The plan

The aim is to make a slow road trip around (much of) the Atlantic coast of Europe. After many years of meticulous advance planning of holidays as breaks from work the idea of this trip is to explore a different way of travelling – without a plan except an approximate route and time-scale. We will travel from North to South, starting in Shetland, taking in the West coasts of Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal. We will interpret “Atlantic coast” broadly and will miss bits out, as the fancy takes us. We are setting off on 24^th April and expect to return by mid-October, but we might be quicker or slower or decide to go home before we reach the end: the Mediterranean.  

This is the place where I will record interesting things that we come across. (I don’t intend to document the process of making the journey or its organisation, although that might creep in if it turns out to be interesting.) Our route provides the opportunity to explore and compare the way people and places have adapted to facing the same big ocean. I expect that I might write about (and/or post photos showing) landscape (beaches, cliffs, the sea itself…); swimming (later on); art, craft and music; history (industry, migration, trade…) and perhaps even sunsets, lighthouses, “most westerly points”, the eating of fish or sightings of otters …. But let’s see.