On my last trip to Britain, in 2014, I went with three objectives. The first, to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats.(LEJOG) This is an iconic bike trip that takes about 2 weeks, traversing from the extreme South to the very north of Britain. LEJOG has been done thousands of times, I was going to do it fast (for me), and so I had my best high-end bike.

And then I was going to cycle down to Glen-Eagles in Scotland to meet with my son and his family to watch the Ryder Cup. Finally I would carry on cycling back and forth south from Scotland to London to end my 2 month trip.

This plan went awry when, on my second day, the best bicycle I’ve ever had was stolen while I was watching Shakespeare at the Globe Theater in London. After a fretful evening castigating myself a new plan emerged.

I headed out in the morning to find different maps and better walking shoes, and I bought a train ticket to the Lake District where I had a wonderful 10 days walking the fells.

I then connected with Owen at the Ryder Cup. He had brought me another bicycle from home so I still had almost a month biking in Northern and Central England parts of Scotland and Wales. Other than the stolen bike this was great trip, I very much enjoyed the countryside, the walking, the biking, the people, the pubs and the history. And so, I’m going back.

In preparation for this trip I pulled up my blog from 2014. It is quite extensive, but you might find it interesting to read some of it. I did, and it has encouraged me to make entries this time as well. (2014 Britain Blog)

So I’m heading off to in effect continue 2014. However this time my primary mode of travel will be a Britrail Pass. I will focus mostly on Southern England but possibly popping around to visit a few other cities and places that I have not been. Possibly I’ll pop up to the Lake District to walk a bit if the urge coincides with the weather.

When not on the train I will be walking. In 2014 I was still fairly driven and could walk and bike fairly well. At 84 I am sad to say things have slowed down a bit. One test for me is whether or not I can adjust to the difference and still find ways of satisfying my need for a little bit of adventure. That need didn’t suffer the same deterioration as my body.

I will do a little photography, but I am only taking a small camera and a few light lenses. I probably won’t include any photos in my posts until I get home. I will search out historical sights, places of literary interest, scenic countryside and villages. Getting to walking regions will be high on my agenda but a bit of a challenge will be using public transport to get to trailheads. Responding to interesting opportunities that pop up is probably what I am most relishing.

Hopefully I will be able to post some interesting experiences…