One Swallow Doesn't Make Summer...(Or Does it?)

 As tomorrow is the first day of a new month, which is February, I have started feeling nostalgic about the warmer days to come. 'Already?’ you ask. Technically it is still deep winter and we have just had a wonderfully snowy twist in the British weather, too. But we are still under lockdown rules and, without being able to go out or travel anywhere, days blend together into long, indistinct chunks and time, though seemingly passing very slowly, one, two, three click and it really does fly!

I find it quite interesting about the 'One swallow doesn't make summer' proverb, too (which is my blog title today). In Polish, we have exactly the same one, but it translates to ‘One swallow doesn't make spring'. Are Polish people a little more logical, thinking about spring first after winter, or are British people more impatient, hop skipping forward all the way to the summer? I am wondering what other languages do about the first hints of warm weather. Let me know in the comments below.

I have always been a 'planner'. I love sitting there with my laptop and a notebook and researching many ideas for trips, holidays and adventures. I am lucky. My mom lives in Krakow and even though I missed out on last year's summer trip there, I am definitely going this year. I have already booked tickets and I am going to start in Krakow and we are then going to my beloved Polish mountains, staying for eleven days in Szcawnica, which is right next to the border with Slovakia. It's a truly magical place for bike rides (proper hill training), hikes, walks, sunbathing and marvellous food, lots of it! This trip is definitely going ahead and I cannot wait!

My other project is to go on a trip to Georgia. I have never been and it looks out-of-this-world stunning. This would be a mountain biking adventure, 6 days of cycling and wild camping. The only thing I have to wait for is for the flight situation to settle a little, as many airlines cancelled less popular flights and, at the moment there aren't any flights to Georgia from the UK, so the trip would be very long for me. Hopefully, give it two months, and the situation will be manageable. 

The nearer in time adventure is booked with Primal Bushcraft and Survival in Scotland. I won a day course on Instagram and decided to make a longer adventure out of it. No one goes to Scotland for a day, hey? So I have booked into a local B&B and am planning to do some awesome cycling and hiking while over there. Obviously any suggestions are very welcome. I will be staying in the Stirling area.

Can you empathise with looking at the same webpage every single day with your finger just hovering over the 'add to basket' button? I am sure we all have been there...Well, Canyon Grail, is an obsession of mine. I really want it, and the only reason I am so hesitant is that the waiting time is till mid-June! But I want it now, but I can't have it now, so my browsing history is monotonously the same and my fingers hurt from hovering...Shall I just bite the bullet and click 'buy'? I feel like an addict, working on my laptop and getting distracted by just another 'quick' look at the Grail, just another little peek, then I am checking the reviews on Road.cc and Bikeradar for the nth time and an hour later...oh no...I was supposed to send THAT email. Help!

Last thought for this chaos of nostalgic plans and speculations. I went out on my bike a couple of days ago and noticed three things that jolted me into thinking winter is on its way out:

1. I saw some daffodil shoots (not flowering yet, but...)

2. I saw some snowdrops blooming

3. The birds in the hedges were particularly noisy

I haven't seen a swallow yet, but is spring closer than I thought?