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Autumn Microadventure Ideas across the UK

 

Just because the summer holidays are over, don’t think that’s the end of your adventures for another year. If there is one single thing that stops people living as adventurously as they dream of doing, it is the perception that making adventures happen is difficult. But you really do not need a lot of time, money, specialist equipment or expertise to have an adventure. You do not need to live in the Highlands of Scotland to have wilderness excitement on your doorstep. You do not need to cycle all the way round the world or row across an ocean to have an adventure. Because you can have a microadventure.

Microadventures are a way of fitting adventure into busy lives. They are cheap, simple, short experiences that you can fit into a weekend. Adventures, in other words, that you might actually get round to doing.

Summit to sea Microadventure

Here’s a taste of 5 late summer microadventure ideas:

ENGLAND:

Cycling the perimeter of Rutland, England’s smallest county, is a classic microadventure. The hardest part of any microadventure is persuading yourself to get out the front door and begin. After that, the rest is easy. It doesn’t particularly matter where you go: just doing something new, going somewhere different is a guaranteed way to create adventures and good memories. The idea of ‘arbitrary journeys’ is ideal for this. Just think of an excuse to head from A to B and you’ve done the hard part.

Catch a train to Stamford early one Saturday morning (there are fewer bicycle restrictions on trains on Saturdays). You’ll start and finish in this pretty market town. Use OS Getamap to print the maps you’ll need in advance. You don’t have to follow the border precisely: you are only using it as an excuse to explore places you have never been before. Head north on Stamford Road towards Little Bytham just to get out of town. After that, it’s up to you!

Eat in cafes or pubs along the way (Rutland boasts two Michelin-starred restaurants and – even more impressively – zero McDonalds). The joy of adventure is to discover things for yourself, but if you prefer a little planning then the Rutland Food Trail will get you drooling. The Blue Ball pub in Braunston has been a popular stop-off for travellers for four centuries.

Pack a bivvy bag rather than a tent (the cheap, minimal, humble, slightly silly bivvy bag is the key ingredient to every microadventure). Sleep wild rather than in a boring, formal campground when you’re about half way round the county. With politeness, a smile, a bit of discretion and leaving no trace behind, nobody minds you kipping unobtrusively in a leafy wood or on a grassy hilltop.

If you are riding anti-clockwise then on day two you’ll be near the River Welland which forms the county border in the south east. Keep your eyes peeled for a quiet spot to enjoy a refreshing dip as you savour cycling 70 quiet miles through the heart of England.

Hammock in the Woods

WALES:

Early autumn is the warmest time of year for wild swimming in the UK. It’s also less crowded at some of Britain’s outdoor honeypots. So this is a great time to swim up Snowdon. Snowdon might be the highest mountain in Wales, but it’s also a superb area for wild swimming. Combining climbing the peak with swimming across (or at least in) the series of small lakes and tarns along the way adds an enjoyable extra element to the climb. Park at the Pen-y-Pass carpark and the path will take you past three different tarns. Tow your gear behind you in a Chillswim dry bag. Pack a towel to dry off between each dip as you change from swimming costume back into your trekking clothes.

If you’d like someone to organise or accompany you on this microadventure, get in touch with Gabs Dickinson whose company goneswimming.co.uk can help organise this trip for you.

A Night on a Hill

NORTHERN IRELAND:

Lough Neagh is the biggest lake in the United Kingdom and remarkably unexplored. Beginning near Toome on the north shore, you’ll see more wildlife than people along stretches of this peaceful paddle towards the sea along the Lower Bann Canoe Trail. You can do this paddle in two days, though three would be more relaxed. An important aspect of microadventures is to work around any obstacles that might otherwise prevent you from making the adventure happen. Canoes, even if you happen to own one, are a hassle to transport and organise. So make use of a canoe hire company to keep things simple. Outdoor Concepts hire canoes for £35 a day, and also have tents and camping stoves available (http://www.outdoorconcepts.co.uk/what-we-do/equipment-rental.php). Paddle along lough and river before making a quiet, undisturbed camp for the night. You’ll get a majestic sense of calm, of big skies and open water. In other words, you’ll have an adventure.

Welsh Mountains through the clouds. Amazing afternoon light on them.

SCOTLAND:

Scotland is the wildest and emptiest corner of the British Isles. You enjoy the right to roam and are allowed to wild camp more or less wherever you like (in essence anywhere away from people where you are not causing any bother). It is microadventure heaven. Instead of picking a wilderness wonder like Knoydart or Suilven, I’m going to suggest either the Pentland Hills or the Campsie Fells. These hills are extremely accessible from Edinburgh or Glasgow respectively. Take a bus out of town (these ones for Pentlands; the number X85 to Lennoxtown for the Campsies) and breath in the fresh air. It’s about an hour’s stiff hike to the tops of the fells. Take a breather at the summit and look back down at the city, marvelling at how easy it was to escape from the city, how wild it feels where you are, how beautiful the city lights look down there as you snuggle down into your bivvy bag. Celebrate that this genuine sense of adventure, peace and escape is so easily achieved – even on a midweek work night – and resolve that you’ll do this again, and soon.

Winter Solstice Microadventure

NEAR LONDON:

Life in Britain can often seem disproportionately skewed in favour of those living in the South East of the country. But wilderness areas is one exception. Millions of people who live around London may lament the lack of wild places and the need to trek for hours to reach anywhere adventurous.

But that need not be the case with a microadventure. If you are looking for a quick burst of peace, beauty and wilderness then you can easily find that within an hour or so of London. Catch the train down to Eastbourne then walk along the easily accessible coastal path towards the Seven Sisters. Follow signs for the South Downs Way to get out of town and up onto the cliffs. It’s all beautiful, but if you walk for about 5 miles you’ll reach Birling Gap. Take a disposable barbecue and a pack of sausages to sizzle on the pebbly beach there for the absolutely perfect late summer experience. The downland around Beachy Head is beautiful, a fabulous antidote to London rush hour, and just itching for you to unfurl your bivvy bag to watch the sun set after a dip in the sea beneath those beautiful cliffs. Magic.

Microadventures do not require much planning or expertise. The only difficult thing is to rustle up a few friends, or a reluctant spouse and kids, and say that ‘œnext weekend we are going to do something different and adventurous.’ You don’t need a lot of gear, it is safe, simple and harmless. And it might just be the most memorable weekend you have this year.

This article originally featured on the Guardian

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Comments

  1. These ideas have inspired me! Autumn is my favourite time of year, I’m really excited to leave the comforts of our Sprinter van (mobile cabin) and bivi under the stars for the night this coming week.

    Reply

 
 

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