Their story, in their words…
What we did: We completed a 118km Hike starting from San Sebastian to Bilbao, we completed this Hike over the Span of 5 days Staying in Albergues (hostels) overnight. Every day we carried our essentials in a 30-40 litre rucksack which was challenging. We also walked through numerous towns and villages in the basque country which shaped our identity on their language and culture. On one of the days we even got to experience a yearly festival at our destination of Mutriku which also shaped our knowledge of the basque country
How it worked out: We had an extremely successful trip overcoming difficult challenges from a 23 hour coach journey crossing 3 countries to completing more than 20km each day with some days having a mountain elevation of 800 metres+. Some days went exactly as planned with us arriving at our destination at around 16:00, however some days took longer than expected due to reasons such as getting up too late, hot weather conditions and steeper hills. Staying in hostels hostels made the trip much more exciting but also challenging, giving us the opportunity to meet with people from different countries but also it was nerve wracking too.
How we felt about it: Before starting we all felt a whole plethora of emotions. We were extremely excited that we were able to complete this trip in a different country, letting us explore a different terrain to what we’re used to at home, however we also felt nervous that we would be so far away from home and our families. After the first day we were extremely proud of ourselves for completing such a long distance, especially since we were surviving on little sleep from the coach journey. However, as the days went on we grew more and more exhausted but we kept pushing ourselves to complete it. As we reached the end we gained a huge sense of achievement knowing that we could complete such a difficult challenge.
What we got out of it: After discussing with each other we broke what we got out of it into 5 different categories.
- 1. Resilience: We learned that even if we felt like giving up, actually pushing ourselves with a sense of determination helped us reach our destination which we knew would feel better than giving up
- 2. Independence: Travelling to another country without an adult was scary at first but we then later realised that completing this challenge has helped set us up for the future with being less reliant on family.
- 3. Patience: Completing this hike helped us learn to be patient with things and that 118km isn’t easily achievable, it takes time.
- 4. Planning: Since completing the trip, we realised how necessary planning is and if we don’t carefully create a plan, a tiny thing to go wrong can turn massive.
- 5. Social Skills: After spending multiple nights in Albergues, we got to meet people from all over the world. Talking to them we got to learn things about their culture and language while also talking to them about ours. In addition, we realised we had spent a lot less time on our phones and on social media. As a result we all reflected on spending less time on social media.
In conclusion, we all had an amazing time completing this trip and it had completely changed our mindset on numerous things. We are also extremely grateful to the foundation for making this trip possible.
