The desert is the most beautiful place I ever have been to. I have always wanted to go to the Sahara and feel very fortunate and lucky that I have experienced what most people will probably not. How can I begin to even explain what the Sahara is like? Grap a cup of tea, sit down and get comfortable… let me take you on a journey.

Most people in the world have an opinion of the beach. Why…? because of the sand…it seem’s to either irritate or bring out the fun childlike sandcastle building in you. I reckon that probably as many people love the sand as hate it.

I sit clearly on the fence… I don’t mind it. Living in the Sahara for 4 days mean’t that I couldn’t afford to strike up a bad relationship with the environment, my only choice was to embrace it. The sand get’s everywhere, I mean everywhere. I still find sand in my rucksack pockets. Fortunately I loved the Sahara and would go back there tomorrow at mearly the mention of a bucket and spade. The desert is a very powerful place for any soul searching individual.

Have you ever been anywhere that touches your soul…? Where you have felt totally connected to nature and felt the power it has and how you are just a small part in it. Have you seen the sun go down, the moon come up and the stars twinkling like silver christmas decorations in the clear dark sky?

If not… get to the Sahara now.

The scenery is stunning, the heat is immense, but the sheer scale of it is mind blowing.

The blazing heat when the sun comes up about 7am is scorching. There is zero shade, no where to get out of the heat to cool down. Temperature’s get up to 45 degrees in the midday sun. It is hot hot hot. I was constantly sweating, just from the heat yet alone all the exercise I was doing with the French Foreign Legion. The Sahara was challenging but I loved it(except the goat situation which upset me). I thrive in the heat…I always have done. I suit hot climates, give me hot over cold any day!!

Night fall is about 6 or 7pm… the sun goes down and the moon comes up and it is just simply stunning. It sounds really stupid but the moon is so bright! It really is like a huge big lamp that lights up the sky, casting an all night sheen of light over the vast sand dunes like a dimmer switch that has been accidentally left on. Night time is cold…not Norway cold, but still cold!!

There are snakes and camel spiders erverywhere. At one point during a conversation with the boys about camel spiders, one appeared on my shoulder!! It was like the spider had been hiding behind me waiting for it’s opportune moment. I would not wish those on anyone, they are horrible!!… they are like scorpion’s, very vicious, fast and just look angry!! I slept wrapped up in my blanket so tight, almost to the point of not being able to breathe, but I didn’t want those things getting anywhere near my body.

The desert made me feel delirious, actually the sleep deprivation made me feel delirious. One hour on… one hour off… all through the night, I hardly knew whether I was coming or going, but one thing I did know was that the Sahara opened my eyes to something I had never felt or seen before. It was like a lightbulb moment in my head… I just kind of felt that I understood more about me and what was important to me. It made me look within myself rather than looking out. I discovered many things about me in those 4 days of the desert, I felt really strong there…

You may be reading this thinking ” yeah whatever?!” but take yourself out of your usual environment and your mind begins to truly open like a parachute of feelings and emotions that you had forgotten about, or even worse… have never experienced because of being on the treadmill of daily habits, work, chores and life.

So if you have never been anywhere that has truly awakened something inside of you(I’m not talking Canary Islands package holiday here, although each to their own and it may do it for some) I suggest you get off the beaten track… and go explore…the world awaits you.

Where do you daydream of going?

Bye for now x