San Sebastian – Big Decisions

San Sebastian – Big Decisions

I’ve just parked up. We’re in San Sebastian and there’s a lot of other vans that just arriving behind me as well. So busy spotless. Just going to let P stretch her legs. I’m contemplating like chilling here for a couple of days. It’s going to be raining again. Well, supposedly according to the forecast for the next couple of days. Um, and I got a few things I need to catch up on, but I also haven’t actually decided where I’m going to go. I’m right on the edge of the Pyrenees here and I’m kind of craving a bit of that sort of mountain isolation. So, that is quite a strong option. Yeah, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I feel like I need to take some time just to bed myself into it all again a little bit really. You know, what do I want to do? How do I want what do I want to achieve? got enough of everything that I can actually spend a couple of days here without worrying too much. The only thing I am short of is water. I’ve got um like a five liter thing of drinking water, but I’ve run out of well I normally carry two of those um and I’ve run out of one. You can hear water where I am on this little walk. The pods have come down into the woodland area. So, I’m hoping that this might solve my problems. Actually, if there’s enough water here for me to collect some. Yeah. Then I don’t need to go anywhere for a few days. And hear it coming down here. Come on then. Was hoping it won’t be coming out of there, but can hear it. Uhhuh. running water. We’re back and get my water tester and my container. We’re going again. This time I’m armed with my 5 L container, shower, and a water tester. Walked past the bit I came across before accidentally, but I’ve ended up down here. So, it’s where the river meets the sea. So, hopefully we can find the mouth of the river. So, it’s here. And then so I don’t think I’m going to be able to get down there. Oh, maybe actually maybe if we go down there. Uh, don’t think I need to worry 78 average. Come on. Oh, sorry. She’s scared. This hill is over a 45° angle. It’s intense. Could definitely be no point showering at the bottom there because Oh, I’m sweating like a pig. It’s so steep. My god. That’s today’s workout done. Anyway, sun’s come out while I’ve been gone. I don’t know if this is going to be deep enough. I don’t want to use all the water. What I do know is it’s going to be freaking freezing and I need to be really quick. That’ll do. It’s better than nothing. Just found uh three months of free bass lessons. I forgot that was in there. It’s 2 years since I last picked this up. That was short and sweet, but I got it out the bag. I’ve remembered what it felt like to hold a plerum. I tested my my little portable amp and it works. And I found my lessons. I found a 3 month offer of lessons online. So that was a big first step. [Music] Also a lot of horse chestnuts here. So, I’ll see if I can collect some. I don’t want to touch them cuz they’re really spiky. Ow. [Music] [Music] [Music] I call them sweet horse chestnuts. They’re sweet chestnuts and they are they are edible. Uh so I’m going to have a go cooking some I’ve eaten them before as a kid. I can remember at Christmas my stepdad cooked them up. Um, and I remember them being quite nice actually. So, you know, just in case we have to like, you know, be feral all the time cuz we’re refusing digital ID and we have to live off the land, you know, might as well get in the swing of it now. Pierce the skins. Medium heat. 15 to 20 minutes shaking periodically. Let’s go. Pudding’s having a party and I’m having a Christmas party. Right, let’s taste one. They’re a bit hot. I can’t really feel them. There we go. It’s like a potato. Bloody lovely. Didn’t sleep too well. Puss is in and out all night. So, I’ve just taken her for a walk. I’m not sure. I think she feels a bit sick. Um, slept with doorway for most of the night as well because of that. And so consequently, I’ve got bites all over my legs now. I’ve seen so many hikers walking down this way, and I stopped someone to ask them why where they’re all going. Apparently, this is a route the um Camino to Santiago pilgrim. So, apparently thousands of people make this pilgrim every year. It’s a kind of spiritual passage. So, we’re going to do a little tiny part of it. But first, I’m going to collect some more sweet chestnuts because they can keep up to a month in a fridge. And I got a bridge now. And so many more have fallen overnight. So, I’ve got myself a little poo bag. a poo bag full. I don’t know if you can see that that there’s a real weather front moving in. Lots. We’re actually up in the clouds here. You can literally see them coming across the land. But anyway, I’m moving 5 miles down the road because a lovely lady that I regularly speak to online um has recommended a spot near here and sent me some pictures from when she visited and it looks absolutely stunning. So, just going to move down the road a little bit just for a change of scenery. We’re here and there’s literally zero signal. And sometimes I think these things are sent to me. I think maybe this is a good time for me to have a online detox, even if it’s just for 24 hours. This was a bit of crocheting that my daughter did. So, either like that or I think it’s going to be like quite a nice winter hair band. It’s not for you person. Yeah, like that. Cute. Thanks, Aya. [Music] [Music] Wow. Hey. Back up now. [Music] [Music] Oh my god, that again. It won’t stop thinking. It’s probably bidding it down now. Definitely need a bigger pan. This is not going to work. We ran out of gas after the dish, which I kind of knew was going to happen. Now it’s boiling. I this bit hot. Brilliant. [ __ ] off. Why are you not screwing on, you piece of [ __ ] What’s happened? Why is it not working? I got the wrong connector. I don’t understand. [Music] No screw on it. [ __ ] Oh [ __ ] Oh, they got no screw. I got the wrong [ __ ] thing. What’s this? Push it on. I don’t think any push on [ __ ] hot. [ __ ] sake. Okay. Right. Well, don’t even [ __ ] think about it. Shush. Quiet. Now’s not the right time. Right. I’ll see if I can use that tiny little bit that’s left in there. Oh my god. I just hope it’s enough. Well, this could be an absolute waste of time. Looks I’m just going to dry pasta. It’s going to be all denty. quite close. It’s a big bull. Think we’ll stay in it. It’s just gone. Seven. I’m thinking I have to go into the mountains for a little while cuz I’m finding that I’m getting really irritated and triggered by people’s inconsiderate, which is a sign that I’ve my tolerance is not as good as it was. Where’s my freaking lighting thing? Um, apparently hopefully I’ll have enough gas for my coffee. Still don’t have any gas. I’ve bought three bottles. None of it’s any use. Hey, I’ve got a coffee. I’m just fed up. It’s just mud and wet all the time. I also think that when it’s harder like this, like when it’s no signal, mud, rain, all that other stuff. I almost think it’s better for me because it’s like what helps me to manage myself and also it makes me appreciate the nice weather and the easy times Oh, nibbler. She wants to go outside again. Every time she goes out, she gets covered in mud and wet. So, told her she’s got to stay in now. Sorry, buds. Sorry. I know. This is a weird feeling cuz I literally don’t know where to go. I don’t know whether I mean the it feels like the universe is telling me not to surf, you know, with the whole surfboard situation. And when I did my checklist, I actually missed surfing off of that. So, I’m thinking, what’s that telling me? So, part of me thinking, do I You’re not going outside, Pudding. Um, do I go into the Pyrenees and enjoy some time in the mountains? No. Or do I go down through Portugal? I mean, the ways are too big in Portugal for me anyway. But, um, literally don’t know which way to drive. I mean, you know, what a conundrum. It’s probably a privilege a lot of people would like to have, but I’ve only got two months in Europe left on my Shenen allowance. I use an app to track all of that. So, I have to be out of Europe by the 1st of November. I’ve decided to go back down to the spot I was at before because I’ve got a signal there and I can actually go and find out where I can get some gas. And then when I’ve got some gas and some water recording started, I can then spend a bit of time somewhere just figuring out what I want to do. Do a bit of research maybe. This is a weird feeling. Spot where I collected the sweet chestnuts. I spotted a tap there the other day. It’s not very powerful, but I’m going to test it. See if I can fill up my container again. 90. Excellent. That was good effort. Got a whole 5 lers of drinking water and put into the runway. So, everybody’s happy. Oh, yeah. Still no gas. So So this is priority number one, right? It’s a complicated process. I have to go downstairs in the car park to get them. I think that’s what they said. [Applause] I feel so stressed like trying to find this freaking parking thing and then I accidentally parked in a motorbike spot. There’s like two other big motorbike spots there, but the guy that arrived on this obviously told me off. So, mate, yeah, I feel really stressed. I don’t even know if what I’ve bought fits my I’ve just tried to put it into my other um gas cooker thing uh and I can’t remember how to use it. family are really stressed and I want to just [ __ ] off into the middle of nowhere for a little while, but I can’t cuz I don’t even know if my gas works and it’s too dark in here. So, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I might just sit here in the motorbike space for 5 minutes while I just gather myself. So, I’m in San Sebastian, which is kind of well, northern part of Spain. Uh, and if I go down that way, it’s Portugal. And if I go across that way, it’s the Pyrenees. And I can’t decide what to do. Um, yeah, I literally can’t decide. And like, I want to do surfing, but I know Portugal is really tough for surfing. I’ve tried it a couple of times, and the Pyrenees is lovely, but I’m not sure that’s what I need on this journey. So, randomly, as I’ve just checked my um that camping gas stuff again, and it is the right stuff for my other cooker. So, I’ve decided I’m going to I’ve asked the Instagram to make the decision for me. So, yeah, we’ll see what happens there. I don’t know. Yeah. And whatever comes up, I’ll just go with it. at the moment is level pegging. But cuz I’ve got enough gas and some water and stuff like that and I like it here anyway. It’s really lovely and there’s loads of parkups. I think what I’ll do is I’ll hang here for 24 hours. I was going to do that anyway, but I’ll hang here for a further 24 hours and by then Instagram would have decided where to go. Never done this before. So, let’s see. [Music] [Music] Pudding did so Well, then not a single bark. [Music] [Music] [Music] Views all around. So today’s foraging is some puff balls which I have already peeled. So yeah, I’m going to try them in some butter. She can’t keep her eyes open. I think I might have overcooked these, but the reason being I tasted one where they weren’t quite so well cooked and it was the texture is grim. Oh, from what? No, that is not a nice texture. And the flavor is all right. Pretty average, but the texture is grim. It’s a busy little place this and apart from the obvious beautiful views, I’ll show you why. [Music] That’s a really lovely way to start the day. [Music] So, Instagram decided for me. Uh, it was actually really close and Portugal just about came out on top. But I received the same advice from a lot of people, which was to do the Pyrenees before it gets too cold and then go to Portugal when it’s not too hot. So that’s what I’m going to do.

I arrive in San Sebastián and once I sort my resources, I make the decision to hang here for a few days while I decide what to do next, where to go and what to explore! I’m still trying to figure out the purpose of this trip and what I want to achieve. Things still aren’t going quite to plan!

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