Here are a few things I’ve learned the hard way, after walking 300km this past year
- Don’t try to walk more than 30km a day!
- Keep drinking and eating (before you feel you need it)
- Have a battery powerbank as you always need your phone, and navigation apps chew battery (I have one of these – it holds three charges and is cheap)
4. The OS Maps app has footpaths on. Look at it in aerial view to see where to go, plus it tells you where you are. It’s even worth subscribing to the paid full version if you do a lot of walking
5. Appoint a friend who isn’t walking with you to be a walking buddy. Ping them a message to say when you leave and when you have arrived at your destination each day, for safety
6. OS Locate app is a quite nice ICE (In Case of Emergency) and have your phone ICE details up to date
7. Walk in something you feel comfortable in – trainers are fine
8. If you are outside large urban areas there are often no shops open after 5.30pm, pubs close randomly and may not open during the day and buses don’t run hourly or even daily, so plan in advance
9. If anything feels uncomfortable stop and sort it out immediately. Otherwise your body will over-compensate and other parts will ache!
10. These Compeed plasters are great for blisters!
