I recently returned from walking 1 week of the Via Francigena, an historic pilgrimage route that begins in the medieval city of Canterbury in south-east England, to Rome, the Eternal City. The section I chose to walk, with 10kg on my back, was from the Olympic capital of Lausanne on Lake Geneva in Switzerland, to [...]
Category: Health
Summer in Scotland 2: Golden moments
A collection my favourite moments from seven special months in St Andrews & the Scottish Highlands. And, as it turns out, I'll soon be returning there... Summer in Scotland, home in St Andrews, brought so much colour and joy in 2023 - a chance to restore and refresh before embarking on my next adventure (my [...]
A return to health and happiness in St Andrews
Two months ago, I moved to St Andrews, home of golf and Scotland's oldest university, and life has changed irreversibly in that time. Initially, I thought this would be just a holiday stay with my uncle here; two weeks, then back to life in Portsmouth. But very quickly I fell in love with the town, [...]
A mountaineering mindset: on overcoming and recovering from chronic illness
I've just finished reading Sir Ranulph Fiennes' new book, Climb Your Mountain, and it is a beautiful tribute to how tackling physical mountains can assist with the even-bigger internal climbs we face. Climb Your Mountain is all about weathering the storms of everyday life, from a man who has braved the most perilous conditions Planet [...]