AWESOME

Back at my desk, I feel restless; not for the buzz of the city, but for the quiet of the country. I’m in luck. Some friends invite me on a Scottish road trip that will cost me three days of annual leave and a flight to Glasgow. We hire a van big enough for the six of us and our suitcases, and plot a route we can cycle, kayak and hike. And I spend the following days in a state of bemused wonder at the beauty on our doorstep. Mountains that disappear into the mist and sea as blue as the Seychelles. The feeling is awe, and it’s potent stuff. It’s a mind-body emotion, triggered by something vast, that transcends your frame of reference. Like love, you know it when you feel it; and here, I feel it in my bones. Aside from the physiological response (awe is the emotion most likely to give you goosebumps) studies suggest it can root you to the present, improve your creativity and even break habitual patterns of thinking – music to the ears of this anxious mind. But the truly awesome thing about awe is that it isn’t a fleeting feeling; it lingers long after you’ve washed down your walking boots and returned to reality. Researchers at Stanford University in California found that experiencing awe once was enough to make people feel as though they had more time, and made them more willing to help others. Like the Scottish mountain that’s now my screensaver, awe serves as a reminder that there’s a big wide world beyond the walls of your mind. Back home again, I start plotting my home-grown minibreaks with the urgency of an addict in search of a fix. Coasteering in Pembrokeshire, sailing in Norfolk and swimming in the Lake District. No trip costs me more than a train fare or a tank of petrol, or lasts more than a few days. And yet, each time, I return more rested, more rejuvenated and more like myself than I ever did after a fortnight on a Spanish sunlounger.