out of office a passage to India

and professionally, while spending time at home with my children which I am very grateful for. I also started to do quite a lot of fitness to support my well-being and give me structure to my day in the early days of lockdown. I was hooked from day one - Zoom bootcamp classes, Zumba, Pilates you name it, I was on it! This led me to plan ahead a challenge for me to work towards. I’d have the adverts popping up on my social media feeds for charity treks regularly so just took the plunge and booked it - 18 months aheadplenty of time to train.

Founder, Director and CEO of Hadrian's Recruitment - to find out all about her incredible treks through India.

In October 2022, Sarah jetted off to Delhi and joined a group of complete strangers who had also challenged themselves to the ‘Walk With Me Dalai Lama Trek’, a charity organised trek. For 12 days Sarah and her group had a taste of the many delights India has to offer, from the Taj Mahal to the Himalayas, experiencing the sounds, smells, sites and culture along the journey!

What inspired you to take on this trek challenge by yourself?

For those who know me personally, I like a challenge and like to take myself out of my comfort zone from time to time! I have always wanted to travel and incorporate challenges that take me ‘off the beaten track’ so to say, but juggling my family commitments and my career coupled with being a lone parent meant it was hard for me to be able to take the time away.

Fast forward to 2020 and hello COVID. Although a difficult time for many – and for my business, which literally stopped trading in the first lockdown – for the first time in my life, it gave me 'me time'. For the first few months, it enabled me to re-evaluate everything in my life and re-focus on what I wanted to achieve personally

I’ve never really done travelling alone to this extreme before, but it was nice to know that because I’d booked through an experienced charity trek provider I’d be joining a small group of like-minded fellow travellers too. It was supposed to be a group of 15, but it only ended up being eight. The Indian Government changed visa regulations suddenly in September 2022, which threw a huge spanner in the works and made it virtually impossible to get one - it made the last few weeks running up to the adventure even more stressful. My flight was booked less than 24 hours before I was due to leave and I actually only got my visa at 8:30am on the day I was flying! It was a very stressful start, but as soon as I had checked in at the airport I could relax and, looking back now, I wouldn’t have missed the trip for all of the tea in China! (hint, next trip?)

What was it like when you eventually arrived in India?

I flew from London to Delhi to start with where I met the group of seven at the airport. After a quick sleep, change of clothes and food we got the overnight sleeper train from Delhi all the way up to Dharamshala, a city in northern India. The nine-hour adventure introduced us to chai tea (10p), real indian culture and people (amazing!) and the world of squat toilets! A four-hour 4x4 journey followed up the mountains to a village called ‘McLeod Ganj,’ the residence of his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. After a night of rest acclimatising there, we set off on our five day trek up into the mountains and Himalayas.

What was the guided trip and trek experience like?

The trek itself was five days and we had a brilliant guide and a team of sherpas supporting us, carrying everything we needed; food, water and tents. It was just amazing. It was one of the best experiences I have had in my life and I felt so lucky that I was able to do this and so pleased that I did it. I’ve had my business for eight years, and it was the first time that I have not taken a laptop with me when I’ve been away. We didn’t have a mobile phone signal for days - it was incredible!

It was hot during the day trekking and the climbs were sometimes quite challenging. We enjoyed the downhill when it came - although the nights were cold. We wrapped up warm and enjoyed each other's company around a campfire until bed at around 8pm as we were all so tired. We had a yoga guide with us who every morning delivered a session, wherever we were - I do remember being on top of one of the mountain campsites pinching myself thinking this can’t be real and that I couldn’t be there, but I was and it was totally a life-changing experience. Again, I know this might sound a bit cheesy, but the trip really put into perspective what you need in life, what’s important and what’s not. There were times when we walked through villages that only had a little stream going through them and that was the only running water. The children walked five or six miles to school; so, the trek we were doing was equivalent to their walk to school. They were walking in flip flops up and down these mountains. We were invited into houses for cups of tea despite these people having nothing. Everyone was so welcoming. It was a truly life affirming experience. Finally, we got back on the overnight sleeper train to Delhi and from there headed on to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on the last day. That was just out of this world. Walking up to it and walking through the archway to see, it was a once in a lifetime experience and I felt so lucky. It was really busy, packed, but incredible. That was the end of the trip and it really was ending on a high.

Would you do a trip like this again in the future?

I definitely will. I’m 50 next year and I do want to go to Nepal and do more trekking to celebrate this. I love having a challenge like this to work towards - one of the group members had climbed Kilimanjaro for his 70th birthday, was doing this, then had more treks planned in 2024 onwards - I so want to be that 70 year old!

The trip to India was a life-changing experience for me, it was a dream that I made reality which took me out of my comfort zone and into the unknown. I always think to myself, opportunities in life are there to be taken - the worst that can happen is that you don’t enjoy or succeed, but you’ll learn from them for the future. At least you’ll know you’ve tried rather than thinking ‘what if?’ and having regrets. I apply those wise words to everything in life - sometimes you succeed and opportunities turn into incredible things!

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