Now, I didn't really keep a detailed record of anything we did on a day to day basis, because I'm useless. But I've been looking back through the guide book we were using, which we stuck to for most of the walk, so I can remember pretty much where we were on any given day.It was the morning of day five, when we were camped in someone's garden, that I threw away my walking boots. My feet had been getting worse and worse, and the idea that I would b...

By the time we reached the halfway point of our journey, my feet looked like the photo above. It's not a great photo, doesn't quite do them justice, and as soon as Karim can work out how to get the photos he took on his phone onto a computer I will update the gallery. Not for any odd reason, but because I like people to know what happens to feet when you keep walking on a blister for a few days.The decision to abandon my walking boots in favour of my trai...

Like most things, it started with an idea. And like most ideas, it was a good one.... At the time.I had spent the last year managing a pub in the centre of Nottingham, and had six weeks holiday to take that year. I didn't want to go away anywhere, because I hardly had a penny to my name and besides, I was supposed to be saving for my next travel adventure.And then the idea came. I'd always like the idea of walking the Pennine Way, the 268 mile long path t...

When you're going travelling, what you put in your backpack and what you leave behind is one of the hardest things you have to do. And, as I'm sure most people would agree, you end up chucking things away as you go anyway.I'm not known for being particularly frugal, and am internationally known as the guy who thought it would be a good idea to take the hardback edition of The Lord of the Rings backpacking with him (although it served as a table and ha...

"Something's just occurred to me", I said."What?""This might have been a really stupid idea"."Yeah", Karim replied sagely. "I was thinking that".That was about thirty minutes in, perhaps a mile down the path. It was a strange realisation, made all the more strange because it hadn't occurred to me before. Perhaps it had, but I wasn't paying attention. Perhaps I was just distracted by the thought of having three weeks away from my pub, with a pack on my...