Monday, 25th May, 2026

I finally finished a blog post about my past 4-6 weeks worth of SOTA activations. TBH it felt like a chore to do it, and I only half heartedly did it. A bunch of photos and a few sentences. The photos are the best part anyway, so probably could’ve just dumped them in and left it at that. I wrote up the interesting ones of the sota forums already and just linked to them. Writing a blog post for your own site shouldn’t feel like a chore.

This whole thing of it should be on my server/terms/site is all well and good but strictly speaking, it never really is - unless I’m hosting from home. I do have the raw data. I don’t know what my point is, other than I’m not sure I can be bothered with a blog. I have several other drafts of posts I think I should write (do I want to write them?) but again, feels like a big todo list to finish them off. Maybe other people also feel the same way. They want to write things but the effort to do it is great, and so they don’t bother. I like my other blog but this one is still easy to just write in. Probably as I don’t care what it looks like or how it’s written, so just rattle off stuff. Also no pictures. Even though pika makes pictures easy, there are still steps to get them off my phone, into pika, sort out the order, write captions, etc. Way easier than a SSG but still stuff to do. The SOTA forums isn’t much better, least pika lets me upload a lot of photos at once. However, I know the SOTA forums has a captive audience and usually the hills I write up are somewhat novel or different in some way. Do wonder if I should just not bother with a blog, and write up my interesting hills on the forums. For me, I did think about using DayOne to write them up…or just dump in the photos with the where and when. I have a Garmin connect account where it tracks my activity, and when I do a hike I add 3-5 photos to it. That’s probably my favourite record of things I’ve done - has the route, map, distance, time, (and therefore difficulty) and then a few key photos. There are things to download your Connect data but I wonder if I can use that to save the interesting things. Although why? I had a nice time and that’s that.

Went down a bit of a rabbit hole with car cleaning, and ended up buying a whole bunch of cleaning products - buckets, mitts, clothes, foam, shampoo, wheel degreaser…perhaps I went overboard. Anyway, would like the ability to wash the cars properly. After watching a couple of videos, I realise I do it all wrong. Also the pressure washer foaming looked fun! Be nice to keep the new car in nice condition vs. the mess the other one is in. I wondered about getting rubber mats for it too. Especially come winter with muddy boots, wet school shoes and all sorts. Seems a shame to get rid of the soft carpets and the nice summer weather is fooling me into thinking I’ll keep them nice.

There’s also something satisfying about completing a physical task that has a clear result at the end. I make a little fun of our neighbours for constantly cleaning their cars - maybe 2-3 times a week. Probably they’re the smart ones as it’s just 15-20 minutes each time and their cars look nice.

I’ve wondered about not keeping a blog but doing videos instead. I don’t like the sound of my voice but maybe it’s easier…no it’s not…or maybe more interesting? Perhaps, but I’d mostly be doing it for myself as no-one will watch it. Also feel like I’m just copying Fraser.

It pains me to say this, but I don’t think everything needs to be documented to be remembered. Enjoying the time is what it’s about.

I could write about it here but this site is more of me complaining about things to myself. Also how would I find it? We’re doing business planning stuff at work and I have to sign off on numbers. I can’t tell the wood from the trees when I look at the numbers, I need a chart, and I look at a chart that I can find where the numbers started and they look fine. However, the numbers have gone through various spreadsheets and so I just have to assume what comes out the other end is right.

In my head, that’s like me writing up what happened on a hike on here but then it gets buried in nothingness.

I said this at the start, but the pictures are the most interesting part. They also jog my memory of what happened. Perhaps just the blog of the pictures is good enough. Route, pictures, maybe a map of contacts if I can be bothered or it was interesting, and not just the usual UK/EU. That’s what my reports on the reflector tend towards - just photos. I write some words but I find less is more and people can’t be bothered to read about all the minutiae of the outing. Some people do write up their reports going into every stone and bite of sandwich. I think some people read them as they like the details - there are several older guys who did SOTA 10+ years ago but are perhaps not fit enough to be able to do it now, and the details are reminders to them of their hill walking days. A stark reminder to us all. Whereas I just scroll to the bottom, look at a few photos and then heart the post.

This week isn’t working out well for an outing. Too many work things spread across every day, makes it hard to take a day off. Probably today would’ve been the best day but I wasn’t sure if I could really take it off. Perhaps Wednesday is now possible but not ideal… Could roll over my day into next week but then it just makes next week harder. As I’m not chasing 1,000 points anymore, I’m not that interested in rushing up a 4-pointer nearby in a morning then going to work in the afternoon. Also stuck in this obsession with doing the CNP summits. So I’ll drive 4 hours to walk for 3. Maybe that’s not too bad actually, especially as I can do it in the EV now and pay about £3 for the trip. I always think it’s a drag to drive there but I’m usually excited to go out, so the journey there passes quickly, and then on the way back I phone my mum/dad and speak to them so that passes the time. There are just a few hills which will take a lot of time and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do it. I could do one at a time but they all involve cycling….seems a lot, but if it’s the only way then so be it.