The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Sunday 28 April 2013

Two Journeys to Follow

I do like following a blog of someone who is on a long journey, and two of my favourite bloggers are currently obliging me by setting off on new adventures. If you’re partial to following a journey yourself (which I assume you are, if you’re reading this blog!), then I would recommend that you take a look at what they’re up to.

First off there’s Erin (who goes by the trail name ‘Wired’), who in her quest to do the Triple Crown, has just set out on the Continental Divide Trail. It was entirely thanks to the inspiration of Erin’s blog that we came to walk 500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail last year. She thru-hiked the trail in 2011 and wrote such a compelling blog that even though I didn’t come across it until she was approaching half way through, I went back and read right from the beginning. By the time she finished, she had me completely sold on going and taking a first hand look at part of what she’d just walked. Aside from writing well and including lots of detail about what she’s experiencing, she includes plenty of photos and, every few weeks she uploads video snippets she has taken too. I can’t think of another blog which gives such a good impression about what the trail, and what thru-hiking, is really like.

Then there’s Sarah Outen, who is in the middle of her ‘London to London: Via the World’ expedition. In 2009 she became the first woman (and the youngest, at 24) to row the Indian Ocean and her blog was a treat to read. Then, in 2011 she set out to circumnavigate the world under her own power. She kayaked across the channel, cycled from France to the east coast of Russia and then kayaked across to Japan. After a break over winter, she set out from Japan last spring to become the first woman to row the North Pacific but came a cropper in a tropical storm that saw her rescued by the Coast Guard. Her boat was lost. She’s obviously not a quitter though (and, equally clearly, must be slightly mad!), and with a new boat she’s been patiently awaiting a suitable weather window to resume her round-the-world adventure. The weather window opened on Saturday and it took her just two attempts to get away from land. Fingers crossed that the weather is kinder to her this time, but it’s certain to be far from a walk in a park (I mean, really, can you imagine rowing across any ocean, never mind the North Pacific?).

 

Go on, click on their names and take a look!

5 comments:

  1. They put our measly little wanderings to shame. (“Our" does not include yours btw).

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    1. In my opinion, these two make even our long walks look like little outings! All the more blogging-on-the-go for me to enjoy :-)

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  2. I love going on all these virtual adventures, especially as I'll never go on anything like these!

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  3. Thank you so much for sharing these links. I always enjoy reading about grand adventures like these because it always seems to motivate me to do more and push harder. I agree with Alan, these stories have the potential to put our outings to shame but I love the inspiration they provide.

    Thanks again for sharing!

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  4. Great stuff, thanks for the links, I too love reading these accounts. Have you seen the New Nomads blog: http://thenewnomads.com/ She's currently hiking the PCT and writes well and with passion.

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