Visiting glaciers is exciting. I study the details of their rips, cracks and holes sharpening my senses in the hope of catching the next slide. I block all distractions – In my head, it’s just me and the glacier. Then I hear a crack. My heart starts racing and my head keeps turning from one side to the other.

Where did it come from?

Nothing seems to move. I continue to examine its rips, trying to guess which parts loose and are highly probable to break off in the next few minutes. I stare at it continuously, as if my glare could burn the last little piece that attaches it to the rest of the block. I hold my camera tight. I’m sure its going to happen any time soon.

I hear another crack. And another one. My head is spinning – I don’t know where to look anymore. And then, I see it – A big piece of blue glacier falls into the water at slow motion.

Not slow enough for me to turn on my camera. I will have to learn to be happy with only a mental picture then.

I ended 2011 BIG.I travelled around Cape Horn, tried to cuddle thousands of cute penguins and spent a sunny afternoon drinking Pisco Sour with glacier ice. This was all before burning my skin off in Buenos Aires on the 1st of January (a tiny little part of me really believed I was sort of brazilian).

When I returned to London, I told myself that 2012 was going to be the year of first times. I joined a cooking course, learned how to ski, started running regularly and spent a week living on a sailing boat.

But the year is far from over, and there are many first times yet to come!

Doing business in Egypt – May 2012

I’m excited about my first trip to Egypt – Not only will I (hopefully) have the chance to take a glance out of the windows to enjoy the view of the desert, the Nile and maybe even a temple, but I will learn and understand the way of doing business. I’ve been learning about what is considered rude or well mannered. What topics are taboo and which ones are cheerfully discussed among men and women.

Attending A Friend’s Wedding – May 2012

Sure I had been at weddings before. Weddings of members in my family, or in the family of a partner. Even weddings of family friends. But up to this year, I’ve never had the chance to attend to a friend’s wedding. When one of my dearest friends from Uni told me on a late October night that she was getting married to the love of her life I cried for joy. I’m really looking forward for a great Uni reunion in Madrid this weekend!

Visiting Stockholm – June 2012

During my sailing course in the Canary Islands, I met two great girls who kindly invited me to visit Stockholm this summer. They clearly didn’t know what they were getting into – As soon as I got hold of an internet connection, I browsed a few different flight options and quickly booked four days in Sweden with two other friends joining from UK and Portugal respectively. Island hopping and swedish fashion shopping, anyone?

Ladies Day at Royal Ascot – June 2012

After last years success at Royal Ascot, I was sure I was going to repeat the experience – what I didn’t know was that I was going to do it the right way: Grandstand tickets, picnic and champagne on the grass and surrounded by stylish people wearing the most creative hats and fascinators of the year. Now that’s what I’d call doing it with style.

And then…

Well, I’m not a big planner and usually end up taking my decisions on the very last minute – which is why I haven’t booked any holidays after June or can’t really tell what I’m up to in September. That seems to be years away! However, I am eyeing a few further first times for the next few months:

• Take part of one of London’s Race For Life races to fight against cancer
• Join a park fitness class – you know, if english weather ever allows this to happen
• Attend this year’s TBEX in Girona (yes, it’s about time!)

What have you done (or will do) for the first time in the last/next few months?

During the Middle Age, Southbank developed as London’s outlaw neighborhood – a place where taverns, theaters, bear-baiting, cock-fighting and prostitution entertained the crowds. The borough was conveniently located outside the City’s walls, on the other side of the river. For decades, locals from the north side rarely crossed the river to the south, nor did the tourists visiting the City.

However, in the past few years, a series of projects have focused on improving this area – turning it into an must-see artistic hub with numerous museums and art galleries, as well as a real foodie heaven with the boom of old Borough Market.

Southbank is one of my favorite areas of London. Its tiny streets and alleys boast with history and diversity. Local pubs are authentic – small, dark and crowded. Its architecture is a perfect blend of the 18th Century industrial era and modern developments. But what really makes Southbank so special is its views over the City’s skyline during dusk or dawn.

Can you imagine having this view from your terrace?

It fascinates me to see how we feel attracted towards people who are similar to us in some way. Then, throughout our lives we learn, grow and take different directions which will either grow our relationships stronger or slowly tear them apart.

Scientists call it the Social Butterfly Effect. We tend to gravitate around people with whom we share a passion, a hobby, a political view, a religion.

But what happens when our interests change? What happens if someone talks us into outdoor sports or we suddenly find a book that meets our heart and we finally discover the power of literature? What if our flat mate returns from Spain with lots of charcuterie and we start to wonder how we could have lived 19 years without serrano ham and chorizo?

Whenever we discover a new interest, the doors to another social group (aka. friends) fly open. You know, you will start to be part of the people who enjoy reading in the park or become one of the people who can spend hours talking about food or, well, one of those people who don’t leave their home without a camera.

The same way that my relatively new interests lead me to new friends – these new friends may also introduce me to other new interests.

Which is why this months is all about meeting new people.

May Dare: Make new friends. Lots of them!

I don’t consider myself shy or introvert. Actually, put a glass of wine in my hand and put drop me in any social or networking event and I’ll assure you I won’t be alone for more than 5 minutes. I have no boundaries on company seniority, age, race or religion. I mean, I’ve been the sole women (and I’m pretty sure the only person under 40) attending a conference on financial investment opportunities in a very traditional muslim country (and even got an invitation to visit the country, he was going to take care of the visa). And I’ve joked about swiss german-ness with a swiss german millionaire (well, I hope he knew I was joking). There’s really little in chatting to random people that can still make me nervous.

The thing is, although I have been meeting plenty of people since my move to London, I haven’t really been meeting lots of people that are similar to me, people that would belong to one of those social groups I do. This city is so big – I find it difficult to find them!

This was, until I realized they might as well be in the same places I am: taking sailing courses in the Canary Islands, sweating in the gym during lunch breaks, in the climbing centers all over the city, and even here – in the internet.

This month, I’m filling up my social calendar with brunches, drinks, park fitness and social climbing activities. I might even join a photographic city tour and a one or two day escape to the South of England (if english weather allows me to). I want to meet people alike. Learn, grow, inspire and be inspired. Who knows what will be my next discovery!

How do you meet people that share your interests in a new city?

There have been a few times in life when I looked around myself, admired how far I had gotten and then told myself:

Holy sh*t, you actually made it!
(yes, I occasionally talk to myself – specially when I’ve accomplished something good or am about to do something that my other me knows I will regret in a few seconds).

Those times when I’ve felt so proud of myself that I shook my hands in glory and accomplishment have been usually limited to academic stuff: you know, the day I picked up a diploma in my masters’ graduation or the day I arrived a my 14th floor hotel room in Hong Kong and admired the beginning of my career. Or the day my school maths teacher, who peeked into each of our calculators and pencil cases during an exam didn’t notice my super super secret crib. But occasionally, I feel proud after completing a more physical challenge.

This, was one of them.

We started off the day leaving our hotel at 7am to drive to the start of the trail at Hotel Las Torres. The hike is a 9km walk to the Mirador, most of the being (considerable) uphill. At the initial stage, the walk wasn’t steep; but for a good part of it, you walk exposed to the wind (which is usually quite strong around that corner). After walking about 300m uphill, you’ll stay at that level for a while, and will already start appreciating a broad view over the valley.

After reaching the campamento Chileno, you hike for another few hours – first drawing the curves of river Ascensio (a rather comfortable after-lunch walk), and later entering the woods. At this point, the trail starts to become steeper until reaching an open space from where the crazy moraine climb begins.

This final climb reaches 890m height in only 0.8km distance. However, you need to account for 45min/1 hour to reach the top. This is when you put your hiking shoes into a test – the path is a rocky ramp!

All the way up the moraine, you won’t see more than the peaks of the towers. It’s only once you reach the top that you discover the majestic landscape in front of you.

View From the Mirador: All three towers: Torre Sur, Torre Central and Torre Norte; the Torres glacier and a lake formed of glacial water.

It’s easy to fall for the city of London. It’s exciting, vibrant and cosmopolitan. City life can be difficult some times , but after a while, you learn to get along and enjoy the advantages of living in a big city – you’ll have infinite opportunities to meet new people and there will always be a place you haven’t discovered yet.

Even though it was quite a shock for me at first, I think I’m slowly learning to handle this City life – As long as I get my regular dose of green, I can carry on.

Parks help me detox from the impurities and annoyances of London.

A few weeks ago – when spring seemed to be knocking at our door – I went on a quest of unexplored parks. I had heard from a beautiful area in North London, which was resting on a hill from which one could admire the city’s highlights from a comfortable deck chair surrounded by the greenest grass, numerous ponds and gorgeous villas.

That’s Hampstead Heath.

But it was only on my second visit this weekend that I realized the additional charm of the area. The park – which has around 320 hectares of hills, meadows, woodland and ponds – is part of my happy life equation, together with the beautiful architecture and the peacefulness of it’s streets. As I walked passed some of London’s most remarkable pubs, I noticed that those inside (and those casually walking by outside), knew each other. For a short time, my mind drifted back to my life in the Canary Islands – where people and places were familiar to me.

I like the feeling of familiarity and village life I get when I walk around Hampstead. This is something I’ve been missing recently. I might as well have to move into one of these houses next!

What about you? Would you rather be in the heart of a capital’s life or move somewhere green and peaceful?

Remember that time, I was dreaming of setting sails into the sunset on Lake Léman in Switzerland?

This year, following my purpose of self-discovery, I’ve been throwing myself into all kind of new activities like skiing, cooking classes and now sailing. Unlike skiing and cooking, I knew from the beginning that I would really enjoy sailing. After all, it combines the sea, nature and socializing – three things I love.

So what does a usual day look like in a one week full time sailing course?

8:00am You wake up, squeeze under the shower and have breakfast in the cockpit – usually checking weather and deciding wether or not to put on/take off one of your thousand layers.

10:00am The teacher arrives. Since waking up, you’ve already put on and taken off several layers 2 or 3 times. You feel warm now, simply from the exercise of getting dressed and undressed in your tiny cabin. You’ve decided to go as it is – shorts, t-short and a jumper. After all, you’ve spotted some suspiciously grey clouds to the east.

10:30am You leave the marina behind, excited about taking out your sails… when you realize there’s actually no wind. You wait for another 15min, hoping for a miracle, but soon you give up and turn on the motor. One of your mates returns from inside with some biscuits and apples – it’s time for a second breakfast.

1:00pm Wait, are you feeling a gentle breeze coming from your right? You check the instruments – 10 knots… 10.5 knots… 11 knots… was this apparent or true wind? huh? where’s that theory book again… anyway, you decide to give it a try and raise both sails.

1:35pm Yes! You’re sailing!

2:30pm You’re in the middle of the passage between two islands. There’s enough wind to blow the yacht away. You’re getting hungry – and impatient. You free harness from the boat and tumble towards the companionway. You crawl downstairs, grab a bag full of sandwiches and drag it upstairs – this turns you into the yacht’s star.

3:30pm Water is rough – One of your colleagues is already sticking his head over board. You’re at the steering wheel and feel the urge to pee. Great timing, really.

3:40pm You really can’t hold yourself any longer and decide to go downstairs (again). You crash against the table, sofas and doors but somehow make it into the bathroom. You feel relived – everything turned out pretty well after all. However, right before exiting the bathroom, you loose balance and accidentally turn on the shower right above you.

4:15pm You look around and soak in the view – You can see 3 islands (Tenerife, La Gomera and La Palma) from where you are. By this chance, you eat an apple.

5:20pm What’s that! A dolphin! And there’s another one! And another one! You run (ehem, crawl) to the bow to watch them shoot in front of the yacht. The water is so clear – you can even see their white bellies!

6:00pm The wind has ceased a bit. Now this, you tell yourself, is really leisure sailing. You look around you – you can’t find any other yacht from the Sailing School – does this mean you got the wrong direction? Just in case, you revise the route and your waypoints 3 to 4 times.

6:30pm You’re starting to see a wall that could possibly match your harbor. We’re almost there!

7:10pm While nearing the marina, you start pulling out fenders, warps and all sort of straps. You pull down the sails and get ready to enter.

7:45pm You help the skipper to tie the boat properly (which, believe me, is more complicated than you might think). Lucky enough – you’re the first school yacht to arrive (we did have the racing boat after all), you made it right before sunset!

8:00pm It’s Beer O’Clock – you enjoy a Dorada (the local beer) with the rest of the crew exchanging stories at sea (well, in my case, I listened to other people’s stories at sea – this was my second time after all).

9:00pm You get off the boat but still feel the side effects – why is everything still moving around you? You walk to one of the fish restaurants around the harbor and order the freshest catch of the day accompanied by a glass of local white wine.

10:30pm You’re exhausted, and still take your theory book to bed – time to learn the rules of the road.

11:00pm The gentle moves swing and relaxing sound of water splashing against your yacht makes you sleepy. You give in and promise yourself to wake up earlier tomorrow.

I haven’t shared a list of New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of this year because, to tell you the truth, I don’t see the point on setting such long term goals – Who knows what I’ll be up to by November anyway? However, I do like the idea of challenging myself to do new and fun stuff that might even help me find myself again, taking one step at a time.

And with this idea, my Monthly Dare was born!

This month’s dare: Enjoy a hobby.

Seems pretty easy, doesn’t it? Well, it’s more complex than you think – trust me.

I find motivation in other people’s motivation. Whenever someone talks passionately about their work/hobby/home town, I feel curiosity and excitement. I want to know what makes people feel so enthusiastic about it.

I got into hiking after having seen hundred of pictures of the beautiful and unspoiled landscape I was missing out. I started climbing after watching a beautiful photo shoot from a friend that has a passion for it. I took a cooking course after someone at work boasted about how he cooks all his meals himself. I went skiing for the first time this March, after having spent many hours listening to ski talk in London. I’m training to run 6K in 30 minutes or less because everyone in this city seems to enjoy running to work and/or back and I want to become one of them.

Holding on to all of it is certainly tiring!

Today, I reached my peak point – I packed my running gear to go to the gym during lunch time and aim to beat my current pace, agreed on going for a two hour climb after my 8 hour office work and scheduled a following 2 hour study period for my day skipper theory course.

I am trying to do so many things at the same time, that I don’t even have a minute left to think about whether I am actually enjoying it or not. At some point, these hobbies got stuck in such tight schedules that they don’t feel like hobbies any more… but rather like obligations.

So this month, I’m going to slow down, stop planning my free time and do stuff only when I really want to do it. If I feel like climbing on a sunday, I will go climbing with or without partner. If I want to go for a run, I’ll pack my stuff and go for it – whether this is 20 or 40 minutes, slower or faster than the time before. If I’m keen to practice my chart work, I’ll do so. And if, for a change, what I really want to do is stay under the covers devouring one book after another – then who am I to stop myself from doing so?

A Photo That Takes My Breath Away

Last year, as soon as my relocation had been confirmed, I started to freak out. Two years in Switzerland had gone by so quickly, and I had still so much to experience and had so many places I wanted to go. For this, during the last 5 months in the country, I planned myself to do something different almost every weekend. On a hot summer day, we chose to go hiking in the Bernese Alps and came across this perfect view over the Aletsch Glacier. Each time I remember my time in Switzerland, this image is one of the first ones to pop up.

A Photo That Makes Me Laugh Or Smile

I’ll admit it – Isla Magdalena was one of my favorite stops during our Patagonia tour this winter. I couldn’t stop smiling, and even managed to use up my camera’s battery in just one hour! But then – if you were surrounded by 120,000 cuties, wouldn’t you too?

A Photo That Makes Me Deam

This picture had been my laptop’s desktop picture for a very long time. There’s something about the colors of the sky, which I find very unusual for a sunset; the way the sky is perfectly mirrored in the flat water and how the many rocks harmoniously break the reflection.

I couldn’t leave back to the hotel yet – I felt I had to wait for what came next. A very short time after, I was looking at the most intense sunset I had ever seen.

A Photo That Makes Me Think

I took this picture with my Lomo (which reminds me, I should really use it more often!). I was walking with a friend around La Boca on a Saturday afternoon, unaware of what was about to hit us. Each time I look at this photo, I remember the clash between trashy tourists paying for getting a picture with a fake Maradona and, just a few streets on, a group of local teenagers playing football. I remember stopping at this point and thinking so this is the real La Boca.

A Photo That Makes My Mouth Water

This one was a difficult choice – I really battled between spanish tapas, a delicious desert and this. But to be frank, seafood feeds my soul. Having been raised in a fishermen town in the Canary Islands, when asked to choose, I will always choose seafood over meat restaurants (except when the location is particularly known for its meat). In fact, the simpler the dish itself – the better. And that’s exactly what I loved about FishWorks in London. No strong sauces or overcompensation of side dishes – just plain good fish and seafood.

A Photo That Tells A Story

3 Girls. The night before handing in our final thesis in Germany. A crazy thought.

After finishing our exam, we packed our things and left on a 6 hour (which turned out to be rather 8-9 hour) drive to Amsterdam. We arrived on a friday at 3am to our hotel, and had to wait until the next morning to see the city. Full of excitement, we woke up early, walked along the canals into the center and chose this beautiful little bar to properly start one of the most surreal weekends of the year.

A Photo That I’m Most Proud Of (A National Geographic Shot)

I took this picture in Torres del Paine, Chile – so far, my favorite destination to disconnect from the World. No phone reception, very limited internet access and a national park full of surprises. Guanacos were one of them. When I saw this proud animal standing on the top, staring towards the mountains and the clouds filled with rain in the background – I knew I had to be very careful to take the picture without distracting it. It may not be a National Geographic shot, but for sure it is, so far, the photo I am most proud of.

I hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed selecting them. I’m now supposed to nominate 5 other bloggers to participate – not an easy task given that so many of you have already taken part of this!

If you have been reading 100 Miles Highway for a while now, you must have noticed that getting all personal online is not really my thing. Sure, from time to time, I’ll drop a post on why I am not traveling full time or my deepest regret from my 2 years in Switzerland. However, most of the time I focus on experiences and places.

Well, lately I’ve felt the urge to write about another sort of experience – one that goes way beyond expat life, travel and adventure. One that is much more personal.

For the past few months I’ve slowly moved away from being the person I defined (and defended) myself as for all this time – a girl that aims to conquer the financial world and become a well-respected personality within the industry, that pictures herself with a beautiful loft in a big metropolis and traveling to the main hubs for business and escaping, from time to time, to deserted places – to becoming someone I can’t even define anymore.

All of a sudden, things I considered important in life don’t feel important anymore.

In contrast, I’m starting to consider life alternatives I had never even dared to think of before. I’m starting to feel that my priorities might be shifting towards something else. Maybe they’re are not even shifting. Maybe they had always been somewhere else, but I had been lost all this time believing they were here.

As I was explained earlier today:

It’s as if a cat believed it was a dog and always hang out with dogs barking, biting stuff and running after bikers… and suddenly realized that, well, it’s actually a cat.

I’m not regretting what I’ve done with my life so far, don’t get me wrong. I’ve lived in 7 cities in 4 countries in the last 10 years. I have developed a solid base in a highly competitive industry – an industry, that truly interests me. I’ve learned that mountains make me smile even more than beaches do. I’ve become to appreciate wine over beer (and even over a glass of Hendrix tonic with two slices of cucumber) and have developed a love for fine food. Now, I’m comfortable being on my own. I’m more organized and more responsible. I’m even on time (more often than not – I’m still sort of spanish, remember?). I’ve learned a lot on my way here, and I’m pretty sure that these experiences have made me (and are still making me) a better person.

So what’s my plan then?Am I going to set off and travel the World?

As exciting and tempting as this alternative life may be, I’d have the feeling I’m running away. I’ve got something to solve over here: I need to find myself and understand what really makes me happy. I need to find out whether I’m a dog or a cat or none of both.

On a separate note:

If you’re in London next Thursday 29th of March, you’re welcome to join our Drink Up night in Angel! Check out the Facebook event and drop me a line if you have any questions!