what am I doing.....?
My plan is to walk each of the 15 National Trails in England and Wales in turn, covering a total of 4000km, over about a 12 month period ending in September 2010.
The National Trails are long distance routes for walking, cycling and horse riding through the finest landscapes in England and Wales. In Scotland the equivalent trails are called long distance routes. I've chosen to walk these as they cover all corners of the UK, are well mapped and signposted and will generally be easier and quicker to navigate than wandering around moorland with a compass would be. My aim is to cover miles rather than test my navigation skills!
I walk alone - not because I have no friends (I think!) but because I just enjoy walking alone where one can set one's own pace and if you don't make it somewhere on time or you start late in the morning, then it's nobody's fault but your own! To keep myself amused I'm generally plugged into my iPod listening to mostly awful 80s music.
I intend to be self supporting and self sufficient, camping wherever I can or using bunkhouses, the YHA or B&Bs where I can't.
I will be using my annual leave allocation, post deployment leave and any gash time I can get off work (!) to complete all the walks.
