Category: Australasia
From coast to highland: A selection of hiking routes across six continents
6th October 2025 Recently, I finished reading through DK's Hike: Walk the World. This follows their Outdoor Europe, regarding which I compiled another piece on here. In the same vein, here is one inspired by the more recently read title. The included routes range from rail beds reimagined as greenways to high passes braided between glaciers, allowing for a variety that is wide enough to cover moods, seasons and levels of ambition. Since the volume is a global collation, it offers is a tour through options on several continents, moving from cold coasts to jungled interiors and back to highlands again, with each region contributing trails that say something different about the land and the people who have used it.
North America: Pacific and Mountain West
On the Pacific edge and across North American mountains, routes range from the historic Chilkoot Trail, which once carried prospectors between tidewater and interior valleys, to the contemporary ʔapsčiik t̓ašii that shares the beaches and forests of Vancouver Island's wild outer coast. Volcanic plateaux and rainforest carve their own paths on the Hoh River Trail, while sea cliffs appear again on the Ka'ena Point Trail at the far end of O'ahu. Inland, granite basins and reservoirs frame the Wapama and Rancheria Falls Trail, and high ranges shape long days on the Pacific Crest Trail. Red rock country invites detours such as the East Mesa Trail to Observation Point and the Fairyland Loop Trail, both giving grandstand views over canyons. Further north and east, the Tonquin Valley Trail and the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail bring ice-carved scenery into reach, while the Teton Crest Trail and the classic Rim-to-Rim crossing push deep into mountain and desert environments. In Colorado, the West Maroon Pass Trail strings together alpine meadows, and the Black Elk Peak Trail crowns the Black Hills with a granite outlook.
North America: Northeast and Great Lakes
In the northeast and along the Great Lakes, shoreline and escarpment are the guiding lines. The Bruce Trail traces the Niagara Escarpment for hundreds of kilometres, while the Fundy Footpath and the Skyline Trail make the most of the tides and highland plateaus in Atlantic Canada. Nearer the ocean again, the East Coast Trail strings together headlands and kittiwake colonies along Newfoundland's ragged shore, and the Charlevoix Traverse adds a wilderness link across Quebec's shield country. South of the border, the Superior Hiking Trail follows the scalloped edge of Lake Superior, the Northville–Placid Trail cuts a quieter course through the Adirondacks, and the Lake Chicot Loop creates a gentle circuit around an oxbow in the American South. In the desert south-west, the Pueblo Alto Loop Trail explores masonry and viewpoints above a great house complex, and the idiosyncratic Spite Highway offers a different kind of straight-line progress through a chain of islands.
North America: Long-Distance and Island Trails
North America also remains the home of through-routes that many recognise by name. The Appalachian Trail links ridgelines from Georgia to Maine and continues to inspire section walks that fit around everyday life. The Bermuda Railway Trail, once the province of rolling stock, now invites an unhurried crossing of the islands by foot, while the Blue Mountain Peak Trail climbs to Jamaica's high point for cool dawn views. Island walking continues on the Waitukubuli National Trail across Dominica, where rainforest, ridges and fishing villages pass by in a slow procession. Much further north, the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland introduces a different register again, with silence and long horizons guiding the stride through a treeless interior.
Central and South America
Southwards from the Caribbean and Gulf shores, the choice widens into jungle, canyon and altiplano. El Mirador remains a draw for those interested in long days among the remnants of a forested civilisation. Wildlife-rich slopes and cloud forest link together on the Quetzal Trail, while Corcovado National Park keeps the Pacific meeting wildland on its own demanding tracks. The Valle de Cocora and Quilotoa Loop combine wax palms with crater rims in an Andean double act, and Choquequirao adds its terraced amphitheatres to the list of remote objectives. Elsewhere in the highlands, the Colca Canyon / Isla del Sol duo places terraced valleys beside a lake of myth, each with paths that rise and fall through successive pockets of history and everyday life.
Further east and south, Atlantic rainforest and island circuits form their own collection. The Trilho do Ouro keeps company with river, bridge and old stonework, and the Ilha Grande Circuit circles beaches and coves under forested hills. Patagonia brings precise outlines and clearer air, with Laguna de los Tres offering a close encounter with Fitz Roy's buttresses, while the Dientes de Navarino Circuit adds a subpolar alternative just beyond the Beagle Channel. Out in the Pacific, the Birdman Trail tells another story in rock and sea as it loops over a volcanic isle where legends once carried real weight.
North Atlantic Islands
Across the North Atlantic, volcanic corridors and fjord-side paths set the tone before gentler farmland returns. In Iceland, Laugavegur Trail & The Postman's Path stitch together rhyolite ridges, geothermal flats and sea-cliff ledges in two very different moods of the same island. The Besseggen Ridge presents a confident arc above turquoise and slate-blue lakes, while Skåneleden drifts past skerries, beech woods and old walls along the south of Sweden. A lighter project again, Camønoen turns a Danish island into a multi-day stroll that never strays far from sea breezes and village harbours.
Britain and Ireland
Britain and Ireland add coastal circuits, ridge paths and heritage themes to any itinerary. The National Famine Way follows a poignant migration route that threads together river, canal and market town. Out on the peninsula and headland country of England's south-west, the South West Coast Path breaks the shoreline into digestible edges, while the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path marry a Roman marching line with dune-backed beaches. Inland, Cat Bells remains a short yet airy Lake District ascent, and Cwm Idwal distils mountain geology into a half-day circuit that feels larger than it is. Long-distance connectors include the Great Glen Way, making use of glens and lochs to pass from west to east in Scotland, and the Fife Coastal Path that gives a more intimate, village-to-village alternative. A more experimental flavour appears on the Twin Valley Ley Line Trail, which borrows from folklore while traversing moorland and field.
Continental Europe: North and Alps
Continental options move from lowland long-distance footpaths to dramatic limestone and gneiss. The Dutch Pieterpad shows how a flat country can reveal its variation when taken step by step, and the Escapardenne Eislek Trail does something similar among the ridges and valleys that link Luxembourg and Belgium. The Moselsteig threads vineyards and meanders; the Malerweg turns the Elbe Sandstone Mountains into a gallery of pinnacles; and the Heidschnuckenweg explores heath, woodland and quiet villages with seasonal colour. The Alps provide classic waymarking with the Inn Valley High Trail giving balcony views above Tyrolean towns, the Adlerweg joining key passes, and day routes such as Tre Cime di Lavaredo and the Faulhornweg taking in limestone towers and grassy spines. Multi-country circuits like the Tour du Mont Blanc remain perennially popular, while the GR20 on Corsica keeps testing legs on a granitic spine that asks for sure-footedness as well as patience.
Southern Europe and Mediterranean
Southern Europe and its islands broaden the palette. The Loire Valley softens the stride with river bends and cultural landmarks, whereas the Cares Gorge turns the Picos de Europa into a limestone slot with airy walkways. The Sámara Circuit offers a volcanic take on circular walking, and the Camino de Santiago provides a network of routes whose destination is as important as the journey. Atlantic islands contribute their own wet rock and levadas, with Levada das 25 Fontes tracing channels through laurel forest, while the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail in the Algarve brings clifftop arches and ochre layers within easy reach. Further east, the Viru Bog Trail makes sense of peatland with boardwalks that lift the walker above mirror-like pools, and the Wooden Architecture Route presents timber churches and wayside details across rolling lowlands. Newer additions include the Via Transilvanica, which strings together villages and forest edges through a long Romanian corridor, and Planinica, a shorter name for an ascent that opens onto wide views above limestone and lake. Beyond the Adriatic, the Samaria Gorge carries stream and footpath between walls that almost meet, the Carian Trail repurposes old mule paths along a rocky Aegean coast, and Upper Svaneti blends stone towers with Caucasian valleys where glaciers remain part of the skyline.
Middle East and North Africa
To the south and east of the Mediterranean, walking meets canyon, desert and high plateau. Wadi Ghuweir Trail takes advantage of sandstone corridors where palms and water persist in sheltered places. In Oman, The Balcony Walk follows a ledge high above a canyon floor, providing lofty views with minimal exposure to the midday sun, and in North Africa the Toubkal Circuit brings the highest Atlas summits into a planning horizon that can be adjusted to the season.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa offers rainforest, highlands and coastlines that reward careful timing. In West Africa, the route from Gola Rainforest to Tiwai Island brings primate calls and river islands into the day's rhythm. The Simien Mountains National Park contains escarpments and grasslands with long-ranging views that change with the light, while the Congo-Nile Trail in the Great Lakes region mixes lake shore with cultivated hillsides. East Africa contributes emerald glades and blue pools in the Ngare Ndare Forest, and the Mulanje Grand Traverse in the south turns a granite massif into a multi-day expedition. Island walking appears again among the Grands Circuits, a term that covers extended tours with a feel for volcanic amphitheatres, and desert becomes a companion on the Tok Tokkie Trails, which make good use of dawn and dusk. Finally, the Otter Trail threads coastal forest, river mouth and rock platform into a five-day sequence that rewards steady attention to tide and weather.
Asia: High Ranges and Subcontinent
Asia carries some of the world's highest ranges and a great many quieter corners as well. The Ak-Suu Transverse traverses alpine meadows and passes with a steady progression that makes sense on a map as well as underfoot, while the K2 Base Camp Trek adds moraine and glacier travel to the repertoire for those with the time and stamina. India and its neighbours provide further contrasts, from the Chhattisgarh Jungle Trek with its village-to-village intimacy to the Valley of Flowers where monsoon-fed meadows frame a short season of blossoms. South across the Palk Strait, World's End and Baker's Falls combine cliff-edge viewpoints with shaded sections that keep temperatures tolerable. The Langtang Valley shows how a single valley can be enough for a week of walking, and the Druk Path steps between lakes and ridges to link two Bhutanese towns across high ground.
Asia: East and Southeast
Further east and south-east, tropical limestone and island summits sit beside urban long-distance routes. Thailand's Tab Kak Hang Nak Nature Trail earns its viewpoint with a warm climb through forest; Kulen Mountain in Cambodia mixes jungle paths with relics and riverbeds; and the Viet Hai Trail on Cát Bà Island introduces karst scenery from a human scale. In the Philippines, the Batad Rice Terrace Trail uses centuries-old engineering to shape a route, while the MacLehose Trail in Hong Kong and the Teapot Trail in Taiwan show how metropolitan areas can leave room for multi-day walking. Mainland China maintains massive walls that double as routes in their own right, and the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trail remains a classic high balcony above one of Asia's great rivers. To the north, the Great Baikal Trail links villages and bays with Siberian water and taiga as constant companions, the Seoul City Wall Trail traces history along a ridge of fortifications, and Japan provides both the primeval forests around Mount Miyanoura and the sweeping shoreline of the Michinoku Coastal Trail as study in contrast.
Australia
Australia's choice spans Indian Ocean capes, sandstone escarpments and long South Australian ridgelines. The Cape to Cape makes a point of coastal geology and surf along the Margaret River region, while the Barrk Sandstone Walk turns a loop over ancient rock country where galleries and lookouts appear in turn. The Heysen Trail ranges for many weeks through wine country, ranges and mallee, and the Grampians Peak Trail gathers the highlights of a serrated mountain chain into a well-defined traverse. Cooler air and button grass arrive with Dove Lake-Cradle Mountain, a circuit that frames a well-known crag, and the K'gari (Fraser Island) Great Walk makes use of island lakes, dunes and forest tracks to craft inland and coastal days. New South Wales contributes the Solitary Islands Coastal Walk, which links headlands, beaches and lagoons with regular public transport options for shorter sections.
New Zealand
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand takes the idea of single-day highlights and longer undertakings and offers a choice of both. The Rakiura Track sets a gentle rhythm on Stewart Island with bays and bush, while the Hooker Valley Track presents a straightforward approach towards ice and moraine under Aoraki's shadow. Multi-day classics such as the Milford Track and the Queen Charlotte Track combine boat landings with high passes or ridgeline strolling, and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing guides walkers through an active volcanic zone of craters, lakes and pumice. The Lake Waikaremoana Track completes the picture with a journey along a forested shore and over a bluff-backed ridge that looks out across a broad inland sea.
Conclusion
One issue with a compilation such as this one is that you almost know you cannot walk every trail that it includes. In short, you have to pick and choose, since it is all too easy for a mind to range around a planet compared to the realities of getting a body about it. Speaking of realities, there were places featured that are not as accessible as they once were; these have been removed. While some magazines feature such places (I encountered examples in issues of Wanderlust and Wired for Adventure), albeit with caveats, that is not what I do on here. Also, there are more hiking and walking trails in the world than are featured above, meaning that going deeper forsakes any sense of depth, and that is more than acceptable too.
Journal keeping
14th September 2018 One thing that I do not keep myself is a written diary, though photos from various outings act as prompts for my memory at times. Until his health no longer allowed him, my late father used to keep a diary and often referred to it when trying to unearth what happened on a particular day. After his passing, they were put somewhere more discreet for the sake of maintaining a sense of dignity.
It is not recent encounters with lapses of memory that has brought this to mind but recent reading. Over the summer, I caught up with Chris Townsend's Rattlesnakes and Bald Eagles, where a long hike along the Pacific Crest Trail from thirty years before was recounted lucidly. That was followed by Hamish's Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown, where mentions of journal keeping appear in a narrative that includes reminiscences from twenty or so preceding years of wandering about Scotland's hills. Going back further in time, I then read Mary T. S. Schäffer's Old Indian Trails of the Canadian Rockies, where journal keeping again must have made the retelling of summer expeditions from several years before a little bit more successful.
Thinking about it now, I find myself wondering just how much travel writing needs a supporting diary or journal to make it work. Currently, I am making my way through Bradt's Roam Alone, with its tales of solo travelling that read so fresh that you have to wonder if some contemporary notes assisted the various short stories.
All this probably should make me consider if scribbling a few notes at the end of each excursion might be worthwhile, given how long I have tended to leave things before writing them on here. It is true that less adventurous rambles leave less of an imprint on anyone's memory, as I found with one more recent trip report, so that might be a hint that new experiences should be sought on a continuing basis. Meanwhile, my memory often beats others, and that might explain how I never got thinking these thoughts before now.
Life's journey has followed that trail in recent years and new things have been tried. Maybe, it might be no harm to keep doing that with my wanderings too. Revisiting old haunts brings satisfaction, but exploring new places keeps things from feeling stale. Adventurous thoughts lead to roaming North America, New Zealand or Australia in my mind's eye, yet there are other possibilities closer to hand. It is a matter of making some time to uncover them and then make the most of what is there.
Of anniversaries and birthdays
7th May 2018 A warm sunny bank holiday weekend may be a rare thing but I have not been lured out and about. In any event, temperatures have risen a little too high for what I call comfortable walking and other preoccupations have overtaken me. Still, they have not been all-consuming so I have not passed the twelfth anniversary of my setting up this blog after a May Day bank holiday trip to Scotland that took in Lochaber, Inverness and highland Perthshire. Sometime in June (the actual date itself is lost to me) marks the twentieth anniversary of my setting up a website for the first time and November is when my public transport website reaches its tenth birthday.
It goes without saying that a lot has happened during these time intervals. Family and work circumstances have changed while my explorations of hill country have become more international; the process of recounting my Norwegian wanderings is an ongoing project. There have been new beginnings and false starts but life has continued in its many ups and downs. The need for constant supply of new and happy memories has been made plain to me as my explorations continue.
Finally, I have got to reading Graham Wilson's Climbing Down and I have other books by the same author to keep me going after that. Guidebooks to parts of North America as well as New Zealand have been perused in the off chance that my wanderings may become intercontinental. Canada's western reaches have their scenic allure together with a hint of danger added by the presence of bears and other wild creatures. It is my intention that those readings continue as I rediscover the necessity of reading books from cover to cover in place of dipping in and out of certain sections. Any way that adds an extra overview has its place. They have added thoughts of visiting Vancouver Island and the Canadian Rockies while any prospect of going as far as New Zealand is more of a long shot.
Before all that, there is a possible venture in my working life that will need setting up if it comes to pass. Once such a thing is place and things are more settled, my hope is that my outdoor explorations will continue. After all, May is the best time of year in Britain and Ireland and I hardly want to let that slip by me if I can help it. Longer outdoors outings may not have happened since February for a variety of reasons but there should be more of the year left for such pursuits. Life's adventure continues.
Additions, revisions and other diversions
19th August 2016 With things weighing on my mind, this has not been a summer full of getaways like the one two years ago, though local walks and outings have been known to happen. Last summer was one full of cycling, and this one has not gone like that for a number of reasons.
That is not to imply that there have been no thoughts about trips away, and I am wondering about a mid-winter getaway while pondering what 2017 might hold. Things might remain uncertain for me, but looking through magazines to collect website links has been setting me to thinking. Some of these have been outdoors magazines while others have been travel ones, so quite a selection has built up for clearance, and I am glad to have filed things away for most of the backlog by now.
Most of these pertain to visitor information that I am filing away for reference as well as adding to the travel section of the website, and some trails have been added to the More Outdoor Activities Inspiration page. There are some that don't fit as easily and ones like Get Ireland Walking, Britain on Foot, and Walking for Health fitting into the activity encouragement category, something that I probably need at the moment. Then, there are conservation organisations like Buglife, RSPB, BirdLife International, Scottish Wildcats, Vincent Wildlife, Vincent Wildlife Ireland, Scottish Beavers and Hedgelink UK that I also found in Ramblers' Walk magazine. These are a reminder that we cannot forget about the natural world about us, no matter what comes our way in life.
Another diversion has been a BBC documentary series on New Zealand, a country that I would not mind seeing, even if the distance there means that it is not an essential destination for me. Still, it is good to see what is there if it appears to be a greener counterpart of Iceland in many ways. My mind is getting used to roving around the world now, but I still should rove about Britain and Ireland when the opportunities arise. They may have a use in soothing my spirit over the coming months.
Released?
9th February 2015 As anyone with elderly parents should know, life can be a roller coaster ride when their health declines. It certainly has felt that way over the last few years for my family and me. However, escaping out into the countryside has helped in its own way when dealing with life's rougher moments. Getting through December 2012 certainly called for those head clearing escapes, be they into Tatton Park near Knutsford in Cheshire or along Irish country lanes. Both of my parents were frail then, with my mother having been shaken up by a hospital visit and my father's strength in free fall since the summer. By Christmas, he really needed to be in a nursing home but mentioning the subject only resulted in angry exchanges. It took a brush with death due to a kidney infection for the matter to be forced and the issue to get resolved as it needed to be. He still was not intent on staying where he had to be, and it was a nice place too, so no one could relax and a walk along the Macclesfield Canal between Congleton and Macclesfield as well as a shorter stroll around Buxton were well needed.
What really changed everything was my mother's passing away not so long before what would have been her eighty-first birthday and the loss was a raw one that not only resulted in next to daily evening walks by the River Bollin but also had me venturing further afield is search of a spot of solace. April 2013 saw me make two trips to Derbyshire; the area was to see me more than any other in that year. The of those April visits had me encountering banks of snow left over from a late winter as I hiked from Hayfield to Glossop, rounding Kinder Scout from below as I did so. The weather was much milder later in the month when I embarked on a circular yomp from Bakewell that took in both Ashford-in-the-Water and Monsal Dale. These were followed in June by a walk from Bamford to Edale that took in the southern edge of the Kinder Scout plateau and a walk from Monyash to Bakewell via Lathkill Dale. That last big walk of the year had me passing swollen rivers too; it had been a month of heavy rain and much flooding. A July escape to Fort William that took in Glen Coe and Glenfinnan could not have been more different with its sweltering temperatures and dry sunny weather. There also were sunlit walks from the Cat and Fiddle Inn back to my home that took in Shining Tor and Lamaload Reservoir. The first of these took me onto Rainow and Bollington, while I passed close to Shutlingsloe on the second.
The combination of the scare that began 2013 and the loss of our mother meant that I tended to be more precious about my father; I suspect that my brother probably felt the same. The sense that pervaded most of 2013 was that we could lose him sooner rather than later. It sounds churlish to say it now, but I started to wonder in the light of my father living longer than we might have expected if it was not before time to abandon any putting of my life on hold that there might have been. That does not imply that there was any sense of abandonment because, if anything, my visits to Ireland became more frequent. For much of 2014, I crossed the Irish Sea on a monthly basis.
In between those, though, I began to get out and about again; last summer saw me make three visits to the Lake District. The first was to Buttermere when I crossed the top of Haystacks, while the second facilitated a walk from Patterdale to Grasmere that went over the top of St. Sunday Crag and the last revisited Orrest Head and Loughrigg Fell. January and November saw me spend time around Llantysilio Mountain near Llangollen. Of these, the first trip enjoyed bright sunshine all day and the weather disintegrating to spells of rain while I was up high during the second. That makes an excuse for another return sometime, though I did get more than a little compensation from spending some time by the Mawddach estuary near Barmouth the next day. There were more Welsh visits though: a summer solstice one that visited Ysgyryd Fawr and Sugar Loaf near Abergavenny and a September retracing of steps between Rhossili and Port-Eynon in glorious weather. Yorkshire too saw a visit before the Tour de France did: that took in Pateley Bridge and Brimham Rocks in Nidderdale on a largely grey day. Northumberland was paid a visit during October, with the delights of the coastline around Bamburgh being sampled on a day that felt more like it belonged to summer. Local trots around Macclesfield were not neglected either; Alderley Edge and Hare Hill got two visits. A pesky Jack Russell terrier took a set on my left leg the first time around so a hospital visit was advised and no such intrusion was experienced the second time around, though I could have done with more sun.
There was more to my normalisation; a bike trainer was put to good use to see if my fitness could be bettered. The second half of 2014 also had my father see a good run of health that lasted until last month. Though there was a smaller scare in February 2014, things steadied after that. Still, he was growing weaker as I found during last Christmas and I returned to Britain before New Year sensing that we might be on the cusp of a big change of some sort. In fact, I also wondered to myself how he would fare if he caught an infection. That question was about to get an answer only weeks later. A heavy chest infection was to confine him to bed after a traumatic experience when the nursing home thought him strong enough to sit up in a chair for a while. With that in mind, I made what, I thought, was a flying weekend visit in case there were to any further developments. Much of Saturday was spent with him; my brother came later than I did. When we left, he was comfortable enough for us to think that a peaceful night was in store. When that changed after midnight, we dashed to the home. By the time that we got there, he had breathed his last only moments before. While some would find that heartbreaking, the final peace is what I recall. That his suffering had ended was more important than we might have felt.
A word said during one of the many conversations we had with others over the ensuing days remains with me: release. My brother and I felt it while nearby neighbours were stunned by our father's departure; they surely felt it more than we did; some were crying on the phone to us. There may be another factor: we both had our homes and our lives, while they see breakage in a continuity that they held dear. Also, the period with our father allowed us to come to terms with where things were going and have a partial glimpse of where things would go after he went. Of course, there are ups and downs as well as twists and turns of which we know nothing yet. The turbulence within me after my mother's passing has not come after my father's and there are times when I wonder why, though that is not to see that there was no weeping or no jabs of the heartstrings. Maybe it's that sense of release again.
Though there are matters that need attending yet, my mind also is starting to explore possibilities too. Visits to Ireland are sure to continue, albeit not at the same frequency and certainly not with the same purposes as before, though you hardly can abandon your relatives or former neighbours. There may be opportunities to visit places in Connemara, Mayo, Donegal or Wicklow that I have yet to see. That would be continuing something that they did after their own parents were deceased, when there were many trips to Kerry and West Cork. Some of those gave me the love of hill country scenery that has taken me around so much of Britain and the Isle of Man. Over the past weekend, I was strolling around old haunts in Edinburgh like Blackford Hill, Bruntsfield Links and The Meadows before crossing over to newer haunts like Dean Village and Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens. Except for the occasional incursion of rogue clouds, there was enough sun shining on me throughout to inspire ruminations on the possibility of spending a week in the city sometime. Even in a place like Edinburgh, there was much opportunity to wander down memory lane (I graduated from one of the city's universities) and have time and space to yourself if you needed it. Nearer destinations will remain attractive in a new life situation.
Speaking of memories, there is one that returns to my mind when I mention Edinburgh, since I gained a research degree in a science subject while there. My parents were hoping that I would find a job in Ireland afterwards, only for the world of science to be an international one, especially if you fancy a career in academic research. Some of my contemporaries gained post-doctoral jobs in the U.S. and that option did appeal to me not a little. The phrase "seeing the world" came to my notice and sharing it while on a trip back to Ireland must have tugged rather too strongly on parental heartstrings, for I was asked to leave such designs until after they were gone. Now that youthful naivety has been displaced by realism, I now am amazed at the sorts of thoughts that went through my mind back then, especially when after experiencing more of the delights of Britain and Ireland.
Even so, that is not to imply that I am not tempted by foreign destinations. Since the likes of the mountains of Canada or New Zealand or the American Rockies may be a step too far, other spots in Europe have a certain allure. For instance, business trips to Sweden appear to have cultivated a soft spot for Scandinavian destinations such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark or Iceland. There are areas of hilly and mountainous country in three of those. Any juxtaposition of mountain and coast is a stunning combination, too, as many photos of Norwegian fjords will evince. That brings its own reminder of the Faroe Islands; their compactness could help any explorations. Going there would build on a 2008 escapade that to Scotland's Western Isles and the islands of Orkney and Shetland have not missed my attention either. To return to the continental European theme, though, you cannot overlook the Alps or the Pyrenees, either. Yet, even they are but some of the mountainous regions on the continent that get mentioned in walking magazines from time to time.
None of this means that responsibilities are about to be overlooked. Sometimes, it does feel that you can make new obstacles for yourself, too. The ones that appear of their own accord are enough for anyone; life after my parents will bring its ups and downs soon enough. In between, pondering those other destinations may bring its own comfort, while realising that short visits only uncover so much. After all, I lived in Edinburgh for over four years and still have parts of it to see anew, along with those nooks and crannies that I continue to revisit. As ever, only time will reveal what comes to pass and what adventures may be had yet.
