Day 21: Walking like a zombie

Day 21 - Tuesday, April 10th 2018: Larne to Carnlough 21 km / Total 442 km, 8°C, rainy

I don't know why, that morning, I felt tired, and it was hard to motivate my self. I almost started walking at noon. The 1st part of the walk was easy, a good footpath along the coastline road, until Ballygalley. After that, it was a downfall, downpour, I don't know how to call it. Hours of huge rains. And nowhere to shelter. I realised it was really heavy rain when I saw the sheep trying to shelter under a bush! If even for them it's too much ... I walk along the road, no footpath, nothing to see, just walk, and nowhere to stop (no town, no gas station, nothing). My stuff is waterproof, but not for hours of rain, it was like I left everything under the shower. So in the middle of the afternoon, I changed my plan, impossible to sleep in the tent at night, I needed a dry and warm place, as I really started to get cold. So I booked in an emergency an AirBnB in Carnlough, and try to walk there as fast as possible. Until that moment, I didn't realise how much my primary needs have always been supplied. In the Maslow pyramids of needs, the primary needs are air, water, food, heat, rest, etc. Apart from air and water, I realised how much food, heat and rest were important to satisfy. In Glenarm, 2 people stopped to ask me if I wanted a lift. One of them was a woman, who saw me earlier that day going in the same direction as me, and just thought "poor walker with that rain", and when she came back, she saw I was a female, so she decided to turn back to help me. She was really concerned about my situation, she was really worried about me, and wanted to be sure I was not going to camp, and that I had enough money to pay for my AirBnB. It was really kind, and it warmed my heart. Finally, it stopped raining just before I reached Carnlough. But even with the strong wind, my hands couldn't dry. Not my gloves, my own skin couldn't dry!

I was very lucky to find Maggs. The house was warm, and I could dry my stuff. I don't know what was the best: the hot shower which got me warm again, or the delicious chilli con carne she cooked me? In fact, it was exactly what I needed after such an awful day. You can't realise the importance of a safe house if you don't experience the outside wild elements.