And doing our hiking properly!

Just 30 years ago, hiking had a certain sense of mustiness about it. The term "hiker" conjured up an image of someone who couldn't afford a beach getaway to the Caribbean or even conceive of a city break to somewhere like New York. Someone who wore knee-length shorts and spent each morning by the hotel buffet breakfast slyly sneaking bread and cheese into their rucksack – once carefully wrapped in several layers of paper napkins, of course.

Well, things have changed. Sandwiches in backpacks are still a thing (we'll even make some for you if you ask us to), but what's changed is ... hiking is cool now. A hiker is someone who knows how to enjoy life, who loves nature and who travels for miles without leaving a carbon footprint. It's certainly the most sustainable way to travel. Hiking is in!

And just because there's always someone who likes to take things too far, we now all seem to have a couple in our friendship group that takes their walking just that little bit too seriously. And it's almost enough to make you want to hang up your hiking boots and stay indoors. For them, it's not about the fun of the hike. It's all about the challenge, the ticking off of routes and the discipline. They're all about multi-day extreme hikes with overnight stays in cramped communal dorm rooms where the smell's part of the fun. They consider the hikes other people do as mere strolls. "Ah, you were in The Lake District, were you? How cute. Yeah, we used to do that. We've actually just completed an intense trans-Alpine crossing. We started in Norway. And ended in Chile."

It was the German author Arno Schmidt who said: "The world is big enough for us to all get things wrong on it." How true! We're so pleased that the part of this big world that we call home is a place where the mountains would be considered hills by our hiking addict friends. Our highest peak, The Puig Major is 1,445 meters tall. Some may sneer at that. But for us, it's plenty tall enough. Especially as from this point, set in the stunning Tramuntana Mountains, it's possible to simply bask in the glory of nature as you walk, climb and scramble – without needing to be too ambitious. From a short walk to an 8-hour hike, there are several routes available – no communal sleeping required! But for those who like a bit of community, there's always our pool-side bar for a spot of companionship after a day's walking. There's plenty of room there – and far nicer smells too!