Summary

Walking is good for you.  It provides physical exercise and stimulates the senses.  It gets you out and about.  You see places that can only be reached on foot.   It also has its moments, sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous, plus mishaps and other adventures.   This book, based on two earlier e-books, is a collection of observations, stories, advice and photographs from the long-distance walks I made either solo or with my wife, Carol, or son, Mark, after retiring in 2007.  Part 1 covers UK long-distance trails including ten UK National Trails.  Part 2 covers walks in other countries, notably Madeira, Nepal, India, Spain, and Switzerland. In all, the book covers the walks I completed between 2008 and 2017.

Background

The two e-books were published in 2014 (Tales from the Trails Part 1: UK Trails) and 2015 (Tales from the Trails Part 2: non-UK Trails).  Recently, I offered these two e-books in a 1-week download-for-free sale and they proved very popular, so much so that I decided to reformat the e-books into a single paperback, add some extra photographs and new material, and publish via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service.  The 260-page paperback contains just under 400 illustrations, mostly colour photographs, a new section on walking and snowshoeing in Switzerland, and an extensive index.

Availability and Price

The use of colour throughout the paperback book has pushed the list price up to £22.00 ($32.45) but I can supply copies at the author’s rate of £12.67 + p&p if you are interested to obtain a (signed, if requested!) copy.  E-mail me with your request.  Full details for how to buy the book on Amazon are here.

Final Comment

My long-distance walking is now seriously limited by my right knee.  In 2015, I had a successful total knee replacement operation on my left knee and, at the time, I was told my right knee would probably need replacing in the near future.  Well, that near future has arrived and I am pondering what to do.  The right knee is not causing me any pain unless I walk downhill but, occasionally, the knee gives way unexpectedly and I no longer trust it to work properly on a long walk.  Hence, I now use two trekking poles for stability and limit my walks to very short distances.  This means, of course, that currently Carol and I have no plans to undertake a multi-day long-distance walk but we miss the fun, the exercise, the challenge, and the sheer joy of walking in the UK countryside and in foreign lands so, who knows, I may come to a decision and agree to the operation.  In the meantime, the new Tales from the Trails paperback book serves as a record of what we achieved between 2008 and 2017.  It’s a vanity book, for sure, and was a hell of a challenge from a page layout point of view but I am pleased with the way it’s turned out.

(^_^)