogether. The Turkish people are so wonderful – be prepared to stop for chai in every small village with friendly villagers who invite you in. A true cultural experience. Hope you have a great trip!
You are one crazy Mo-Fo!! Good luck!! 🙂
Good luck and have a wonderful time. Your fears all seem normal to me. I look forward to hearing all about it in January.
Well done to you. Looking forward to reading your updates
Don’t worry! Have fun! Relax, your going on an amazing hike! Enjoy a slower pace if necessary and soak in the digital detox! I think that you are going to have the time of your life and return with extraordinary tales of a gorgeous trek and fabulous gear recommendations!
It would be hard for me to leave behind my D-SLR too, but when I think of how heavy my camera gear is, it does also seem liberating to leave it behind.
What a trip! We did a little “hiking” in Cappadocia, Turkey – but all day-trips where we returned to the comfort of a hot shower and clean sheets. Turkey is a fascinating country; we look forward to reading your about your Lycian Way trek!