How I decided to hike — up, down and (almost) over the hill — on France’s newest long-distance walk

Not many people can afford a midlife crisis these days. Even fewer admit to having one. The very term, coined by Canadian psychoanalyst Elliott Jaques in 1965, feels anachronistic. When 50 is the new 40 and some 40-year-olds are only just setting out on the mission of motherhood or staying resolutely single and giving themselves permission to be who they are, it’s no wonder the phrase, now so much harder to define, has dropped out of common parlance. It’s cringe. Embarrassing. Definitely awkward. I didn’t want to admit it either. But tell me then, what do you call it when you feel impelled to challenge yourself, to break out of the comfort zone that is home ownership, an established career and grown-up children, to do something totally different with your life? How do you explain that urge to abandon all responsibility save for the duty to put one foot in front of another and, day after day, to head out into the great unknown? Travel? Yes. Adventure? Certainly. But more than that. Giving up the UGGs for hiking boots and surrendering the down duvet and mattress protector for a sleeping bag and a rolled-up puffer jacket was far more than that. To some friends it seemed like madness. To me and my partner James, it sounded like freedom. <a href="https://medium.com/@claire.mccall/how-i-decided-to-hike-up-down-and-almost-over-the-hill-on-frances-newest-long-distance-walk-e25cf816bf35">Website</a>