Walk Ware.

Me in Aston

On Monday 16^th of May, I took up a challenge of walking just over10 miles from my home town Stevenage, to another Town called Ware.

Why did I choose Ware? Well because it is one of my favourite places and I actually would like to move there one day. Anyway, if you read my previous blog you would know I have recently had inspiration to do the walk thanks to a YouTuber called PDROP who does travel videos, also the need to get fit is pushing me further. YouTuber Trainer Dave or @DavidsFitness has been giving me support when I Tweet out to him about my walk so thanks to him for that.

So the walk was fun and was a good adventure, you cant beat the English Country sides and you see so much more than when your trapped in a car. I tried my best to avoid the main roads that we usually go along when driving to Ware so I went through Villages, country and lake areas I have never been to before which was nice.

Chapmore End Village Sign

Graffiti

From Stevenage I went straight into a Village called Aston which is just outside Stevenage and it is an area I know. I took the public footpaths to a town called Watton-At-Stone, and followed more public footpaths through and around Heathmount School that had some lovely lakes with ducks and such. That lead onto one of the most beautiful villages I have ever been to called Chapmore End, it had a little pond with more Ducks and ducklings, but unfortunately one of the little ducklings had died possibly from when jumping into the pond. From there I kept towards Ware where I came to a lane called “Poles Lane” and under the road on the lane some guys where doing Graffiti, great stuff and it apparently took them up to 6 months to get it to the stage they were at. At this point I was only a short way from the Priory in Ware. I went and saw my Dads old flat before moving on and finishing in the Priory. I recorded a Video before and during the walk which I will upload to YouTube and link at the bottom.

Me in Ware

This is the furthest I have ever walked and I am pretty pleased with myself. I am also pumped to do another. My mate Kevin has also been bitten by the Walking bug and done a 5.45mile walk the other day around Stevenage, he plans on coming with me on a long walk in a few weeks time, maybe to Ware again.

I am looking forward to my next walk and making this more of a hobby while I still have the time to do it.

Don’t let things stop you either; if you want to do something, go do it and don’t let anything stand in the way!

For now this is Matty.D signing off.

Walk Ware Video

Lets go walking!

Earlier today I was watching my regular dosage of YouTube. A video from Phil DeFranco featured another YouTuber called PDROP, this Tuber makes videos documenting his travels around the world. He got started with a simple walk from California to San Diego and recorded it. It’s interesting stuff so check him out.
This video from Phil got me thinking, what’s stopping any of us from stepping out our front door and walking somewhere?

Ware, where I plan to go!

I thought about this and looked for somewhere I could walk to; first one that came to mind is my favourite little Town, Ware. It’s about 10 miles away from me and is around a 15 to 30 min drive depending on who is driving and the traffic. According to Google Maps it’s a 3hr21min walk. I’m motivated, I want an adventure, I want exercise, and I want to do something outside of my comfort zone because I am at home too much with the same damn routine, I want to get out there! So this Monday I am doing it! I am off to Ware, I am taking this walk and doing something different!
At the moment I only have the route laid out by Google Maps but my Dad is going to look to see if there is a better more cross country route that I could take, either way I will still do it.

So what about you? The reader sitting there in front of your computer, or on your phone, or whatever means it is your using to read this, why don’t you do something different in your life? I bet there is something you have always liked to do but you keep holding yourself back, making excuses to yourself on why you won’t do the thing you want. Well wipe those reasons off the bored and don’t let it stop you, get up and go! Let’s try and make life more interesting for ourselves by taking a step outside our box.

So this is Matty.D saying do something different! And signing off.

PDROP YouTube Channel

Indoor Skydiving with Airkix!

Back in December I turned 21, I got very drunk, as you do on your 21st as I was out with friends. You have got to love a manager that gives you drinks that will make you think you’re walking on the walls.

The day after I wasn’t well at all, wasn’t a good thing as I had a Birthday meal with all my family that evening, I didn’t eat well at all. It didn’t help that I was also coming down with the flu. Even with that I still had a great time.
One of the gifts I got was a voucher to go Indoor Skydiving with Airkix from my Aunty Lorinder and Uncle Andy.
This past Saturday I cashed in on that voucher and had one of the best experiences of my life!

Building Diagram

I was originally planning on going with my mate Kevin (He Needs a Horse) Pike, unfortunately his girl friend came down so he was unavailable, and I looked into other options but anyone I asked was working.
In the end it came down to just me and Dad with my step mum Nina taking pictures and video.
We arrived nice and early and got ourselves booked in, we then went for a wonder and got food and drink. We then came back and went to the viewing area to look at the chamber. I didn’t expect the chamber to be as small as it was but it did go very high.

Airkix Buliding

The chamber is in the very centre of the building with air being pumped around the sides and then up the middle through the chamber at 110mph to 150mph.

Dad and I left Nina by the viewing area and headed to the place we had to wait. Dad was looking at the pictures on the walls of others who had been in the chamber. He pointed out that streakers had been in there and that there was a picture of two nude women in the chamber.

Our instructor Joel then came out and showed us a video about hand signals and so forth. It’s actually a lot simpler than you may think.
We then kited up and headed up the chamber. We all sat in the chamber seating area and one at a time we went in. There were 3 others with us as well but we were all having different times in the chamber depending on what was booked. We were booked into a Family Flight, so we had 10 minutes split with up to 5 people. So if I had a group of 5 it would have been 2 goes of 1 minute each. As it was just me and Dad we were allowed 2 goes of 2 minutes and 30 seconds each.
Dad went in first and he floated around inside having a good time. After his time he landed back in the seating area and it was my turn in.

Dad in Flight

I stood in the door, held my arms under my chin and lifted my head, I then fell forward into the chamber and opened my arms. The wind caught me and took me into the air. Joel helped me get positioned and helped me move. It turned out that I went the highest in our group first time in; I was pretty impressed with my self. I also learnt how to control my turning before my time was up and I had to land.

Me in Flight

On the second run we had an extra option, for £5 more we could have Joel grab hold of us and spin before lifting us off with him into the top of the chamber spinning up and down. Dad and I had already said to each other we weren’t going to bother but after the first 2 people in front of us did it, we kinder felt we just had to do it as well. Dad then went in for his second go and was able to get the hang of his turning and went higher than last time, when the clock hit 30 seconds Joel grabbed hold and span before shooting up the chamber and down again a few times making dad very dizzy. Then it was my turn again, I entered the chamber and tried to move but I felt I had less control as I did before. Turned out that Joel had left my side for a little bit, he was squatting down to one side, he then stood up, grabbed me and chucked me higher up. He then tried to teach me how to move back and forth but I didn’t quite get the hang of it. 30 seconds left on the clock and Joel grabbed hold, the winds went up in speeds and Joel span while holding me. After about 3 spins we launched into the air and wow what a rush it was, up then down about 3 or 4 times spinning as I went, absolutely amazing so worth the £5.
That was it after that, we left the chamber and gave back our kit and got a certificate with what we learnt ticked off.

If I could do it again I would, and if you get the chance I would defiantly suggest trying it yourself, I will include a link to the Airkix website at the bottom.

A DVD was included of the flight with the capability to edit the footage, so when I have the footage that Nina recorded I will edit it all together and upload it to Facebook and/or YouTube so look out for that.

Next in line now is Sphereing, which is booked for the 30th of May, so I get to be harnessed in a ball and rolled down a hill, so I’m looking forward to that.

Well that’s all for now so this is Matty.D signing off.

Airkix website.