Notes from Big Trails

What would happen if you set off alone to walk the entire length of Europe?

Kit Birks found out.

She spent 343 days walking from Nordkapp in northern Norway to Gavdos, the southernmost point of Greece, covering more than 5,000 miles. She spent 308 days walking completely alone, often carrying around 20–23kg and sometimes going for days without seeing another person.

But the walk wasn't simply an attempt to complete an enormo...

Lisa Herbert took on Wainwright's Coast to Coast as a seven-day trail run.

In this conversation we talk about why solo adventures can become life-changing, how grief reshaped Lisa's relationship with running, and why spending several days on a trail helped her find a sense of peace she'd struggled to find elsewhere.

We also discuss:

• Why she chose the Coast to Coast as training for a 100-mile ultra.
• Running almost 200 miles in seven...

What makes someone decide to run 400 miles around the Cornish coast?

For Elsey Davis, the answer wasn't simply to chase a Fastest Known Time.

After her mum was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer's, she found herself looking for a way to channel grief into something positive. The result was an extraordinary six-day journey around the entire Cornish coastline, raising money, raising awareness, and discovering that some adventures cha...

The overnight camp at the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon must be one of the best places in the world.  The shared stories from the day bring everyone together in a way that you don’t really experience in other areas of your life - getting lost in the cloud, the various degrees of ankle pain from contouring around hills and doing battle with tussocks, the happy realisation that there’s life beyond footpaths.&nb...

What happens when a race stops feeling like competition and starts feeling like exploration?

In this episode, Rob talks to trail runner and author Scott Williams about taking on the Swiss Peaks 360 — a multi-day ultra across the Swiss Alps involving huge climbs, sleep deprivation, technical mountain terrain and six days on the move.

But this conversation goes well beyond racing.

Scott shares why he keeps returning to difficult p...

This week’s guest is Rick Clark.

Rick joins me to talk about walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path — a week-long journey covering around 186 miles of coastline from Amroth to St Dogmaels.

Walking south to north, Rick covered big days carrying a full pack and wild camped for much of the route, balancing the practical challenges of water, recovery and finding camp spots with the simplicity that long-distance walking brings.

W...

In this episode, Rob speaks with Bodil Oudshoorn and Ross Brannigan about their seven-day journey on Peru’s Alpamayo Circuit in the Cordillera Blanca.

Carrying around 16kg each — including a full week of food — they crossed multiple high passes above 4,500 metres, wild camped throughout the route and spent days without seeing another hiker.

The conversation explores the realities of trekking at altitude, the logisti...

Elise Downing ran 87 miles of the Ridgeway in three days in 2020, between lockdowns, with her friend Sophie. Their two friends, Ange and Oscar, walked the same daily distances - the same format the four had tried on the West Highland Way two years earlier, when Ange and Oscar bailed after day two.

We talk about why running suits the less-scenic sections, the feeling of walking an ancient road, a chance meeting on a footpath, finishi...

Show notes

Chris Townsend walked the Alpine section of the GR5 in autumn, as the mountain huts and village shops were closing for the season. He took about a month, slept under a tarp, and bought the food for his first week at a supermarket in Geneva train station before he started.

We talk about the rhythm of a month-long walk, finding water in unfamiliar mountains, the surprise of the southern forests, and the strange business of w...

Most people tackle the Cape Wrath Trail as a challenge of endurance — covering big miles through some of the wildest terrain in the UK.

Stephen Passmore took a different approach.

In spring 2023, Stephen spent 31 days walking north from Fort William to Cape Wrath. Along the way he wild camped, stayed in bothies, carried painting supplies in his pack, and created a watercolour painting almost every day of the journey.

In this epi...

The Dales Way is often recommended as one of the best first long-distance walks in the UK — but that doesn’t mean it’s without challenge.

In this episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Jessica Mather, who completed the trail in four days last summer — covering roughly 20 miles a day while camping along the route.

Starting in Ilkley and finishing in Bowness-on-Windermere, Jess shares what it’s ...

Wayne Russell set out to run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain with little more than a tent, £1,000, and a huge idea.

What followed was ten months of sleeping in church porches, bus shelters, caves, strangers’ gardens and fire stations as he circled the entire British coastline.

He began the run to raise money after losing his sister to a rare heart condition—but as he explains in this conversation, the journey beca...

Jess Day joins Notes From Big Trails to talk about walking the Te Araroa Trail — a 3,000km route stretching the full length of New Zealand.

Walking solo over four and a half months, Jess shares what the experience actually felt like — from early nerves and self-doubt, through to trail family, unexpected kindness, and yes, the importance of chocolate.

This isn’t just a story about distance. It’s about what happ...

The GR5 is one of Europe’s great long-distance trails — stretching nearly 1,500 miles from the North Sea to the Mediterranean.

In this episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Ryel Kestano about walking the trail not in one go — but in stages, over several years, with his children.

Starting when they were still young, Ryel introduced his kids to long-distance walking through shorter trips before committing ...

The South Hams Way is a newly launched 100-mile circular trail through South Devon — linking the South West Coast Path, Dartmoor, and a network of towns and countryside routes across the region.

In this short episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Claire, who lives right on the trail and has been walking it in sections — often returning to familiar places and seeing them in a new way.

Because the route is divid...

The Western Front Way is a 500-mile route tracing the line of the First World War — running from the Swiss border to the North Sea through France and Belgium.

In this episode we talk to Briana Gervat, who has published a book about her experience on this trail - ⁠There Will Come Soft Rains⁠. This conversation is about her solo journey along the entire route — a 36-day walk through one of the most historically charged lan...

The Rob Roy Way cuts across the heart of Scotland — a quieter long-distance trail linking Drymen to Pitlochry through forests, glens, old railway lines, and the edges of big Highland lochs.

In this episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Pawel Cymbalista — or Pav — who set a fastest known time on the route, covering the entire trail in a single push.

Moving fast through a landscape most people take a week ...

The Anglesey Coast Path circles the entire Isle of Anglesey — a 130-mile trail that traces one of the most varied and quietly beautiful coastlines in Wales.

In this episode of Notes from Big Trails, Rob speaks with Nicola about her solo walk around the island — completed over two long weekends and mostly spent sleeping under the stars in a bivvy bag.

Travelling light with a 4.3-kilogram base weight and no fixed itine...

The Pembrokeshire Coast Path is one of Britain’s most dramatic long-distance walks, stretching along the wild Atlantic edge of West Wales.

In this episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Sophie McCarthy about her fifteen-day solo walk along the entire route.

Carrying everything she needed on her back and camping along the way, Sophie experienced the full rhythm of life on the trail — from remote wild camps and w...