Probably like you, I’ve used goals to keep motivated. Some were related to professional development (e.g., a number of professional designation letters equal to or greater than the number of letters in my last name). Some were travel related (e.g., travel to all seven continents by age 50). And some were family or task related. One my goals was to take a killer trip upon retirement. Unfortunately, retirement during COVID is a little different than I expected, and the following from Epictetus has factored into my thinking quite a bit.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that
I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control,
and which have to do with the choices I actually control.
Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals,
but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .”
EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES , 2.5.4–5”
The concept of understanding the limits of one’s own control is also found in the Serenity Prayer:
Instead of one killer retirement trip (we’ve admittedly already enjoyed several in our lifetimes) we have a several smaller trips planned for 2022. Reality, however, may ultimately be quite different than what we have in mind. Still, the drive to complete the trips I envisioned remains. There are three trips I had contemplated when thinking about a retirement journey: Morocco, Southwestern France and its Bastide Towns, and a hike from Chamonix to Nice, France. It’s the last trip that first got my attention and the one that requires the greatest level of physical ability. Also known as the Grand Traverse of the Alps or the “GR5”, one of the tour operators that offers this trip describes the journey as follows:
“This hiker’s dream journey brings us from mighty Mont Blanc, with its perpetual glaciers, to the palm-fringed beaches of the Côte d’Azur, where the Maritime Alps plunge into the blue Mediterranean. Setting off with sweeping panoramas of Mont Blanc, we hike in high alpine meadows where cowbells echo and blue gentian blooms, and through age-old villages that are a step back in time. Heading south, we follow the legendary GR5 trail across remote national parks of singular beauty, then enter brightly colored hill villages that announce the Mediterranean is near. Arriving on the coast, we kick off our boots and head for a celebratory dip in the sea.”
So, while it would be easy enough to simply sign up with a tour operator to take this trip as part of a group, such an approach risks missing some of the more interesting aspects of the route, in part because you are part of a group that can be accommodated by only certain type of lodging. Instead, I plan to research the different stages of the trip to identify my preferred route/sights, take a look at the itineraries offered by the tour operators, and either select one that closely matches the desired route or plan the trip independently. Before, I get too far ahead of myself, however, here are some of the basics of the trip:
- Duration: between 14 and 20 days
- Generally hiking 5 – 7 hours each day at altitudes between 6,000 and 9,500 feet
- Difficulty level: moderate
- Accommodations: Generally small hotels or gites, possibly mountain huts
- Luggage transportation between accommodations: Hopefully, yes. I’d like to reserve situations where I carry a 40+ pound backpack to those situations where I must (e.g., the BWCWA in Northern Minnesota).
With only the above information, I hope you find the route as interesting as I do! Over the next several months, I’ll further dissect the stages of this trip, outlining the topography, sites, and potential lodging, to determine the preferred route and probable timing. Stay tuned!