My top 10 best and most terrifying hiking experiences

The best thing about hiking to me is the unexpected. You never know what can happen!!

1) Running from a tree branch as a kid thinking it was a dead animal
2) Having a bunch of mad cows running after us in a hike in Costa da Lagoa, Florianópolis, Brazil
3) Meeting a crazy drunk ballet dancer in a local pub/bar in the beach of Pantano do Sul, Florianópolis, Brazil. I'll post the “show” video here some day
4) Getting stuck inside a van with 45 backpackers and having the driver drive backwards for about one mile so that the posh lady in her fur coat and new car could pass, yes, she is more important than 45 stupid hikers!
5) Seeing a live volcano with burning sulphur in Santorini, Greece
6) Seeing a piece of white fabric hanging on a very, very high tree, thinking it was a dead body and having to walk completely scared to that tree only to find out it is probably nothing, but the mistery remains in your mind forever
7) Laughing out loud in Hampstead Heath imagining there is a mad dog living there somewhere and that it attacks rich people
8) Twisting an ankle, who hasn’t?
9) Breaking a toenail
10) Making new friends and having seen the most spectacular views, always!!

Virginia Water and Windsor Park, England day walk

In this cold weather climbing mountains can be a bit too challenging, so Virginia Water is a very nice weekend walk near London that can even be done during the winter.
To get there by train from London you can go to Virginia Water train station from Waterloo, then take Christchurch Road and walk around the Virginia Water lake. Alternatively, a longer 7 mile walk can be done from Windsor Castle to Windsor.
It is a very interesting walk with lots of history. The park looks so natural that you cannot even believe there is a cascade that was built in the 18th century by request of the royal family. There are so many nice birds and it looks like they have been living there forever and it just reminds us of the amazing power of nature.
You will need to click on the picture to read the text:

Why do I love hiking so much

My passion for hiking started when I was a little kid. The funny thing is I am absolutely frightened of insects, bugs, spiders or snakes, but for some strange reason I love hiking. I grew up in a little ranch in the south of Brazil and I remember I used to sit in front of the telly and mum was always telling me to go outside, the sun was out and I should go and play in the garden. I did not want to go because of the bugs, but I was kinda forced to. Mum would not allow me to play video games for too many hours either. So I had no choice but go outside and explore the garden. This is when my passion for staying outdoors started.
Later on in school I met some more outdoorsy friends and I used to cycle with them on a regular basis. One day I invited them over to the ranch we lived. I had many books about walking in the forest and how to explore things, so I had this brilliant idea to go all the way to the back of the ranch with my friends and go through the fence so that we could trespass to the neighbours ranch, which was almost like a wild forest. They immediately agreed so we put some wellies on, took some wooden sticks and there we went. After 10 minutes one of my friends saw a piece of a branch on the floor and she thought it was a dead animal. She started screaming so loud that we believed her, so all I remember is those three little girls frantically running downhill, almost tripping. This was my first experience and despite the fact we did not finish the hike, I absolutely loved it. I think it was that sense of fear and adrenalin mixed with the smell of nature that became one of my biggest passions.
The scary branch looked more or less like this:

Hiking in the Lake District

My great grandfather was an Englishman called James Frederick Clark. Since I was a kid I heard he was from an English town called Keswick and heard of its breathtaking views and lovely lakes. This summer during July I decided to arrange a hiking trip to the Lake District. It was the most amazing and challenging hiking trip of my life.
Be able to hike in the Lake District under nice weather conditions is such an amazing experience and I think every hiker needs to do this at least once in their lifetime. On the day before our trip we were not expecting good weather but luckily the forecast was wrong and the weather changed dramatically on our first day of hiking so we could hike up the famous Skiddaw peak, one of the most challenging hikes I’ve ever did.
No need to write much more, I think the picture below is already showing everything:

6 Must Read Tips on what to do before you start hiking in the UK

In my desperate efforts to do something not so urban, I decided to look for ways to go hiking in the UK. To my surprise I found a lot of expats that love to go hiking here and many hiking groups you can join. Below are a few things you should do to start hiking in the UK:

1) Buy a Time Out London - 52 walks in London guide so that you do a different hike every weekend.
2) Join a hiking group. www.meetup.com has many groups or www.ramblers.org.uk
3) Always carry waterproof hiking clothes and boots. The weather in England is very unpredictable.
4) Do a navigation course, useful in case you get lost or if you want to organize hikes for your friends. Do not rely on sat-navs, they might not work in remote UK locations!
5) Get a head torch in case you need to be rescued.
6) Get travel insurance that covers hiking. Be careful because many providers will not have it.

Have fun and be safe!