Jo Neame

After months spent training at home I finally had the opportunity to travel this summer! As someone who is very used to living out of a suitcase going between comps, the prospect of spending summer at home did not fill me with joy, so when some mates asked if I wanted to join them on a climbing and scuba diving trip to Croatia, I didn’t hesitate to book my ticket. Paklenica may not be as well known as some other European sport climbing destinations, but it certainly has a lot to offer. I have always focused primarily on indoor climbing, following a busy training schedule which over the years has given me little time to get outdoors. However, with the competition season as good as cancelled this year, I’ve spent lockdown transferring my skills to rock. Before going to Paklenica, all my trips have been performance focussed-not what you’d exactly call a ‘holiday’, but rather an opportunity to show how my training had paid off. For this trip I decided to adopt the mindset of wanting to c...

So as you all may have noticed, I haven’t written on this blog for a long time, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been focusing on my studies at uni. With the very weird situation going on, I’ve decided, as I’m sure many others have, to rekindle an old hobby-blog writing! As someone who is used to and enjoys a very regimented, busy training schedule (and life in general), I have struggled to adapt my lifestyle but I feel that in the days that have already passed I have learnt some lessons about myself and the way I live. My family home is in London, but I decided to stay in student halls in Leeds during this period as my family and I felt that travelling to the hub of the virus didn’t seem to make sense at this time and, being the outdoorsy person that I am, I felt it would be better for me psychologically and physically to be near larger green spaces for my single daily exercise. I miss my parents and sister, but I also appreciate the time I have spent getting to know myself! Below ...