I’ve recently received more followers on both my blog (thank you) and my instagram (@lisa.outdoors), so I reached out to ask if there was anything in particular that people wanted to know! I had a surprising amount of responses and have done my best to answer everything below.
The Basics:
(How old are you? Where are you from? Relationships? Tattoos?)
I’m currently 30 (31 in a week!) and I was born in West Yorkshire. I grew up in a small village and was very lucky to be surrounded by the moors – though I definitely didn’t appreciate them at the time. I went to Northumbria Uni to study Psychology and then moved to Birmingham to start a corporate job. I spent time living in Reading and Cheshire, before (temporarily) being back at my parents in Yorkshire.
I am not currently in a relationship and not actively looking for anything. Having had a couple of turbulent years in the dating world, I decided to just step back and focus on myself instead. Dating and relationships is one of the few things I don’t really talk about on social media and it’s likely to stay that way.
I don’t have any tattoos , but have been debating getting one for the last few years. I pretty much know what I want, but now I just need to find the right person to do it. The design is a very simple line drawing, but I want to be 100% sure of it before I get it..and I also need to wait until I’ve got some money coming in again!
Do you backpack?
I’m assuming this this is relating to longer/multi-day hikes. I haven’t actually backpacked since doing my Duke of Edinburgh when I was a teeanager. However, I’m hoping to change that over the next year. Now that I’ve done a bit more camping and have built up my geer, I have plans to do a few of the longer trains in England in 2023. Nothing is set in stone yet and I’d love to hear people’s recommendations on hikes they’ve done.
What makes you smile?
Being outside, my family and friends and music. These are probably the three most important things in my life and the things I am most grateful for. Waterfall hunting is also my absolute favourite thing to do, as soon as I know I’m close, or I can hear it, I am genuinely like a kid at christmas. There is nothing else that gives me that feeling of excitement to such a ridiculous level.
I’ve also been asked quite a few times how I smile and stay so calm in freezing cold water. It is partly because I am used to it, I do it a lot and the more I do it, the more I acclimatise to the water. But it’s also because I am just genuinely happy. It really is difficult to explain to people who haven’t tried it, but I just get such a buzz from the cold water. I honestly can’t wait for wintery swims!
Cornwall
(Why did you leave? Do you miss it?)
I decided to make the move back up from Cornwall because ultimately, it felt right. All my family and a lot of my close friends are in the North and it was difficult to find the time to get back up and see people. Cornwall is a long way from anywhere! I knew that eventually I wanted to be in the Lake District and a year down South just kind of felt like the right amount of time. I had such an incredible year, experienced so much and learnt a lot about myself. I also made some incredible friends which I am very grateful for. You can read more about my year in Cornwall here.
I definitely miss the people and being so close to the sea. I was so lucky to have beautiful beaches and the harbour on my doorstep and it made going for a dip every day so easy, but I do think I maybe started to take it for granted. I also miss my work and the people I worked with. Everything fell into place so easily that year and I definitely started to feel very comfortable. I guess that’s probably also what pushed me to make changes, I don’t seem to like being comfortable and always want to be challenging myself, even when I find it stressful at the time!
Favourites?
(Colour? Animal? Ice-cream? Music? Hikes? Dip spots? Food after a dip?)
My favourite colour is blue, don’t really have a favourite animal and my go to ice-cream is mint choc chip.
Music is and always has been, a huge part of my life. A lot of my music tastes were influenced by my brother and parents. Growing up there was always music in the house. I find it hard to comprehend when people say they’re ‘not into’ music. My teenage years were spent going into Leeds to gigs and I didn’t go anywhere without my walkman. I listen to such a broad range of music now, but my favourite artists include Lissie, Biffy-Clyro, Bastille, City and Colour and Nothing but Thieves.
Hikes and Dip spots are hard ones to pick favourites for! My top hike was probably Crib Goch, but this was due to a whole mix of things including the weather and the company. It is such a great route, but there’s so much more to a good hike than just the route your doing. Shuttlingsloe is very high up on my top hikes list, it’s pretty accessible and the views (on a good day) are incredible, but I also just have so many incredible memories from this spot. One of my favourite spots is a little waterfall pool in the peaks that was one of the first few places I went dipping and became a regular. But my favourite ever swim was a recent dip at Gaddings Dam. Again, it was a mix of the weather and where my head was at, but it was just so perfect!
Post Surgery:
I had a few questions about my surgery and how I’ve been getting on with my knee. I’m pleased to say that I’ve had no issues at all post op. My recovery went really well and I feel like I’ve been pretty sensible in slowly building my fitness back up again. I am still cautious with it and haven’t yet tried to run, but I’ve had no issues with hiking which was my main concern.
I am so grateful for how quickly everything happened down in Cornwall and that things weren’t quite as bad as the specialist had first suggested they might be. If you want to read more about my injury journey, you can check it out here.
The Future:
(Plans? Hopes and dreams? Where do you want to travel?)
I’m currently pretty unsure of what the future holds and don’t really have a plan. I know I want to move to the Lake District and spend as much time as physically possible outside, but that’s as far as my planning goes. I am currently in the process of applying for jobs and I’ve been looking at a mix of things based in the Lakes and remote work, so I’ve got more flexibility. Given the choices I’ve made over the last few years, I don’t want to just rush into the wrong thing. I am very lucky in being able to stay with my parents temporarily as it takes the pressure off and is allowing me that time to sort things out.
There are so many places I want to visit, but currently my top 5 are Norway, Switzerland, Canada and New-Zealand. It’s going to be a little while until I’m financially back in a position where I can justify spending so much on travelling abroad, but in the meantime there are still so many places across the UK that I’m yet to explore.
Hopefully this has answered most people’s questions, but I’m happy to answer questions that fall into my inbox (within reason).
Happy Adventuring!
Lisa Outdoors 
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