If retirement adventures are meant to pile up memorable moments, then this is one. Indeed. We stood at the end—Land’s End, that is—of our backpacking trip on England’s South West Coast Path. Soaked to the skin, we had battled horizontal rain all afternoon, but were, as they say, all smiles, even giddy.

My hair and the front of Sue’s hat stood to celebrate our 200-plus miles of ups and downs along England’s coast over three weeks in 2019. Although we had some balmy days as we walked in and out of a series of English seaside villages, when the weather turned, we were nearly blown away. At the end, it was so ridiculous that I Iaughed to the finish line.

Another memorable day on that trek took us on a record (for us) 9,000 feet of climbs and descents over 15 miles and 10 hours. Let’s just say that Bude was a welcome site as darkness neared. The beer as well as the fish and chips were delicious and we were glad the memorial gathering in the pub wasn’t for us.

The English trek was our fifth European distance trail, extending our addiction to traveling by foot. More to come about others.

Eight more adventures ahead.