Best of
Walking

2019

Bewildered


Laura Waters - 2019
    Armed with maps, a compass and her life in a bag on her back, she set out to walk the untamed landscapes of the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand, 3000 kilometres of raw, wild, mountainous trail winding from the top of the North Island to the frosty tip of the South Island. But when her walking partner dropped out on the second day, she was faced with a choice: abandon the journey, or face her fears and continue on alone? She chose to walk on.For five months, Laura battled not only treacherous terrain and elements, but also the demons of self-doubt and anxiety. As the kilometres fell behind her, nature did its work, stripping away her identity and guiding her towards a new way of being. At the end of Te Araroa, it was the hard-earned insights into the power of nature, emotional wellbeing and fulfilling relationships – with others as well as with herself – that were Laura’s greatest accomplishments. She emerged ‘rewilded’, and it transformed her life.From the judges of '2021 ASTW Best Travel Book'..."There can be only one and this is it. This is a book that, to me, typifies what good travel writing can be. The story is alive with humour and humility, unadorned, and unfolds in so understated a fashion that I followed along like a happy puppy. ...it illustrates an essential truth about travel - its ability to achieve change. Laura's journey resonates with us all. Well done.""I was gripped by Laura's story and couldn't put it down."

The Only Way Is West: A Once In a Lifetime, 500 Mile Adventure Walking Spain's Camino de Santiago


Bradley Chermside - 2019
    A wonderful read.' - Kevin Hand, BBC London. You’re in Greece and are given a €20 note with an email address scribbled on it. What would you do:1. Spend it? 2. Slip the suspect counterfeit bill into an enemy’s birthday card?3. Send an email, hoping it will lead to you finding everlasting love? Brad, a hopeless romantic, chose the latter.Two years later, his love life remains a disaster and his career is misfiring. As he’s about to walk Spain’s fabled Camino de Santiago to ponder some profound life changes, Brad receives a reply. Incredibly, it’s from a woman who lives on the 1000-year-old pilgrim path, far away from where the money first crossed his palm. She invites him to sleep… ‘on her house’. Hiking nine hundred kilometres on the Road to Santiago to a blind date with the mystery €20 woman, he discovers the utopia of his fantasies, befriends a Hungarian who speaks English in song titles and has his raison d’être revealed to him by a barefoot Mayan mystic. Will he meet his happily-ever-after too? Buy this pacy, exuberant, laugh-out-loud travelogue laced with tips for fellow pilgrims to find out...

Father, Son and the Kerry Way: 9 Days & 125 Miles around the Kingdom of Kerry


Mark Richards - 2019
    Impossible to read without laughing out loud.” That’s what people said about the first two books in the series. Now the third book sees Mark Richards and his youngest son walking the Kerry Way in South West Ireland. Over the nine days of the walk they meet the usual cast of oddball characters and have more than their fair shares of misadventures. Well, one of them does… ‘Father, Son and the Kerry Way’ will be published in early Autumn at £3.99. Until then you can pre-order it for £2.99. The book will be delivered to your Kindle as soon as it is published and that’s when your account will be charged. There will also be a paperback out in good time for Christmas

The Great Alone: Walking the Pacific Crest Trail


Tim Voors - 2019
    

Walking into Alchemy: The Transformative Power of Nature


Amelia Marriette - 2019
    The couple relocated to Austria and Amelia set out on a journey both physical and spiritual, a journey of self-discovery and rejuvenation through the exploration of nature, centred on her resolution to complete the same 13-mile walk through the hills and woods of beautiful Carinthia every week for a year. By the time that year was over, Amelia knew she had found healing, peace and true happiness.www.ameliamarriette.com

Afoot and Lighthearted: A Journal for Mindful Walking


Bonnie Smith Whitehouse - 2019
    . . I'd like to give a copy of this smart, fetching book to everyone I know."--Susannah Felts, BookPageAfoot and Lighthearted will teach readers how to harness the power of walking to cultivate and nourish attention, inspiration, and determination, as well as to combat distraction, anxiety, and the dreaded creative block.Organized around thematic prompts designed to help makers take a break from digital life and tap into the transformational magic of creative journaling, Afoot and Lighthearted introduces us to innovative walkers throughout literature, art, philosophy, and history, and it offers encouragement in the form of inspirational quotes. Supported by light illustrations and evidence from recent research on the compelling connection between walking and well-being, Afoot and Lighthearted offers a fresh perspective every step of the way, much like a walk itself.

Walking Distance


Lizzy Stewart - 2019
    She also considers the pressures that women face in the modern world, from general societal expectations to the struggle just to walk down the street without being harrassed and made fearful.

Tokyo Maze – 42 Walks in and around the Japanese Capital: A Guide with 160 Photos, 48 Maps, 450 Weblinks and 100 Tips (Japan Travel Guide Series Book Book 1)


Axel Schwab - 2019
    The author is no stranger to Japan either, having spent over 25 years visiting the country as a student, on work assignments and as a writer. He even lived in Tokyo for five years. Alongside all the main attractions, this guide takes you to places which don’t get a mention elsewhere. The information included in the guide is fully up to date. He returned from his most recent in-depth research trip in January 2019. Inside the guide:• 42 complete walking tours to 500 sights in and around Tokyo.• Each itinerary begins and ends at a railway or subway station.• Recommend lunch-break and coffee-stop for each walk.• 48 area maps reliably steer the visitor through the maze of Tokyo streets. • 108 photos offer first impressions.• Over 100 insider tips aid readers in their pre-trip preparations and during their stay. • 350 bookmarks enable travellers to access additional information on the Internet.• A calendar shows at a glance which festivals are taking place at any given time. • Personal Top 10 tips on architecture, observation points, parks and gardens, shopping streets and malls, boutiques, hotels, restaurants, fine arts and other museums, showrooms, theatres, temples and shrines. • Online maps are available for half of the tours, featuring additional tips on accommodation, shopping, and food and drink. Regardless of whether you come to Japan on a package holiday or under your own steam or if you’re even planning to live in Tokyo for a while, this guide will enrich your stay.

Shelter Rock


M.P. Miles - 2019
    Ralph, eighteen and innocent, has accidentally stumbled upon Elanza – and South Africa’s biggest secret.When Ralph disappears into the darkest part of the Continent to walk home overland, a Swazi spy, the only black African agent working for the apartheid era National Intelligence Service, comes into both of their lives. Angel Rots is uniquely qualified for his official mission to find Ralph and a private mission to settle an old score, but in a pursuit from Cape Town to Cairo, Ralph is always one step ahead and Angel starts to ask questions. Why is this kid so important? What has he found? Looking for answers, Angel discovers a secret that challenges his own loyalties - and could change the course of history.From illegal nightclubs in South Africa to poachers in Zimbabwe and the Batwa pygmies of Burundi, from arrests in Uganda and drugged hit men in Kenya to thieving Sudanese nuns and a final confrontation in the bazaars of Old Cairo, no one would make it home without an angel watching over them. This pulse-pounding thriller will delight fans of espionage fiction as well as keen readers who see the parallels of the nuclear weapons threat in the book and modern day politics.

Long Peace Street: A Walk in Modern China


Jonathan Chatwin - 2019
    It divides the Forbidden City, home to generations of Chinese emperors, from Tiananmen Square, the vast granite square constructed to glorify a New China under Communist rule. To walk the street is to travel through the story of China's recent past, wandering among its physical relics and hearing echoes of its dramas. Long Peace Street recounts a journey in modern China, a walk of twenty miles across Beijing offering a very personal encounter with the life of the capital's streets. At the same time, it takes the reader on a journey through the city's recent history, telling the story of how the present and future of the world's rising superpower has been shaped by its tumultuous past, from the demise of the last imperial dynasty in 1912 through to the present day.

Forest and Crag: A History of Hiking, Trail Blazing, and Adventure in the Northeast Mountains, Thirtieth Anniversary Edition


Laura Waterman - 2019
    Superbly researched and written, Forest and Crag is the definitive history of our love affair with the mountains of the Northeastern United States, from the Catskills and the Adirondacks of New York to the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the mountains of Maine. It's all here in one comprehensive volume: the struggles of early pioneers in America's first frontier wilderness; the first ascent of every major peak in the Northeast; the building of the trail networks, including the Appalachian Trail; the golden era of the summit resort hotels; and the unforeseen consequences of the backpacking boom of the 1970s and 80s. Laura and Guy Waterman spent a decade researching and writing Forest and Crag, and in it they draw together widely scattered sources. What emerges is a compelling story of our ever-evolving relationship with the mountains and wilderness, a story that will fascinate historians, outdoor enthusiasts, and armchair adventurers alike.