Dear Diary. Today was a hike I'd organised. In the morning I nervously looked at my phone to see how many people were coming, and the RSVP list had 8 people coming and 2 maybes.

"So it looks like I have 8 people coming to my hike," I noted to Girlfriend.

"I don't want to hear any more about your hike!" she snapped. (I talk to her a lot about event organisation stuff. Probably too much.)

I set out for the hike. As I was walking there, I realised I'd need to give a speech, something to explain who I was and what the hike was about. Nervously, I pulled out my phone, opened ChatGPT, and typed, "I’m about to lead a hike. Can you tell me what I should say before the start of the hike?"

In seconds, ChatGPT produced a polished 200-word speech. I skimmed through it:

"In case of emergencies, my phone number is [number], and I have a basic first-aid kit with me.'"

I didn’t have a first-aid pack.

"If you have any allergies or medical conditions I should know about, feel free to tell me privately before we start."

Why would I tell that to people? Any first-aid I’d attempt might end up killing them!

I arrived at the starting point outside a café, where a large group was already gathered, chatting. It was surreal. There were around 30 people. I greeted a few people, including Sofia, a Greek woman I’d made a community admin a couple of weeks ago.

After waiting 20 minutes for latecomers, I could tell people were getting restless. It was time to give the speech to start the hike. By the way, this week I’ve lost my voice. Two days ago I sounded like Dumbledore gasping, “Water, Harry,” in The Half-Blood Prince. Today I sound like Roz the receptionist from Monsters, Inc.

“Guys? Guys!” I waved my arms and croaked. A few people turned, but most kept chatting. “Guys! Over here!”

Eventually, everyone was watching me. “Hi guys, I’m Paul from Girona Buddies. Sorry about my voice, I’ve got a cold. But it’s great to see so many people here today! We’ve never had this many people at an event before. In fact, it's a new record. So thank you for all coming.”

People started spontaneously clapping. It felt good. But I still wished a real organiser would show up and take over from me.

“Today, we’re hiking up Sant Miquel mountain," I continued. "It's a 5 kilometers to the top, which should take about an hour a half, and then we'll have lunch at the castle at the top. Then we'll head back down and we should be home for 3 PM. By the way, I’ve never actually organized a hike before, or even done this hike before.” People laughed. “If anyone knows the way, feel free to lead!”

I had the hike route in my phone just in case but there an English man called John who had done the hike before, and he led the way with his Strave app on his smartwatch.

We reached the top of the mountain around 1 PM. I asked someone to take a group photo, but everyone looked sad in the shot. So the guy taking the photo said, “Everyone, put your hands like this!” Everyone put their hands up and suddenly they were all smiling and happy. I should’ve asked that guy to be the official photographer from now on.

We got back at almost 3 PM, like I thought we would. Overall, today's been a huge success. I counted and I think we were 30 people after all! One woman even told me it was her favourite event so far.

Maybe 30 people to one event if the new norm of the Girona Buddies. Or maybe this is the peak and it's all a painful decline from here. Either way, I organised I hike today.