Perhaps The Grass Is Greener

We´re camping near this mountain refuge high in the Peruvian Andes. There´s a small field surrounded by a stone wall, big enough for a handful of tents. Outside of this wall is mile upon mile of grassland, suitable for cows to graze upon for an eternity. Why is it then, that the cows insist on climbing over the stone wall, and chewing the grass next to our tents?

Have you ever heard a cow munching just inches away from your head whilst all else around is completely silent? It feels like a train is about to plow through your tent.

This is a place of stunning scenery. Hatun Machay. Inside the refuge is a wood fire so we can warm ourselves at night before retiring to our frosty tents. The mountains are rolling grassy plains with outcrops of rock on them. In the valley, a forest of rock spires. In the background, snow clad peaks and further back the Pacific ocean.

It´s a rock climber´s dream; an outdoor enthusiast´s dream. The sort of place I travel for. Yet it is in this place that I´ve most found myself yearning for home. The landscape reminds me of both the Peak District and the Lake District. The mountain hut reminds me of skiing trips throughout Europe. The stone wall we camp next to reminds me of Wales.

So why, when I am in this place that is fantastic in its own right, am I yearning for distant, but more familiar, places? Maybe it´s some atavistic connection to England´s green and pleasant lands, but I suspect it´s actually the people. I am surrounded by friends here - a really nice group of people. But they´re not my friends and family of old. I think I´m missing my friends of old. Why can we not travel and take all of our friends with us? I never wanted to settle in New Zealand, beautiful as it is, simply because it is too far from the people that I love. That same instinct to return home is returning to me now.

I walked alone to the top of the nearest big hill (4400m above sea level), and sat for an hour contemplating my position. (It´s strange how we have so much time on our hands, and yet for real clarity of thought you have to find isolation at the top of a mountain.) I´ve been away for almost six months, I´m living a life that I regularly am so thankful for - it´s such an easy existence at present - but once again I find myself looking to the future and searching for something different. So in this moment of clear thought I´ve managed to plan the rest of my travels, and to put together a business plan for when I return to the UK early next year.

If only I could climb a hill every day.