Coast to Coast

Seven Sisters trail

The magical thing about living in the United Kingdom is that it doesn’t really matter where you live in a couple of hours, you can find yourself at the seaside. Quite typical for the UK coast is sandstone cliffs whit stunning greens head, and a couple of months ago, I happened to be on top of one of them.

If you are a hiking maniac like me, you have to make this iconic trail long for about 13 miles. I started my journey in Seaburn, where I obviously walked 30 minutes in an opposite direction than I was supposed to. Honestly, sometimes I wonder how it is possible that a person with my ability to get lost in London underground can survive out there and so far came back from each trail with just slight injuries.

After I found out my error and set the right direction towards Eastbourne, I happened to end somehow in the cow’s stockyard had to climb over the fence, which made my shoes terribly wet. After a 40-minute walk, I could see the beginning of Seven Sister national park, and since this trail was set up for a massive fail from very beginning, I had to make another colossal error which almost jeopardised the whole journey. As I was getting closer to the Cuckmere Haven beach, I could already see that there was quite a bit of water where I wanted to cross over.

So standing in front of freezing cold water facing two choices:

A) cross over what the heck you are doing Wim Hof methods anyway, so what’s the harm?

B) don’t be lazy and go around for about 1 km or 2 (not sure how much was it at the end)

I decided to go for Wim Hof methods and cut my foot almost instantly. Have I had a first aid kit? Of course not. Moses might cross the red sea, but I didn’t manage even 30 meters of the North sea. Advice don’t be lazy and go around straight away, and you will save time and pain.

After I was doomed to walk in pain, the rest of the trail I could give up the nearest bus stop was just about 30 minutes from my injury spot, but I supposed giving up wasn’t in my vocabulary that day. A sharp pain followed each step when I couldn’t focus on anything else for the first two hours. Call me a masochist, but I really do believe that we are the most alive in moments like this. It is a constant battle with your head…just one more step, and you can give up all over again—one sister behind six more to go. And just like that, I made it to the finish.

If you want to have the trail for yourself, set on the road early morning on weekdays instead of a weekend, the autumn season also seems better than spring/summer. And remember to enjoy the journey with astonishing views regardless of whether.