AT THE BEGINNING of October 2022, I set out to hike the edge of Great Britain alone. On my way, people often asked me: do I get lonely, and how do I cope with that? They often told me they dreamed of going on a big walk themselves but were afraid of being alone.
The idea to walk the mainland coast came after hiking around Anglesey years earlier. Looking on Google Maps for other long walks, I zoomed out and out and out from Anglesey until it was dwarfed by the mainland. I grew up on the mainland yet knew nothing about its coastline, and what better way to experience it as I had done Anglesey – in one continuous effort on foot. It would free up time to focus on the things I loved: writing, drawing and raising money for charity.
As a culture we are obsessed with going alone into nature, evidenced by the immense popularity of solo nature stories. There’s something so satisfying and seemingly ‘natural’ about a lone wanderer moving competently and quietly through a landscape accompanied by the rush of rivers and wind, birdsong in
