This April break I went on camp to Japan and hiked the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail. The trail was much more difficult than I had anticipated. There were many challenges that I faced over the course of the trail. However, the amazing views, and the memories I made overruled all the challenges that I had to face. The views were some of the best I have ever seen and the fact that we put work in yourself to see those made the reward even bigger, and the satisfaction even greater. The views were something that kept me going, and it motivated me even when I was tired and felt like giving up.

One challenge that I faced was that my bag was really heavy and the majority of the weight rested on my shoulders when it should be on my waist. The waist straps were quite small in the first place, and before I even started trekking they broke when I was tightening them. On top of this, we also had to carry all our food for five days, as well as the tent, gas, and pots were all split between me and my tentmates. This added much more weight to my bag than I expected. However, over the course of the days it started lightening up as I ate my food, I also got used to the weight on my back. At first, when I wore my bag I was falling back because of the sudden increase in weight, but by the end of the trip, the weight almost felt normal. I also learned along the way that it was easier to keep going with the bag on rather than removing it at every moment possible. If we keep removing it, the moment our back gets used to the weight, if we remove it, it’ll take longer for it to adjust again.

I also improved on my camping skills, at first it took a lot of time to put my tent up and to make my food. The first night, I left my sleeping bag open, because I didn’t know how to close it and when it went down to -3 degrees that night I got really cold. Over the days, I learned how to deal with the cold, and how to make the food. I also learned how much food I needed to eat because the diet was very different from what I was used to, it took some trial and error to figure out how much I needed to eat. In Japan, we had to eat rice for all three meals while camping for those 5 days, I wasn’t used to this at all, but I needed the energy so I needed to eat it. The cold was also something I found a challenge at night, because while trekking it was very pleasant and it worked in our favour, but at night it became really cold. Living in Singapore meant that I am not used to the cold at all, and had to learn to adjust to it.

The trekking itself was a huge challenge, however, my team played a big part in keeping me going. I learned that it was a lot easier to talk to people when trekking because it kept your mind off how tired you were. Trekking became easier as the days passed by, and my body got used to it. I also realised that it was also great thinking time, it was nice to occasionally walk on your own and just think.

Trekking this much and for this extent was a completely new experience for me, my experience in trekking is limited to the outdoor education trips we have done in the past. I think trekking for so many consecutive days was something completely new for me, and considering we trekked a total of 80km, was something that I had never done before. On this trip, I learned a lot about myself and my limits but also a lot about my capabilities. I realized that as daunting as something may look in the beginning, if I keep pushing myself I will be able to achieve it. There were so many new experiences for me, I had never camped in the cold, I had never been in an onsen, I had never trekked that much, never been this independent. In the past, it was common for the outdoor ed staff and gapies to help us by carrying some of our stuff (tents, food, water, etc), but in this trip, there was no help, we had to do it by ourself. Towards the end, the teachers also left us to navigate through it ourself. We were completely independent, and it was up to us to keep ourselves going and to motivate others who felt like giving up.

At the beginning of the trek, there was an extremely steep uphill, and I remember wondering how I would ever be able to survive this for 4 more days, I never thought I would have the physical as well as mental capabilities to do it. However, at the end on the last day, when we saw the ocean again at the top of hill, I felt empowered. I realised that I had done it, my feet may have been hurting, and my shoulders may be sore but at the end of the day, I had done it. I had pushed through the 80km, the steep uphills, the downhills with the uneven rocks, the cold at night, but in the end I had done it and I had enjoyed it.