Step Green

Lonely Tree

I think I had a very productive day off, I walked 11 miles this afternoon after having a lovely lie in.  I also managed to get this wonderful picture of a lonely lovers tree on Cleeve Hill.

I also found that I need to get a compass, new combats with big pockets and a water pack for my bag sooner rather than later.  If it wasn’t for some very big radio masts I would of probably carried on walking for another 5 miles before I realised I was going the wrong way.

My new walking boots

If my walking boots still look pristine like this in 12 months then I will be ashamed, as I will obviously of not have walked far enough!

Finally got paid on Friday, after a very long wait.  Meaning that I could buy some new walking boots.  This is great news for me because now I can start walking for longer distances in the evenings and soon the weekends.  Which brings me to the other good news, I will soon only be working 5 days a week.  This opens up the weekends to start getting some longer walks in.  I hope to be able to start camping as well at the weekends with in the next 6 weeks.

Photographic

• Camera body
• Camera lens
• Tripod legs
• Tripod head
• Lens cleaner
• Lens cloth
• 3 camera batteries
• 3 memory cards
• Camera strap
• Tripod strap
• UV Filter
• Camera battery charger
• Paper pad
• Pencil/Pen
• Sealable plastic bags
• Duct tape

Travel

• Combats/shorts
• Waterproof trousers
• Rucksack
• Base layer (top)
• Insulation layer (top)
• Waterproof coat
• Walking socks
• Walking boots
• Bumbag w/ money
• Plastic bags

Sleeping

• Tent
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat
• Sleeping socks
• Sleeping bottoms
• Sleeping top
• Lantern

Location

• Map
• Compass
• Whistle
• Mobile
• Mobile charger

Hygiene

• Trowel
• Toilet role
• Towel
• Soap bar
• Tooth brush
• Tooth paste
• Antihistamines
• Antiseptic wipes
• Plasters
• Thermal blanket
• Bandages
• Paracetamol

Nutrition (Trips in the UK wont have to worry too much about food and water.)

• Energy bars
• Lightweight food
• Waterpack
• Stove
• Gas
• Pan
• Spoon
• Survival matches
• Tool

I now have two jobs and I am working seven days a week now.  It is unlikely that I will get a day off for atleast 2 - 3 weeks.  I am going to hand my notice in for my weekend job but it is going to be a hard slog until I finish that job, after talking to my manager I have found that I will have to give 4 weeks notice.

Training wise I plan to walk an hour each day Monday to Friday as my week day job is office bound and I can see myself getting out of shape quite easily if I dont exercise at all.  At the weekends before my shift starts I will go for longer walks in the mornings.

Next update will hopefully be either an equipment list for my short to medium trips and a route planned out for the Cotwolds walk.

Currently I plan to walk:

1. Cotwolds (training trip*),
2. Norfolk Broads (training trip*),
3. Pembrokeshire Coast (training trip*),
4. Isle of Man (promotional trip**),
5. Ireland (First long distance trip***),
6. UK (Lands End to John O’Groats***).

All these trips are to raise awareness in sustainability issues through the use of photography, and the simple fact I will be walking such long distances.

* The training trips are aimed  to improve my knowledge of navigation, photography, camping and general survival skills.  I do of course have to plan these trips around work and after I have all my essential equipment.  I will release the images via the website for public viewing.

** The promotional trip is aimed at getting sponsors for the long distance walks I plan to undertake.  This time I will release the images in an ebook downloadable for free from the Step Green website.  This will serve as a sample for the possible publications I could produce from the long distance walks.

*** The long distance walks will hopefully start in 2009 after some considerable training and planning.  The fruits of these trips will be photographic books of each country I cross by foot.