Tag trekking

Come Trippin’ With Me on the Trails of Europe

Reg Spittle 1 Comment
Sue and I at Land’s End, England, after a trek like no other.

Our fall 2019 trek on England’s South West Coast Path left us wanting more. While we (and our backpacks) await our chance to find our next adventure, Sue walks the hills around our home in Ashland, Oregon, and I bicycle on nearby quiet roads and bike paths.

Then I work on my second book, to be published (I hope) by the end of 2020. Here is a sneak preview (working title is Trippin’ Through My Sixties):

A guy (that’s me) retiring at age 60 revives the rebellious rumblings of his teen years in the 1960s. He and his wife set out to make their post-working years an adventure by moving out of state, making new friends, and walking the long-distance trails of Europe. There are four parts: Scotland’s West Highland Way, the Alps’ Tour du Mont Blanc, Italy’s Way of St. Francis, and England’s South West Coast Path. Each trek challenged us with more adventure than we thought possible.

My first book, Camino Sunrise, an adventure memoir about our first trek, continues to find new readers in several countries. I am so grateful for its success and for the many readers who send emails or write reviews.

Send along a note (See Contact in the Menu) if you want to be among the first to know when the new book is out. Meanwhile, my best wishes for your good health.

The Pacific Crest Trail Provides Too

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David Smart, aka Stayin’ Alive

Just as long-distance trekking grew on David Smart, his book, The Trail Provides: A Boy’s Memoir of Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, grew on me, page by page.

At 24, David was dissatisfied with his digital marketing job. He had plenty of money, parties, and women, but he felt that his life lacked purpose. His 26-year-old college buddy Bradley had an answer: Walk the Pacific Crest Trail with me.

Bradley, who brings intensity to life and to the trail, influences his younger friend right from their start on the USA-Mexico border. He walks barefoot, and David follows, despite great pain and suffering. But David, who eventually gets an apt trail name, Stayin’ Alive, develops confidence and his own trail identity.

David Smart lets readers into his experience with honesty and entertaining, easy-to-read narrative. He begins as an ordinary 20-something and grows immeasurably. As someone who has walked five long-distance trails in Europe, I admire people like David who trek 2,600 miles over six months, all the way to Canada.

Pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain like to say, “The Camino will provide” when the going gets tough. For David Smart, the Pacific Crest Trail will provide for the rest of his life.

Finding Paths to Happiness

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How do people who battle anxiety and/or depression find peace and happiness?

I have found answers to this question through reading the wisdom of some brilliant writers whose works I have featured here. (Click on “more books” in the menu to see them.)

But I have found some of my life’s most enjoyable times on the long-distant trails in Europe. My story about my first such journey became an adventure memoir, Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows.

I am finding this happiness again in England on the South West Coast Path. Sue and I are about a third of the way through our 260-mile trek from Minehead to Land’s End. Here are a few scenes from England.