Walking home for Christmas

You do not need lots of money, time or expertise to have a decent adventure.

All you need is curiosity, wanderlust, a willingness to explore new places (physical, mental or cultural) and to push your own boundaries.

I really believe that you can achieve many of the benefits of an epic journey by taking yourself off on a “micro-adventure”. Adventures are all around you, if you’re only willing to look on the normal world a bit differently. That’s why I have included this page on the site.

Last year I spent Christmas with my wife’s family for the first time. I decided that it would be fun to walk there, rather than travelling by car or train.

So I got up early and started walking. After 9 hours of walking through the pretty depressing landscapes of East London, I made it out to Kent with a suitably Christmas-sized appetite!

I documented my walk through photographs and through live Twitter updates which I used to force myself to keep observing, keep thinking, keep learning even as I grew tired and my feet began to hurt.

• Heading out my front door. I’m walking home for Xmas.
• The first grey of dawn. Walking past MI6 at Vauxhall.
• Commuters whizz past on bikes. Hmm… Perhaps I should have ridden?
• Big Ben peals 8am. London’s streets are quiet this morning.
• Trumpet rendition of O come all ye faithful drifts across the Thames
• Less than 2hrs and I stop for coffee. I am neither as tough or as tight as I used to be!
• At Tower Bridge now. Ticking off the icons.
• Grey sky, grey earth, grey people. East London is depressing me.
• Reached Canary Wharf, the former hub of smug.
• Not much Xmas cheer in Lewisham.
• Stare at the geezers to show them you’re not lightweight.
• Lewisham. A woman drags a dog down street as it tries to crap. Grim town.
• Into the eastern hemisphere at Greenwich.
• Eating a mince pie and walking through Greenwich park.
• Trees and green spaces are good for the soul on this walk.
• On Blackheath Common. Used to be v dangerous- highwaymen!
• On Blackheath Common. Where London marathon begins.
• is there a Mc-D’s on the a207 east of Blackheath?!
• On the ‘green chain walk’ now. A blessing to be off road.
• A long haul up Shooters Hill. Hoping it’s all downhill from here.
• Big long downhill- my kingdom for a bicycle!
• 5hrs walk from my house i see the first sheep and field. Goodbye London!
• Walking down an old roman road on my way home for Xmas.
• Food! I’m lovin’ it!
• Nothing looks or feels very Christmassy.
• Just waved at 2 grannies. Big grins. Think they fancy me�
• Just passed a pub that’s having a ‘meat raffle’ tonight! Gross!
• Approaching Dartford. Light seeping from an already pallid day.
• Only about 2 more hours to go.
• Firemen collecting cash for kids’ charity. First festive thing I’ve seen since London.
• I wish I had counted all the fast food joints on this walk. No wonder the UK is fat.
• 7.5 hrs walk from London and I cross the jammed m25.
• Reached Bluewater, a Mecca of materialism.
• Made it! 9.5 hrs walk from London to Kent. Time to relax now!

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