The Support Team Speaks - Sandra’s Blog

So what’s it like being support ?

Well, it’s great as it has taken me to some beautiful places that I probably wouldn’t be right now. Cornwall in March has been heavenly, I even saw my first bluebell this morning. Just to remind you that it’s the 28th March, we don’t get them at home until May !!! I am slightly disappointed that I haven’t been able to swim much. We left our house 15 days ago and I have swam 3 times, however the north coast of Cornwall is famous for surfing and as far as I am concerned if you can surf then you can’t bloody well swim. The 2 are not compatible. I am not unhappy though as my first swim was an absolute blinder, seeing a dolphin while looking out for the next wave that might hit me sideways was almost the highlight of my swimming career but swimming Ullswater in less than 5 hours is a close second.

Bluebells in March!

Pandering to Dan’s every need is a full time job, but after being married to him for 27.5 years I am used to it now, if it gets too much then I shout, and believe me I can do that as well as I can swim ! Living in a tiny van with floor space of 38 inches square when the bed is up (ie a sofa) and 38 inches by 24 when the bed is down (ie a bed), puts a new slant on living in each others pockets, and there are times it can get a bit much.

bed with artie pic

This is your 6:30 alarm call

The routine is wake up when Artie creeps on our bed ( about 6:30am) wake up gradually, then start packing rucksacks, drinking copious mugs of instant coffee, and making sandwiches. Deciding on the plan for where we are driving to, then driving off. When it’s change-over day it’s a bit more complicated as it involves taking down the awning and packing what feels like every valuable possession we own and trying to hide it in a very small van, but we are skilful in this activity. The drive is generally only about 10miles. We always choose our car park carefully, one that is busy, and has good visibility is great for us and we rarely leave our precious Nigel in a lay-by. Once parked up we set off and walk until 12. We don’t eat breakfast (just coffee or tea) so 12 noon is a good time to take on the first solids. If we are near a village Dan will always take a pasty, but I am trying so hard to loose weight I stick to my prepared sandwich, although those who know me well know I can’t resist a chocolate brownie so if they sell them at the pasty shop then I am scuppered. Usually after lunch I turn round and re-trace my steps, it’s not usually that difficult- keep the sea on your right on the way back and you can’t go wrong.
Once back at the van I like to think I have got an hour of my own quality time. I like to spend this time knitting, it’s my wind down time, but sometimes Dan rings or texts to say set off now and that’s my hour stolen. It’s usually about another 10 miles and then I either find him sat on a corner waiting for a random lift, or he is in a pub and I hover outside while he dives out. What 3 words I’d a brilliant app that we use a lot in this stage of the proceedings, and I can highly recommend it to any 2 people trying to meet up in a place that neither are familiar with!

This all works extremely well when we have a good 4G connection and phone reception, but trying to follow sat nav to a what 3 words location when you have no 4G doesn’t work, and then you cant ring him to say you cant get to him, usually when this happens I have to drive around in a random fashion until I can find a layby so I can look at the map, but luck isn’t always on my side and either there are no laybys or there is a layby but it has no reception. At the end of a long day this is very trying and not at all funny, and sometimes Cornwalls air has been tainted blue !

We drive carefully (I have to remember that Nigel had only had half of his exhaust replaced) back to our campsite and either set it up from scratch if it’s changeover day, or just roll up if we are already set up. Dan deals with the admin and has made all the campsite bookings so he is the one who goes in and deals with reception.
Once parked up it’s tea and coffee and chocolate biscuits to re-hydrate, then beer to celebrate the success of the day, then Dan showers while I make tea.

LEJOG Base Camp

Our meals are made from scratch each day. No boil in the bag or pot noodles for us. So far we have had Beef stroganoff, chicken curry, chorizo pasta sauce, sausages and couscous, gammon steak and couscous, and lamb chops and couscous, and a couple of those we have had twice now. We stocked up as much as we could before we left Lancashire, but we are now at the stage where we are picking up whatever the local spar shop can provide, which is interesting when a helpful assistant asks you what you are looking for and you can’t answer as what your are looking for is inspiration. But I always seem to be able to think of something I can cobble together.

Other duties of a support person is doing the washing, and this is interesting as some machines use tokens and some use coins, all are different, and all need to be worked out, but I haven’t shrunk anything so far, but don’t ask about odd socks ! Then hanging drying washing in our awning. Dan rigs the washing line as he is better at knots than me.

The drying and drinking room

More duties include keeping a close eye on the ever lovely Artie. Making sure he isn’t over tired, or needs more sleep. He is an easy dog to keep happy, but I take this role quite seriously. If Dan wants to wreck his own knees or hips walking too far then it is his choice, but I need to think for Arthur and predict his needs.

Another responsibility of a support person is to proof read Dan’s blog. Dan is extremely eloquent, but he has dyslexia. We found to our peril that if I don’t proof read everything prior to publication we end up with catastrophic typos like referring to our Birmingham hero as “ Bummy Dave” instead of “Brummy Dave”. It’s a good job we didn’t give him the link !

Finally I am keeping a very detailed diary of what we do each day, what the weather is like, what we eat, how far we have walked, and what we have broken, lost, what we don’t need and can be taken home next time I go, and what we do need and I can pick up. The list of broken and lost after 15 days is larger than you would think :-
1 exhaust fell off on M5
2 bed in campervan has lost a vital spring and is much more difficult to put up and take down
3 iPhone battery is playing up and my phone is re-booting several times a day, it was perfect before we set off but is now a major problem to sort as I need it every day
4 passenger window curtain flew off the rail and us now rolled up in the cupboard, I hope to fix it soon.
5 Dan lost a camera lens cap
6 Dan lost his sunglasses at Tintagel
7 our electric kettle developed a leak, water and electricity are not a good combination so it is now in the bin.

So with 7 faults in 15 days you can see keeping life running smoothly is difficult, but hopefully not impossible.

This isn’t a rant at all, it’s 15 days since we left home and 13 days since the walk started and it has been fantastic and great fun. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it isn’t a walk in the park. Its more like a full time job, that has great perks. There are few times you have a minute to yourself, and anyone thinking about it must be willing to put their life on hold for about 4 months. I am hoping that at the end if it if we need marriage guidance it will be a free service.

My final words are, that this whole trip is about Dan, his huge ambition, and his total dedication, its not about me, and there wont be too many posts written by me. I am hugely proud of what Dan has achieved so far, and honoured that I can be part of it. So far he has walked about 140 miles, and is clear of Cornwall and striding confidently through Devon.

dan pic