By: Blonde Two

How’s your summer going? So far ours has been pretty busy.

I’d like to teach the world to navigate

It’s been great fun though. In the month of July alone, we’ve taught over forty ladies (and one brave chap) how to navigate using a map and compass. We’ve also been on one hilarious wild camping expedition (definitely the most laughing we’ve done in ages) with two lovely and well-travelled London clients. (We now understand why butt protectors and fanny packs are so important!)

Navigation and wild camping tips

On our navigation and wild camping courses we’ve taught all the usual skills. You know the type of thing:

  1. How to use a compass.
  2. How to wee behind a bush.
  3. How to recognise where other people have been weeing behind bushes.
  4. How to brush your teeth outdoors.
  5. How to tell the difference between ‘north-ish’ and ‘east-ish’.
  6. How to keep cool in the heat.
  7. How to keep dry in the rain.
  8. How to find a banana peel tree (which, by the way, is the only place it’s okay to leave a banana peel).
  9. How to tell the difference between a footpath and a bridleway.
  10. How to use a rubble sack (there are at least a million ways).

Outdoor learning – together

We’ve also learned lots of really useful and lovely things from our clients. We now know:

  1. How to make sure you get a seat on the London Tube.
  2. Where to find the best ice cream in Bovey Tracey.
  3. How to take the Dartmoor Explorer bus from Exeter to Tavistock.
  4. The ups and downs of having a public footpath that crosses your farm.
  5. What life was like growing up on the edge of Dartmoor in the 1970s.
  6. That mother and daughter adventures can go on well into your 80s.
  7. How listed building status can make a difference to home ownership.
  8. That it’s possible to run a farm, have a job, bring up a family, and still go walking with friends every Monday.
  9. That one German word for contour lines is Höhenlinien (height lines).
  10. That you can be a great navigator even if you struggle to see the map without your glasses.

The outdoors is for everybody

Perhaps most importantly we’ve learned that, when you take even the most diverse group of people outside, it doesn’t take very long at all to find things in common, and start working together. No matter what our age, no matter where we come from, the outdoors is good for us. Which is just one reason why we Blondes love being Ordnance Survey GetOutside Champions so much!

 

Learn to navigate with the Two Blondes

We’ve almost finished our summer round of navigation and wild camping courses for 2021 but also offer bespoke sessions. If you can get a group together or fancy some individual tuition, do feel free to get in touch.