I’m off to Yestival in a couple of weeks, on my own but not
alone. If it’s anything like last year, and I suspect it will be, I will arrive with hundreds of strangers and leave with just as many friends.
 |
| Austin Vince giving a very memorable talk |
Fiona Trowbridge: Travel Writer Travel with me and him on a humorous journey as we go through life on foot, push-bikes and rickshaws, kayaks, camels and white water rafts and an old Bongo campervan!
Elise Downing Runs the UK Coastline
If I told you that Elise Downing will be running into
Greenwich Park on 27th August, would you wonder who Elise was and
what was so special about her running into Greenwich Park or would you know
that on 1st November 2015, she left Greenwich Park to embark on a
5000 mile run around the UK coast line?
 |
| Elise & Friends at the Start 1st November 2015 |
Well that’s exactly what 24 year old Elise has done. Totally unsupported and all on her own, she
has spent the last 10 months circumnavigating the coast line of the UK, island
hopping in Scotland, being intimidated by cows in England, Scotland and Wales,
and falling in love with the Isle of Arran.
Summer is Here
 |
| Cheese Rolling in Gloucestershire |
There are certain high profile events in the UK that make you realise summer is here like the cheese rolling in Gloucestershire, the man powered flying machines at the Birdman of Bognor and the very serious boating event, Cowes Week on the Isle of Wight. However, not all the boating events during Cowes Week are as prestigious as the class events but with unrivalled enthusiasm, the competitors of the Cowes Cardboard Boat Race take their event very seriously and last year drew a larger crowd than some of the main racing events. Now in its third year and raising money for UKSA, the Cardboard Boat Race takes place on 7th August at 3pm. Seemingly, when you register for the race, you are given a free starter pack which according to the instructions “contains everything needed to make a boat.” Hmmm some duct tape and a cardboard box maybe?
 |
| Cardboard Boat Race (Photography by Dean Wright) |
Armchair Adventures
I remember laughing at an advertisement in Cusco airport in
Peru; it filled the entire billboard above the luggage carousel and was
advertising bottles of oxygen. While we waited for our luggage to be
tossed from plane to trolley to conveyer belt and chute, I felt compelled to
verbalise my thoughts about the advert to my fellow travellers. “Look at
that,” I said, “I thought we got ripped off in the UK where they try to sell us
bottles of water, here they try to sell you bottles of air.” Little did I
realise that a few hours later, I would have paid any amount of money for a
bottle of that oxygen as I found myself floored with altitude sickness and suffering
from the mother of all headaches. It was so bad, that if someone had
offered me a guillotine at that time, I’d have volunteered to put my head in
it.
 |
| Air for Sale |
An interview with Mel & Michelle
 |
| Mel & Michelle |
red tape that had prevented other people doing what they did.
They paddle boarded the lenth of the Thames from source to sea, a distance of 206 miles.
The navigable part of the River Thames ends at Putney and by law, no one is allowed to pass Putney Bridge. Mel and Michelle were curious about what it would take if, one day, maybe not their day, but someday, someone was allowed to complete the rest of the journey through central London to Southend Pier.
Muddy but Magical
Muddy but magical - The day I spent running with Elise, Becky, Terri
and Charlotte.
 |
| Becky, Elise and Terri |
10 Quick Questions with Dave Cornthwaite
 |
| Dave Cornthwaite |
Following a summer series of SAY YES campouts where he invited his Facebook friends to become real friends and come wild camping somewhere near London with him, he started work on the first ever Yestival, an October gathering around a campfire in a field near Guildford where the air of positivity was palpable.
Shortly after Yestival, I met with Dave and asked him a few questions about the event and his forthcoming 1000 mile walk across the Middle East with his friend, adventurer and film maker, Leon McCarron. Walk The Masar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)