Getting Ready

Day after tomorrow, John and I will leave for England, carrying bags filled with gear we don’t normally take on vacation.

 

Several years ago, we learned about the Hadrian’s Wall Path from friends we’d met back in our Shanghai days, Jim and Marie Horak. They hiked the Path at the beginning of an extended European vacation, and the whole idea intrigued us. It’s been tucked in the back of our minds since then. About a year ago, we decided to try to make it happen in May of 2022.

 

The Path follows the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall, built by the Romans nearly two millennia ago, and runs for 84 miles from coast to coast along the “neck” of England, a little south of the Scottish border. It passes through farmlands and other beautiful scenery. It’s a fairly flat trail, aside from the hillier central portion. One guidebook describes it as a “straightforward but fairly exhausting stroll.” The Path ends a few miles short of the east coast of England, so, being sticklers, we’re planning to tack on the extra miles on our last day to make it all the way to the water.

 

Some people carry their own gear and camp along the way. We aren’t those people. We’re taking the cushier option—staying at B&Bs and having a transport service pick up our bags each morning and deliver them to our evening destination. We’ll only need to carry a small pack with water, snacks, rain gear, and a few other essentials. We’ll walk for seven days, 14 miles most days and less than that in the more challenging portions.

 

Our preparation over the past year has had three facets. First, and maybe most important, we both set off to lose weight and succeeded in doing that. It will be nice not to haul the extra poundage across England. Second, we’ve done a lot of walking and hiking. We’ve made weekday walks a regular practice, and on as many weekends as possible, we’ve taken long walks or hikes, breaking in our boots and building our endurance. Third, we’ve read lots of blogs and guidebooks and articles and collected our gear over a six-month period.

 

So, our bags are packed, and we’re looking forward to this adventure!