Who is Jo? Founder of Tide and Trail UK and Mental Health Swims, West Kirby. Open water swim coach, general outdoors enthusiast and community advocate! Freelance public affairs consultant.
How did you become inspired by sober living? I was inspired by the need to change my lifestyle and make the most of the time we're given on earth to enjoy it more! I was living in London when I gave up alcohol - I had developed an increasing dependency on drinking through tough times which didn't align well with an increasing desire to get out into nature after 12 years of city living. So on 1 Jan 2018 I gave booze as a test for a year, and haven't looked back since. I read the Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray the week before I made my decision which was the final piece of inspiration I needed to choose sobriety.
What is your favourite sober experience? Life now is my favourite sober experience! I recently went freelance so I can put more of my time and passion for supporting communities to engage in the outdoors, by setting up my own initiative last month - Tide and Trail UK. I wouldn't have had the mental or physical capacity to do this if I had still been reliant on alcohol so while starting a business is tough, I've never felt so clear on this being right (even if it doesn't work out!).
How do you connect with the outdoors? Open water and mountains. I'm not great at meditation but mindfulness for me is looking at blue dots and lines on OS maps to find a decent swim spot and then combining it with a hike or trail run. I also love the sea and am lucky to be based on the Wirral coast so the River Dee has been a lifeline for me. I have founded a small and enthusiastic community of sea swimmers and dippers through the amazing Mental Health Swims charity so I get to connect with people and the outdoors which is pure joy.
Where are you heading next? I've just recently returned from a three-day hike in the Cairngorms with a hardy pal - we wild camped using bothies for shelter and summited several monroes including two of the UK's highest peaks on the first day(Ben Macdui and Cairn Gorm). It was an amazing adventure over some tough terrain and huge ascents, on our first night we had to help with a mountain rescue which was a reminder of how remote the landscape was but to be in it was a true privilege. My next trip will be a couple of days in the Rhinogydd - a remoter mountain range in South Snowdonia which has some incredible lakes for swimming that can only be reached on foot. It's sometimes overlooked in favour of the better-known northern part of Snowdonia but the landscape is rugged and beautiful, I'm going to be recceing it as part of swim-hike experiences I hope to offer in future.
-Jo
You can follow Jo’s adventures here.
