It took me about, well, ten years of climbing to realize that I couldn't climb my best all the time. When I changed my attitude towards climbing and training to a periodized approach this fact became even more evident. I was a totally junkie for volume in every sense. Never rest. Climb and train until you're utterly exhausted, always. Vacation? Never.
Since I left Oliana my 'pure climbing' trip mostly desolved and I let some other important things enter my daily life. Some random climbing days in there, exploring new cities, hiking, enormous holiday meals, even a few days of snowboarding.
My girlfriend would probably disagree but I feel like I can actually take a 'vacation' now.. I think. Two years ago I went to Bali and Singapore for surfing and R & R. I did again last year. This season I'm taking a little break in the Canary Islands, which, after only 3 days is clearly a perfect choice.
Despite being brief, a little break gives me the foundation for the next cycle, and a fresh start of stoke. It's so incredibly hard to let go because climbing and improving is truly my driving passion, but for every day I let it go it becomes easier. Meanwhile my motivation for the next project builds.
This 'vacation' however, I did bring my Testarossas. There are a handful of crags on the Island here - the one we've seen was pretty damn fun actually. A new one tomorrow. Stay tuned for photos and my thoughts on this beautiful place.
In the meantime have a watch of this short film that I made with Keith Ladzinski back in November. It shows off one of my favorite crags and undeniably one of the most beautiful places in Europe... the Verdon.