A Serious Misconception

            I heard on an episode of Sex and The City once that “hiking is really just walking.” Said by one of Carrie’s many boyfriends, I should have known not to trust it. This particular relationship didn’t last and if I remember correctly, it’s because he was in an insane asylum.

            Still, it seemed a logical enough concept to me. So, when my friends decided they wanted to go to Chique Terre, Italy for our travel weekend, I was down. “It will be beautiful,” they say. They list off activities like cliff diving and beaches and I’m even more excited. They add, “yeah, and you can hike between the cities if you want.” Hiking? Wait, what? Oh, I don’t have attire for that… or the physical ability. My roommate says, “Girl, I’m out of shape too. And I’m just going to wear my Chaco’s for shoes.” I look down at her feet. They look kind of like basic sandals. With this encouragement and the revelation I recall from sex and the city, I’m convinced this is something I can do. And with that, I pack a bag with some shorts, tank tops and a pair of my 2 for $20 Urban Outfitters sneakers and head to the train station.

            At this point you’re probably thinking I’m an idiot. Eh, that could be true. But, if you’d be so kind, I’d like to chalk it up to a serious misconception on my part, as opposed to blaming it on my stupidity.

            Some hours later, Austin, Ali, Hannah, Alex, Nick and I arrive in Vernazza, one of the five cities in Chique Terre. To say it’s beautiful is an understatement. They’ve somehow built these colorful towns on top of mountains. There are wine vineyards as far as you can see and the people in the town are the friendliest I’ve encountered on this entire trip.

            What to do first becomes the question. Well let’s just walk over to the city of Monterosso. This is when I realize I had no idea what I was in for. 

            We get to the entrance of the trail. All I see are stairs. I start to climb (instead of cry which is what I want to do). There are six of us and I immediately fall to the fifth spot. It could be because I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it or because I’ve been reading The Hunger Games this entire trip, but I knew whoever was behind me was going to be my support.

            Still climbing… I look back.

            Austin. Austin will be my ally. Although he’s not nearly as tired as me, he’s stopping to take in the scenery and I’ll take whatever reason I can get. He says, ”I just don’t understand the point of hiking unless you’re stopping to take in the view.”

            At this point, I’m seeing spots and I’m bent over with my hands on my knees, so I can’t see anything, but this is no time to disagree with him. The distance between the other four and us is increasing.

            “Yeah, I agree…” Gasp for air… “It’s… like…. the whole reason we’re hiking… is to see the view.” Gasp for air.

            Still climbing… but the path is leveling off. But, this trail is supposed to be two hours and we’re only 45 minutes in.

            By some miracle, Austin and I make it to the point where the trail is mostly downhill. Hannah is with us at this point too. She claims Alex is literally running down the mountain. I absolutely believe her. This part is obviously easier on my leg muscles but my no-traction shoes are coming up a little short on the descent. Still, I’m thankful that it’s down hill because if I can manage not to slip and fall to my death, this hike is almost over… We’ve been hiking about an hour and 15 minutes.

            After climbing down what had to be 700 stairs at least, we make it to the other city.

            I can’t deny the feeling of accomplishment; it’s indescribable. We go to eat dinner and then I proceed to figure out how we can take the train back… This is when I realize I’m, once again, not on the same page with everyone else. Some of them want to hike back.

            True to form, Austin is on my side. “I think it might get dark guys, and that’ll be really dangerous.”

            I’m concerned less about the danger than my physical competence. But I agree with Austin’s reasoning.  “Yeah… that doesn’t seem safe.”

            I can see everyone considering it… then Nick says, “I mean, we came here to hike guys. If we do it at the same pace we came, we’ll finish before it gets really dark anyways.”

            I’m back in Hunger Games mode. Nick is my worst enemy. I’ll probably have to kill him.

            Well, who can argue with Nick’s logic? Everyone proceeds to agree we should just walk it back.

            I’ll definitely have to kill him.

            I’m silently saying a prayer as I approach the beginning of the trail. The lovely descent I faced on the way has turned into my enemy. Some billion stairs in, I realize Hannah is slowing down too. Good. She can join our alliance.

            I’m through with all of my pretenses that I can do this. My leg muscles are literally contracting and I know I’m in trouble. I can push through exhaustion and pain but I know I won’t be able to make it if my legs start cramping up on me.

            My attention then shifts to me now hoping that every step I take will not trigger a muscle contraction. Distracted by this, and a never-ending story about Austin’s childhood, I manage to make it back to our hotel room.

            With the fortune of hindsight, I’m so thankful that’s what my travel weekend turned into. While it’s true that I still can’t even think of taking a step without my calves screaming in resistance, I did something completely out of my comfort zone and I got to experience it with really amazing people; because despite what I said, they were all looking out for me and it’s nice to know you can trust people you’ve known for only less than a month.

            But you'll definitely catch me on the train tomorrow.