The Tour du Mont Blanc Didn’t Change My Life, But...

... but it helped me to change my perspective on comfort. When you hike around 1,700 metres of elevation gain (and loss — it's the elevation loss that really got me down) on average each day for eight days, with access to a warm shower only twice (the alternative is showering under a melting glacier waterfall), lounging on the couch watching shows, swiping on dating apps and eating all day doesn't seem like a waste of time anymore, but rather valuable time for myself. After all, a little dementia-causing attention switching never killed anyone, did it? For the rest of the summer, I'll be working, sleeping, eating and running.

... but during the trip, I realised that food is truly fuel and that I need to eat plenty if I want to stay healthy and active. The lack of high-quality food (and food in general as we only passed the villages a few times so we lived off nuts, dried fruits, instant oats and soups) brought my energy levels down.

...but my ego is now thriving and I applied for a 35k trail run. The logic behind is that if I'm able to hike 20k per day with lots of elevation gain and loss and 15 kilos on my back, I can for sure run 35k with 1200 metres elevation gain. Wish me luck for Septembre. I'll need it.

...but it also taught me that I can hold my pee for much longer than one might think. When I was freezing in a damp sleeping bag — we got caught in a hailstorm on day three, and nothing was dry for the rest of the trip as my backpack cover was too small — I refused to get out of the tent, which was taped together and barely holding up, as I didn't want to freeze while peeing in front of a pack of curious mountain goats.

...but it made me realise that I don't want to die just yet. When I slipped dangerously a few times, only one thought was on my mind: I have to get home. On that note, I also realised that I actually like living with my mum and dad. At heart, I'm still a little girl craving her parents' hugs in stressful situations.

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