More Outdoor Activities Inspiration

Here, you find collections of websites that are not easier to feature elsewhere, yet they offer inspiration when nothing else will do. The selection changes over time, so there is no harm in rechecking what stays and what is new.

Worldwide

What you tend to find here are walking route websites with a global reach. Naturally, anything user submitted needs to be taken with a little caution, and it can be too easy to follow a GPS track recorded by someone else when what really is needed is the hiking of one’s own hike. We cannot all be copycats.

Irish Walking

For too long, I near enough neglected the hiking delights in my home country. That has changed since the pandemic, and the trend may be set to continue due to ongoing business in Munster. A return to Connemara is overdue, and there are plenty of other possibilities in Mayo, Sligo and Donegal too. After those, there also are the Wicklow and Dublin Mountains, as well as the Mourne Mountains in County Down.

British Walking

England is where I started hiking before it extended to Scotland and Wales too. However, each tends to treated separately when it comes to route information, apart from some exceptions like you find below.

English Walking

Living in Macclesfield means that a lot of hill country is accessible on a day trip. Naturally, there is the Peak District, but the reach includes the Lake District and the Yorkshire. At a push, it is possible to get to the North York Moors or Northumberland too. However, it is too big an ask to do the same for Exmoor or Dartmoor, so those areas remain outside my spectrum of exploration.

Welsh Walking

As I said above, living in Macclesfield makes countless walking getaways possible. That also includes Wales, where so much of the place is either hilly or mountainous. While getting to these using public transport can be a bit tricky at times, there still is plenty from which to choose and all can host return visits.

Scottish Walking

For a long time, Scotland was my life haven. It became a place to escape from life’s trials, at least for a while. Even though the course of life has changed that impression, it remains a part of the world for which I have a soft spot. There are many happy memories of wandering among hills and on islands that prompt desires to return.

Walking Other Parts of Europe

Only in 2015 did I start hiking around other parts of Europe beyond Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man. While that got paused by the recent pandemic, a tentative restart was made last year with a day trip to Saint-Malo from Jersey. Otherwise, I have traipsed around parts of Scandinavia, the Alps and Spanish sunshine islands. All of it has added up, yet there is more to explore.

North American Hiking

If there had not been a pandemic, I might have made several visits to North America by now. July 2020 could have seen me go to Colorado, for instance. However, it remains limited to British Columbia for now, even if the prospect of furthering this remains.

Hiking Elsewhere

Cycling

Though I cycled a lot in 2020, my enthusiasm has been curbed by busy roads and a lack of trust in bicycle brakes, added nervousness in effect. It may be difficult to believe now that this once was my chosen way of exploring the world around me. Realities hit one August evening in 2000, and I took to walking in its stead much of the time since then. The slower pace helps with imbibe what envelops one and avoids all the talk of mechanical and fitness matters that otherwise intrude. It helps that walking is a gentler culture, too.

Outdoor Discoveries