So why undertake a journey like this?
So many reasons, all of which weave themselves into a single conviction…
- For the joy of it!
- For the freedom and the solitude;
- For the beauty, majesty, and variety of the Scottish and English countryside;
- For the plenitude, complexity and variety of English beer, and of the hostelries which purvey it;
- To mark my 60th birthday and the transition from one stage of my life to the next;
- To find out whether I still have the strength, will, or sheer belligerence to see the challenge through;
- For the gratitude of living out in myself the connection (both physical and metaphorical) between a distant, remote, and wild place, on the edge of beyond, and a known, loved, and warm place, which is also home.
And I have created this website because I want to share my experience with my friends, with people I meet on my way, and with anyone, who, for one reason or another, is curious.
Am I doing it for charity?
When I decided to attempt the walk, I was absolutely certain I did not want to make anyone feel obliged to give to a charity in which they may have no interest. In any case, I am doing it for reasons already explained; I believe I would be being dishonest to turn the journey into a fund-raising exercise. However, I am a trustee of a small charity called the Guild of Pastoral Psychology. We host talks, on a wide variety of subjects which occupy the borderland between Jungian depth psychology and spirituality. If anything about my walk inspires you, you may like to look around the Guild’s website, and if a talk looks interesting, please join us.