Seven-hour ordeal.

I'm writing this having just woken up from almost a seven-hour migraine ordeal.

I've suffered from migraines from an early age, I think I must have been around 12 when I started getting migraines. Apparently I've had a doubtful pleasure of inheriting it from the female members of my family. And so for over ten years now, I have a recurring experience of what my mum describes as "a headaches that make your eyes stick to the back of your head". It doesn't sound particularly nice, does it?

People who don't get migraines cannot really understand how debilitating the pain is. It's not a normal headache that you can treat with plenty of water and paracetamol. I'm always annoyed at people advising me to 'take something for it'. I freaking DID, but migraines are such that they are super resistant towards painkillers.

I terms of migraine remedies I tried pretty much everything, from lying down on cold bathroom tiles, through ice packs, cold and hot showers, baths, drinking water, sleeping in a dark room, to all sort of preventive and ad hoc medications. I'm at the point that I slowly come to terms with the pain as simply a part of my life, but I still have days when I'm simply in tears, asking myself why I need to go through all of this.

Not only is the pain unbearable, but the migraine actually interferes with your whole life. You can't eat, walk, read, exercise, cook. What is left is just sleep, or trying to get to sleep. Hence you miss a lot of days of work and study, while you'd really rather get on with your life.

There is currently no cure for migraine, but I am hopeful. I've been on preventive medicine for a while now and it seems to be working in general, I definitely have less migraines than before. My migraine tracker (yes, it's a thing, and is really helpful) says that I went on for over a month without a migraine which is a good score for me. But I'm waiting for the future without migraines. When I won't need to worry if I wake up to a terrible pain or not.

In the meantime, I just need to be reasonable about everything I do and think about what I eat and when, how much sleep I get and whether I'm becoming too stressed or not. It's a lot to think about when you're go about your normal life. But that's the only way for now.

Walking.

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Every time I go for a walk I discover yet another thing to think about before my big walk, which is TOMORROW. I've sorted out my boots, socks, leggings and a raincoat.

I bought a backpack with a bladder, which is like a water pouch with a long flexible straw. I've been walking with a water bottle so far, and reaching into a backpack every single time I need a drink (and it is rather often, I'm a thirsty person) is just not convenient at all. I've opted for 18L backpack, seems like an optimum capacity for the day. It holds my 2L bladder, a raincoat and a stash of food for the day.

It might not be the fancier backpack out there, and the packing solution is not the most efficient, but it will do, and I've grabbed it in TKMaxx for £20, so cheap and cheerful ;) But I'll probably upgrade to something better in summer.

Food planning is a complicated aspect of the day's logistics. My favourite snack is peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches: the nut butters gives good energy and the cucumber is refreshing. Dried apricots are a must, plus a high protein bar. Don't forget a banana. The worse possible thing that could happen is that I RUN OUT OF FOOD. That would  be simply tragic. So most of my backpack's weight will be snacks to get me through those 26.5 miles.

We're supposed to have perfect weather tomorrow, so I'm packing sun cream as well. I burn so easily that the whole day in sun without protection would be simply silly. At least it's not supposed to rain, it would be so grim to walk in the rain.

Last but not least, I'm packing a battery pack in case my phone runs out of power before the end of the day.

Tomorrow the day starts after 5am, because I need to pick a few people up from around Newport before making our way to the start of the walk. I'm not sure how I'll survive 14 hours that will follow, but let's hope for the best. I think I'll be too excited to think about the tiredness. 

I'll be posting walk updates tomorrow, so watch out for those on my Facebook page!

Down the slope.

This is the view onto Lake Tahoe. Absolutely stunning. Both from above and when you're right at the edge of the water. A truly peaceful place.

It's somewhat ironic that we went skiing in the sunny state of California, but the skiing season was still on in Heavenly. We were lucky that it was Friday and the slopes were not busy, so there was plenty of time for skiing. I was a bit apprehensive, because even though I started skiing when I was about six, it was a good few years since I went down the slope.

I really loved the beach: it reminded me of the Island. I'm in this phase that I only like things that resemble the Island - it seems that I've assimilated into the Islander community now. But in any case Lake Tahoe was so beautiful, with crystal clear water, wonderfully yellow sand and calming little waves. It's a shame it wasn't warm enough for a swim. It would have been absolutely amazing.

And I've found a diner which has satisfied my cravings for hash browns and sour cream. The trip was truly complete with this glorious post-skiing meal.

Most pictures were taken by the most precious Mr Magic. :)

The Bay Area.

San Francisco Bay Area spans over the region of San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay. It encompasses the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and smaller cities such as Palo Alto, Mountain View and Santa Clara. It is the home to Facebook, Google and Stanford University.

In my Californian explorations, I've made my way to all three and even managed to get to the Computer History Musem. It is truly wonderful, with hundreds of exhibits, but I was a bit overwhelmed by all of it.

Luckily, twice a day there is a guided tour. Alex, a volunteer and computer geek, was so helpful in explaining the main revolutionary points in the history of computing. Highly informative and finally I got it!

Not to mention the amazing store there...

Now, Mountain View is the home of Google, so my trip would not be complete if I didn't make it to the Android Statutes.

Hop over to Menlo Park and you arrive at Facebook headquarters.

Stanford University is also relatively close by and I recommend joining one of the walking tours led by Stanford students. Even though the tour was filled with prospective applicants and was heavy on the topics relating to admission, it was nonetheless really interesting. The campus is huge and full of lovely spots. I only wish I had more time to just explore and sit around reading.

On a just a fun note, there is California's Great America here which is essentially a fun park filled with different rides. An interesting way to spend my first alternative Easter.

That's it for now! Till next time when I tell you about Lake Tahoe and skiing near the border with Nevada.