Let me ask you – is it possible to look chic and cool whilst hill-walking in the rain soaked hills of the Lake District?
This was the question I had to ask myself after my outdoors-loving boyfriend suggested we go to the Lake District for a week’s walking holiday last September for our first ever trip away together.
I have to say that my idea of the ideal early autumnal break was perhaps a hotel and pool in the Med somewhere a little further south Sicily, or Cyprus perhaps. My ideal certainly didn’t involve heading north to the wettest corner of England and doing a serious amount of exercise therein!
Nevertheless, I agreed on the condition that there could be absolutely no question of any camping – or naff B&Bs with shared bathrooms etc.!
This was agreed and meant I approached the holiday with a little less trepidation. Next, it was time to plan the outfits. I decided on a compromise between style and functionality. This is whole world within a world to me! I eventually plumped for cool Merrell boots which I started to wear a lot well before going walking (the boyfriend’s expert advice) and a North Face Jacket to match.
The expert also advised me to get the base layers right – which is easier said than done when you’re more concerned with the look than whether they breathe or not! They nearly all seem to be black, but white was the order of the day – and I have to say, these things are fantastic for keeping warm and dry.
As it turned out, we had the most perfect weather imaginable in England’s Indian summer and the whole trip was a raging success – though day three was spent very much not walking as I’d had enough by then. But I still looked the part as I went to the shops!
