Quote of the Moment
"All really great things happen in slow and inconspicuous ways." Leo Tolstoy


Saturday 25 January 2014

Hiking in Ireland - The plan


The E8


The E8 is a very long distance (and inspirational) hiking route across Europe. It is an exciting prospect and one that I hope to complete one day. I imagine being able to truly see the change in cultures, geography and languages at a pace that does them justice, that of someone walking. The challenge is great, over 2900 miles (4700 km) and I know of only one person who has come close to covering a large portion of it.

Starting in the green hills of Ireland you take a ferry across to the industry of northern England. Then on to Amsterdam and the flats of the Netherlands, Germany Austria (an optional section in the Czech Republic), Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria and finally arriving in Turkey.

In March I will be doing the Irish section. 21 days of hiking variously staying in hotels, B&Bs and wild camping! Exciting times. If you would like to have a look at the plan clink on the link below.

THE LINK BELOW.

This is a real adventure for me. I haven't done anything like it in my life and it is truly out of my comfort zone. Right now, as the planning is all but done, I am getting as much advice as I can and sourcing what equipment I need on an extremely low budget.

And that is the real problem with the hike. The budget. It is so low that to get there from Prague I am going to have to take the bus. That's right. The bus, from Prague to London and then again from London to Dublin. Finally once in Dublin I will take another bus from Dublin to my first hostel. That in itself feels like it will be an achievement to survive, let alone doing a 500km hike afterwards; I wonder if my muscles will have fully atrophied by that point? I hope not!

Anyway. The question that I leave you with is this. Do you have any advice for a novice long distance walker who is about to embark on his first blister-inducing endeavour?


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