If I could sum up June, it would be all about trying to find a silver lining. This has been my first full month on furlough, so I’m no longer working (but thankfully am still getting the majority of my pay through the government scheme). I have made a huge effort to get out exploring around Yorkshire now that that’s allowed! I’ve been on some truly amazing hikes and instead of giving into stress and anxiety, I’m really trying to stay positive. Here’s what all I got up to in June!
Where I Went
York, Aysgarth Falls, Flamborough Head, Bempton Cliffs, Chop Gate/Wainstones, Goathland, Grosmont, Kirkham Priory, Crewe, Ness, Muker, Keld, Sutton Bank, Rosedale Abbey (United Kingdom)
Best Moments
I saw my first PUFFIN!!!! One of my favorite hikes this month was from Flamborough Head out to Bempton Cliffs. I practically raced there, I was so excited for one reason: to hopefully see a puffin!! We had no luck at the first few viewpoints, and at the final one Adam helped me spot it: a PUFFIN!!!!!! I was so thrilled—they are so cute! One of the things I was most looking forward to for our trip to Orkney (which was canceled last month) was hopefully seeing puffins. It might have been much closer to home, but I got to see a puffin!!!
So many truly amazing hikes around Yorkshire. Thankfully, the outdoors is open and it’s easy to stay away from other people outside! So we’ve really made the most of me not working, and gone on some really wonderful walks to so many different parts of Yorkshire.
We went to Aysgarth Falls, in the Yorkshire Dales. This was on a fantastic sunny day—the river level was so low so we could walk all over the falls! We ended this day by driving Buttertubs Pass, a scenic road up and down through the Dales.
Flamborough Head was the next hike, and again we lucked out with the weather. And of course, we got to see a puffin! I met up with a friend for the first time in months as we hiked out to the Wainstones from Chop Gate in the North York Moors. We met up again to hike from Goathland to Grosmont and back, a classic walk in the moors which Adam and I had attempted in winter a few years ago. We got horrendously lost the first time, and we had much more success on the walk this time around! I also explored the Howardian Hills properly, with a great walk from Kirkham Priory along the River Derwent. This last one was only a 20-minute drive from my house, and I drove there! At the very end of the month, I went out to Rosedale Abbey, and did a great hike around some of the old iron mining ruins.
The main highlight was spending a hot, sunny day hiking in Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales. I had never been to this area before, and it’s quickly become one of my favorite parts of Yorkshire. We started in Muker, hiked to Keld, had amazing views from Crackpot Hall, and encountered one person in the 3 hours for the second half of the hike down through the next valley along. I should have brought more water, but it was really spectacular. I’m so grateful I live in Yorkshire and so close to wonderful places like this.
Watching a sunset at Sutton Bank. Sutton Bank is a very popular part of the North York Moors, as they have a national park center there. While we’ve been before, I’ve been wanting to go for sunset for ages. It finally happened at the end of the month, and it was truly incredible. Yorkshire is so stunning, the pictures just don’t really do it justice. I would definitely put sunset at Sutton Bank on your Yorkshire bucket list!
I attended my first UK protest! At the beginning of the month, there was a protest organized for Black Lives Matter/George Floyd/anti-racism in York. I went! I have never been to a protest in the UK, mainly because I cannot in any way ever get arrested here. If I ever have a criminal record, I would face huge issues living here, renewing my visa/applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain, being able to live and have a life with Adam… so I have never been to a protest, ever. I decided I needed to go though. So I was a part of a small group of about 300 people who gathered near Bishopthorpe Road to honor George Floyd. It meant a lot to me to be able to do that.
Worst Moments
The police brutality, systematic racism, and anger. Minneapolis was the center of a revolution, and watching my city burn and fearing for my family’s safety from so far away wasn’t easy. While thankfully this month I wasn’t concerned with the physical safety of my family, there is so much work to be done and the police brutality in Minneapolis has been truly disgusting. We all need to work harder and do better to dismantle white supremacy and the systematic racism that is present both in the US, and around the world. There is a lot of work for us white people do to.
Our flights were canceled for our trip to the US this summer—so I can’t see my family. After a global pandemic, seeing my neighborhood on fire, and 2.5 years away from my home, all I want to do is hug my family. Unfortunately, that won’t be happening as our flights to Minneapolis have been canceled and I will no longer be going to Minnesota this summer. I had known it was a possibility for a while now, since the strict coronavirus restrictions in the UK meant I was unsure if we could even go, let alone have valid travel insurance, or if Adam would even be let into the US. But obviously with no flights we can’t make it happen.
I have already been upset and cried all the tears about this. So I’m trying to just accept that it is what it is, and long-term it will probably be much better to go another year when things are better. So many things I wanted to do were canceled this summer anyway (baseball, State Fair, etc…) and it wouldn’t be the same trip. So much of my neighborhood is destroyed, and seeing that in real life rather than through a screen would have been very painful. The airline canceling our flight also meant that we were eligible for a refund (even though we booked through an OTA! Yikes!), and we’ve already had the money back on my card. So financially, this is definitely the best-cafe scenario.
But I jumped through so many hoops with work and worked so hard to make this month in Minnesota happen for August. And now I don’t get to see my family, don’t get to go home, don’t get to go to the Cab or the Boundary Waters or DQ. And that’s really tough.
Getting very dehydrated on our Swaledale hike. It doesn’t really get “hot” in the UK for me as a Minnesotan, so I’m not very prepared when it does get warm here! I don’t think I planned it all that well, I just didn’t bring enough water on the hike and ended up getting really dehydrated. It was hot, sunny, I had been sweating so much for hours, and we were still about 2 miles away from Muker (and another water bottle in the car). Thankfully as soon as I got more water I felt better, but the end of the hike wasn’t very fun!
Stress over work. I am trying very hard not to worry about work. But at the moment, I’m not working and I do stress a lot about job security and what my future will be like. I’m so grateful that I haven’t been laid off or made redundant. But I don’t know when I’m going back to work, and that does really worry me. I was originally only going to be furloughed until the end of June, but as my company legally only needs to give 1 week notice before asking me back, I wasn’t sure if I’d be on furlough through July or not. I only found out last week that yes, I will be on furlough throughout July too. As someone who likes to plan, not being able to plan can be stressful!
Posts Published
After a slump for a few months, I’m starting to get my groove back with blogging. I published three new blog posts this month, and have lots more in the works for next month! Here are the latest blog posts from June.
The Best Walks In And Around York, England
11 Travel Lessons The Pandemic Has Taught Me
Exploring The Yorkshire Dales: Hiking Pen-y-Ghent
Instagram Top 3
I was going to make a serious effort to post more on Instagram this month… and didn’t share a photo on my feed until 16 June!! Oops. Here are my most popular Instagram photos this month!
Coming Up In July
With the news that I will still be on furlough through July, and overnight stays allowed from the first week of next month, I’m hoping to get to explore locally! I hope to be exploring Yorkshire and doing lots of hikes. I really hope to get back to the Peak District—hopefully on an overnight camping trip! I would also love to get back to the Lake District while I still have the time off work. Again, maybe a camping trip for a few nights! We saw Adam’s parents for the first time at the end of the month, so we may go over to see them again. Depending on if Wales is opening for tourism/day visitors, we might make a trip to North Wales and Snowdonia if we can. Everything is a bit up in the air right now, but overnight stays being allowed is huge! So hopefully we can make the most while I’m off work for another month.
What was your June like? Do you have any fun plans for July?
I’ve loved seeing your Yorkshire countryside photos popping up on Twitter and Facebook. I miss Yorkshire, but will hopefully get to visit places a bit further a field soon. I’ve stayed purely in North Cheshire the last 3 months. My issues with traveling further afield is safe and guaranteed access to loo facilities (with the health conditions I have) which is why I’ve stayed v. local till now.
I have however booked to go to the Lakes at the end of July and stay in my wedding hotel – so excited!
If you get over to Cheshire and fancy meeting for a socially distanced walk, let me know. I know we’ve tried to meet up before and it’s never worked out, but would be great to manage it some time. 🤞🥰
Here’s to more lovely walks in July! 👍💚
Tilly xx
Thanks so much Tilly!! I bet a trip to the Lakes will be amazing 🙂 I’ll let you know if I’ll be around your area this summer, it would be so nice to finally meet in person! 🙂 xx