Letters to my solitary hiking sisters*

Why letters?

The base of this project is an about 5-day long DIY-trail near Helsinki. Each hiking day has its own topic. They deal with the obstacles Flinta* experience when it’s about “hiking alone” as well as the wide spectrum of hiking as a joyful and empowering feminist practice

(You can click on the trail chapters to get an insight through quote collections)

I filled these chapters with what I found in my research and my own experience. The idea of the project is to encourage to go hiking alone, but on the other hand it should offer a space to connect with others and share thoughts and experiences on these topics.

As writing is also an essential part of the whole project, I caught fire for the idea of collecting these different experiences as letters. That also those can share their experiences and ideas, who just hiked the trail alone without taking part in a group workshop.

A letter template gives all the letters a common structure, asking questions on the trail experience and on own thoughts about the connected topics. Still the letter concept gives the writers much more freedom in answering these questions through expressing thoughts in a more creative way of writing, than for example listing points in different categories of the website.

For sure, it will take more time. (For sure, it will bring much more joy? :))

It means going back to the hiking memories, revising the own notes from the hiking diary and the results of the reflection template/workshop after the hike. I couldn’t have been happier when these first solitary hiking sisters* immediately understood and felt the idea of the letters also in the “alone but together” context.

If the idea works out, they also will get in the future letters from other solitary hiking sisters* who hiked the trail after them and also have read their letters. I would collect the letters on the project homepage and inform the former solitary hiking sisters* via mail, when a new letter arrives – or sent the letter even per post! And of course also other people are invited to read this different experiences and thoughts framed by the trail and letter-template structure.

Soon you will find here the first letters telling about the hike from different perspectives ❤