I’m reading a book by Kathleen Dean Moore called Wild Comfort. The book was supposed to be a book about happiness – What is happiness? Where do you find it? To answer these questions, Kathleen made herself a happy basket. Every time Kathleen felt happy – in that “deep-down, exhaling, head-back way” – she would write... Continue Reading →
10 things I learnt on my first running adventure
Autumn is my favourite time of year. The colours are beautiful, the midges are gone, and you don’t have to get up at a ridiculous o’clock to watch the sunrise. Of course, on the horizon stands the looming darkness of Winter and so it feels all the more important to get out and stock up... Continue Reading →
Annapurna Diaries LIVE
Well, not live, exactly. But captured in video, which is more alive than words on a page. Here are 3 months of travel condensed into 3 minutes: Enjoyed watching this? Read the blog!
Annapurna Diaries (Part Two)
Continuing on from Annapurna Diaries part one... Manang is the great gateway to the Himalayas, the end of the road, the last touchstone with civilisation before heading forth into the land of snows. Before making a decision about whether or not to take on the pass we had a few issues to attend to -... Continue Reading →
Annapurna Diaries (Part One)
Annapurna. The Goddess of the Harvest. This majestic mountain mastiff is circumnavigated by a 230 km trek that climbs a total height of 4656m from the starting point in Besisahar to the pass at Thorung La, teetering on the brink of the Tibetan Plateau. Often voted the best long-distance hike in the world, in Nepal... Continue Reading →
10 Things I Learned About Happiness From Buddhist Nuns
Recently, I spent 10 days studying Buddhist meditation with nuns from the Tibetan tradition in a monastery just outside Kathmandu. Yes, I was also confused about the fact there are nuns in a monastery but it is the 21st Century after all. These wonderful women taught me many things, not just through their words but... Continue Reading →
Yin Yoga: Can you bear your own silence?
Sweat trickles down the back of my neck in the midday sun. My leg starts to tremble. I can't have been here for more than 2 minutes but it feels like an eternity. The sensation in the front of my right thigh has grown from small ember to throbbing blaze and my mind is screaming... Continue Reading →
Who said yoga has to be pretty?
What image springs to mind when you think of yoga? Probably a young, skinny woman contorting into strange shapes suspended in Lycra, right? It's moved on from the wacky new-age hippy stereotype and now it's totally cool for ‘regular’ and ‘respectable’ people to sport power suit by day and Lululemon by night. Personally, I think... Continue Reading →
The Better Half of the North Coast 500
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Cycling touring is like an incessant itch that is only saited when doing the following: cycling touring, reminiscing about cycle touring or planning the next cycle tour. After my 2016... Continue Reading →
A Mountain Pilgrimage
Wake before dawn. The sun has not yet risen on another year, but last night’s music still hangs in the air. Don a jumper for the first time in weeks and straddle the bicycle you can rent for just 40p. Say hello to the cook walking her cow. Say hello to three children riding one... Continue Reading →