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Three years ago, Eva Outram arrived in Jordan having just spent 23 days alone in the Canadian wilderness filming Alone. She was coming back to normal life and trying to work out what she wanted to do next. Then she found herself walking through the deserts of Jordan. Eva spent seven days on the Jordan Trail, starting in Wadi Rum and eventually reaching the Red Sea at Aqaba. Along the way there were enormous landscapes, deep sand, 36°C heat, cold nights, sandstorms, shooting stars, traditional food, mint tea and some unexpected warnings about snakes and scorpions. But the trip became more than just another adventure. Being removed from everyday life gave Eva the space to think about what she wanted from her life and career. Three years later, she's left the NHS, retrained in a range of outdoor skills and founded Wilder Horizons, a women-led adventure organisation. In this episode we talk about: Waking up in Wadi Rum and feeling as though she'd landed on another planetWhat it's actually like to walk through the Jordanian desertWater, heat and walking through deep sandGetting caught in sandstormsSleeping under some of the world's best night skiesThe people she met along the trailThe simplicity of life on a long-distance trailWhy walking can give you the distance to see your life differentlyThe moment she decided to leave the NHSAnd the one moment from the Jordan Trail she'd go back and relive About Eva Eva is an outdoor instructor and founder of Wilder Horizons, a women-led not-for-profit adventure organisation offering bushcraft, nature connection and outdoor experiences for women. Wilder Horizons About Notes From Big Trails Notes From Big Trails is a podcast about walking, adventure and the people who go looking for something beyond the everyday. Each episode follows someone who has taken on a big trail or adventure and explores what happened along the way. If listening to this podcast has got you thinking of your next adventure, we'd love to help. Visit Big Trail Adventures to plan your next big trip.

The Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay Rounds are three of Britain's great mountain running challenges. Each is roughly 60 miles long, climbs thousands of metres and has traditionally been treated as a lifetime achievement in its own right. James decided to run all three twice. He completed the Double Bob Graham in the Lake District, the Double Paddy Buckley in Snowdonia and the Double Charlie Ramsay in the Scottish Highlands — all within six months, setting the fastest known time for each. Across the three challenges, he covered more than 350 miles and climbed around 50,000 metres. But the numbers only tell part of the story. In this conversation, James explains what it feels like to be moving through the mountains for 40 or 50 hours, what happens to your mind after a second night without sleep, and why he sometimes sees Roman numerals and faces in the rocks. We talk about the 60-plus-mile-an-hour winds that battered him on the Paddy Buckley, the moment he realised his 48-hour target was slipping away, and the support runner who drove across the country to help someone he'd never met before. We also talk about the final ten minutes of the Double Ramsay, why James actually enjoys climbing when he's exhausted, and what keeps drawing him back to increasingly difficult challenges. And, inevitably, we finish by talking about what's next. James is planning to spend this winter attempting to complete a self-propelled Munro Round in around 50–60 days. It seems that the Double Trilogy wasn't the end of the story after all. In this episode: What the Bob Graham, Paddy Buckley and Charlie Ramsay Rounds involveWhy James decided to double all threeWhat 50 hours on the mountains actually feels likeSleep deprivation and hallucinationsRunning through extreme weatherThe importance of support runnersThe ten-minute finish on the Double RamsayThe mental side of ultra-distance runningWhy James loves these wild placesHis next challenge: a winter Munro Round

Fast-packing the Tour du Mont Blanc — twice The Tour du Mont Blanc is one of Europe's classic long-distance trails, taking you through France, Italy and Switzerland around the Mont Blanc massif. Beth Langley has done it twice — both times in four days. The first time was in 2022, when she took on the TMB solo as a personal challenge. The second was in 2025, when she returned with her boyfriend Arthur to recce the route for the UTMB race. In this episode, we get into what it actually feels like to fast-pack the TMB rather than hike it over the more typical 10–12 days. Beth explains how she splits her time between power-hiking the climbs and running the descents, what it's like to spend up to 12 hours a day moving through the mountains, and how you keep yourself moving when you've still got a big climb ahead and your legs are already tired. We also talk about the unexpected pleasures of the TMB — including some excellent refuge food — and the joys of discovering that a second T-shirt is apparently unnecessary. But the conversation takes a more interesting turn when we compare Beth's two trips. Doing the TMB solo gave her a particular sense of achievement and self-reliance. She talks about how knowing she had set herself a difficult challenge and completed it gave her confidence that carried back into everyday life, including through the harder moments of her PhD. We also discuss the difference between racing and having an adventure, why the TMB is more accessible than its reputation might suggest, and why Beth would happily go back for a third time. What fast-packing the TMB actually looks like Power-hiking the climbs and running the descents Four days and some very long days on the trail Why the TMB isn't just for ultra runners The best views — and the moments that make you stop What Beth learned from doing the route solo The difference between fast-packing and racing Why doing something difficult on your own can build confidence French mountain food and the question of whether you really need a second T-shirt Would Beth do the TMB for a third time? If this episode leaves you thinking, I want to do that, you don't necessarily need to start with the Alps. Beth's advice is simple: get out into the mountains in the UK first. The Lake District and Scotland are a pretty good playground. Plan your own adventure at bigtrailadventures.com.

What would happen if you set off alone to walk the entire length of Europe? Kit Birks found out. She spent 343 days walking from Nordkapp in northern Norway to Gavdos, the southernmost point of Greece, covering more than 5,000 miles. She spent 308 days walking completely alone, often carrying around 20–23kg and sometimes going for days without seeing another person. But the walk wasn't simply an attempt to complete an enormous endurance challenge. Kit was using it to raise awareness of suicide prevention, drawing on her own experiences of mental illness, addiction and recovery. She wanted to turn advocacy into activism and use an adventure big enough to get people talking. In this episode, Kit talks about the reality of life on the trail: waking up alone in the Arctic, walking 20 miles a day, dealing with swollen rivers and knee-deep snow, and carrying a pack that could weigh 23kg. She also talks openly about loneliness and solitude, the terrifying moments when being alone became genuinely dangerous, and the point in Austria when her mental health deteriorated so badly that she stopped for three weeks and realised she needed help. Asking for that help, she says, was one of the bravest things she has ever done. And then there are the people she met along the way — strangers who offered food, water, shelter and companionship, including a German couple who drove to meet her and walked with her through Slovenia and Croatia with their four dogs. Kit also explains why she believes getting outside can help when you're struggling with your mental health. For her, walking doesn't magically cure anything. It gives the brain space to slow down and notice something beyond the negative thoughts — a bird, leaves moving in the wind, or simply the beauty of the world around you. It's an extraordinary story about walking across a continent. But ultimately, it's a conversation about fear, recovery, loneliness, resilience, kindness and what happens when an adventure becomes bigger than the person who set out to do it. See more from Kit at https://www.instagram.com/kitbirks/ and support Stride Beyond Silence here. To find out how to do your own solo adventure, head to https://bigtrailadventures.com/solo-friendly

Lisa Herbert took on Wainwright's Coast to Coast as a seven-day trail run. In this conversation we talk about why solo adventures can become life-changing, how grief reshaped Lisa's relationship with running, and why spending several days on a trail helped her find a sense of peace she'd struggled to find elsewhere. We also discuss: Why she chose the Coast to Coast as training for a 100-mile ultra.Running almost 200 miles in seven days.The brutal weather crossing the Lake District.Losing a trekking pole in a mountain stream.Why she never once wished she was back at work.The unexpected conversations with strangers along the trail.Why fitness isn't the biggest factor in completing a long-distance trail.What it really feels like to take on a big adventure alone. If you're considering walking or running the Coast to Coast yourself, Big Trail Adventures creates personalised self-guided itineraries, organises accommodation, luggage transfers and navigation, and helps you build a trip that matches the pace you want to travel. Find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

What makes someone decide to run 400 miles around the Cornish coast? For Elsey Davis, the answer wasn't simply to chase a Fastest Known Time. After her mum was diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer's, she found herself looking for a way to channel grief into something positive. The result was an extraordinary six-day journey around the entire Cornish coastline, raising money, raising awareness, and discovering that some adventures change far more than your fitness. In this episode we talk about the planning behind the challenge, how her body coped with six consecutive days of huge mileage, why the inland section proved tougher than the coast, and the emotional finish alongside her mum at Land's End. It's a conversation about resilience, purpose and the remarkable things people can achieve when they have a powerful reason to keep moving.

The overnight camp at the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon must be one of the best places in the world.  The shared stories from the day bring everyone together in a way that you don’t really experience in other areas of your life - getting lost in the cloud, the various degrees of ankle pain from contouring around hills and doing battle with tussocks, the happy realisation that there’s life beyond footpaths.  It all adds up to the joy of spending time outside. We talk about: The best food to eat between Saunders daysThe difference that route choice can make on the hillThe joy found in partners on the trailHow the Saunders has become a family tradition that spans entire generations and ages.Love and loss and how people find connection on the hills. Follow & Support If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a rating or review on your podcast platform of choice. Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

What happens when a race stops feeling like competition and starts feeling like exploration? In this episode, Rob talks to trail runner and author Scott Williams about taking on the Swiss Peaks 360 — a multi-day ultra across the Swiss Alps involving huge climbs, sleep deprivation, technical mountain terrain and six days on the move. But this conversation goes well beyond racing. Scott shares why he keeps returning to difficult places, the surprising role of kindness and support, what happens when normal life falls away for a few days, and why adventure doesn’t need to be extreme to change us. We talk about: What the Swiss Peaks 360 actually involvesWhy Scott attempted it twiceThe extraordinary mountain landscapes that stayed with himRacing without rushingThe people who carried him through difficult momentsUnexpected challenges on the route (including one memorable bog)The “day five effect” and how time outdoors changes perceptionBringing lessons from the trail back into everyday lifeWhy you don’t need a 380km race to experience adventure Scott is also the author of Swimming Through Rocks. Follow & Support If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a rating or review on your podcast platform of choice. Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

This week’s guest is Rick Clark. Rick joins me to talk about walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path — a week-long journey covering around 186 miles of coastline from Amroth to St Dogmaels. Walking south to north, Rick covered big days carrying a full pack and wild camped for much of the route, balancing the practical challenges of water, recovery and finding camp spots with the simplicity that long-distance walking brings. We talk about: • Why the Pembrokeshire Coast Path feels different to other long-distance trails• Walking 25–30 mile days with a loaded pack• Sharing the opening days of the journey with his son• Companionable silence and conversations that only seem to happen on trails• First experiences of wild camping and learning systems as you go• Finding places you would otherwise never stop in• Water, feet and the surprisingly important role of foot cream• How fitness doesn’t automatically translate into long-distance walking• Wildlife, sunsets and sleeping beside the sea• Why the end of a trail isn’t always the best part Trail fact file: The trailThe Pembrokeshire Coast Path DistanceAround 186 miles / 300km Start / FinishAmroth → St Dogmaels (or reverse) How long does it take?Many walkers take around 10–15 days. Rick completed it in 7. TerrainCoastal trail with frequent climbs and descents, grassy cliff paths, beaches, occasional road sections and excellent waymarking. Wild campingNot officially permitted in most places — always check current guidance and follow leave-no-trace principles. Enjoyed the episode? Follow Notes From Big Trails and leave a review — it really helps other listeners find the show. Find more at bigtrailadventures.com.

In this episode, Rob speaks with Bodil Oudshoorn and Ross Brannigan about their seven-day journey on Peru’s Alpamayo Circuit in the Cordillera Blanca. Carrying around 16kg each — including a full week of food — they crossed multiple high passes above 4,500 metres, wild camped throughout the route and spent days without seeing another hiker. The conversation explores the realities of trekking at altitude, the logistics of self-supported travel, the impact of isolation, and the moments that stay with you long after the trip ends. Along the way they talk about: Seeing Alpamayo emerge through cloud for the first timeWhy the first three days nearly ended the tripSleeping above 4,000 metresMeeting Quechua farming communities in the mountainsCondors, hummingbirds and collapsing glaciersCarrying seven days of food through the AndesWhat adventure teaches you about resilience and partnership Route Facts Route: Alpamayo Circuit, PeruRegion: Cordillera Blanca, AndesDistance: Approx. 120kmDuration: 7 daysHighest passes: Over 4,500 metresStyle: Self-supported wild campingResupply points: NoneDirection walked: Anti-clockwise Follow & Support If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a rating or review on your podcast platform of choice. Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

Elise Downing ran 87 miles of the Ridgeway in three days in 2020, between lockdowns, with her friend Sophie. Their two friends, Ange and Oscar, walked the same daily distances - the same format the four had tried on the West Highland Way two years earlier, when Ange and Oscar bailed after day two. We talk about why running suits the less-scenic sections, the feeling of walking an ancient road, a chance meeting on a footpath, finishing at an empty Avebury Stone Circle, and whether the running-and-walking format worked any better the second time round. About Elise Downing Elise is part of our team at Big Trail Adventures, where she runs our social media. She's also one of Britain's best-known long-distance runners. A few years before this trip she ran 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain on her own with her kit on her back. She's written about it in a book and a newsletter. What we talk about The Ridgeway as a "gateway" first trailWalking and running on Britain's oldest road29 and 33 mile days, and how miles reframe themselvesThe running-and-walking format, tried for the second timeThe day-two overtake and the frosty receptionThe empty Avebury Stone Circle at the endA chance meeting on the trailIf listening to this has got you thinking about your own adventure, head to bigtrailadventures.com.

Show notes Chris Townsend walked the Alpine section of the GR5 in autumn, as the mountain huts and village shops were closing for the season. He took about a month, slept under a tarp, and bought the food for his first week at a supermarket in Geneva train station before he started. We talk about the rhythm of a month-long walk, finding water in unfamiliar mountains, the surprise of the southern forests, and the strange business of walking out of the mountains and onto the beach at Nice. There's also a story about singing Italian waiters in a near-empty hotel and a tangent into Death Valley, which last we checked is nowhere near the GR5. About Chris Townsend Chris is one of Britain's most experienced long-distance walkers. He's been writing about backpacking and the outdoors for decades, including books on his walks across the USA, Scandinavia and the UK, and regular work for outdoor magazines and his blog. What we cover The two halves of the GR5: high alps in the north, rocky forested mountains in the south1200 metres of ascent every day, and how to pace itSleeping under a tarp rather than a tentWater and food planning when the season has endedThe thunderstorm decision and the snow the next morningThe sweet chestnut forests of the southern halfThe Italian-run hotel and the casual shopkeeperWalking into Nice with a rucksack and hill clothesWhy a long walk feels different from a short oneLinks Chris's blog: https://www.christownsendoutdoors.comChris's books: https://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/p/publications.htmlIf listening to this has got you thinking about your own adventure, head to bigtrailadventures.com. Subscribe to Notes From Big Trails wherever you get your podcasts.

Most people tackle the Cape Wrath Trail as a challenge of endurance — covering big miles through some of the wildest terrain in the UK. Stephen Passmore took a different approach. In spring 2023, Stephen spent 31 days walking north from Fort William to Cape Wrath. Along the way he wild camped, stayed in bothies, carried painting supplies in his pack, and created a watercolour painting almost every day of the journey. In this episode we talk about: Walking the Cape Wrath Trail slowlyCarrying a heavy pack for 31 daysBothy life in the Scottish HighlandsRiver crossings and navigationFollowing spring north through ScotlandWhat changes when you stop rushing through landscapes Stephen also shares stories from Torridon, Sandwood Bay, Knoydart and some of the quieter moments that stayed with him long after the trail ended. Links Stephen PassmoreBook: Painting the Trail – Cape Wrathhttps://www.artpassmore.art/product/painting-the-trail-cape-wrath/3 Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

The Dales Way is often recommended as one of the best first long-distance walks in the UK — but that doesn’t mean it’s without challenge. In this episode of Notes From Big Trails, Rob speaks with Jessica Mather, who completed the trail in four days last summer — covering roughly 20 miles a day while camping along the route. Starting in Ilkley and finishing in Bowness-on-Windermere, Jess shares what it’s actually like to move quickly across the trail — from the open landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales to the familiar feeling of walking back towards home in the Lake District. Along the way they talk about planning a multi-day trip, choosing campsites, dealing with swollen feet and finding unexpected moments of trail magic. They also talk about why multi-day walks feel so different to day hikes — and why confidence matters more than experience when you're starting out. In this episode What the Dales Way is and why it’s so accessibleWalking 80 miles in four daysCamping along the routeFollowing seven rivers through the Yorkshire DalesSwollen feet in the summer heatTrail magic honesty boxesThe people you meet on long-distance trailsWhy finishing can feel strangely overwhelmingAdvice for first-time multi-day walkers About the trailDales WayDistance: 80 miles / 129kmLocation: Yorkshire Dales and Lake District, EnglandTerrain: riverside trails, farmland paths, rolling hills and villagesDifficulty: moderateBest for: first-time multi-day walkers, experienced hikers wanting a shorter challenge, and anyone who likes pub stops with their adventure Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.

Wayne Russell set out to run 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain with little more than a tent, £1,000, and a huge idea. What followed was ten months of sleeping in church porches, bus shelters, caves, strangers’ gardens and fire stations as he circled the entire British coastline. He began the run to raise money after losing his sister to a rare heart condition—but as he explains in this conversation, the journey became about far more than fundraising. We talk about: why he decided to do itshattering his ankle just before departurecrying in a cave in Cornwallthe strangers who helped him survivehow Britain’s fire services became his accidental support crewthe beauty of the Scottish Highlandswhy finishing felt strangely anticlimacticand why adventure is far more accessible than most people think This is a funny, moving and deeply honest conversation about grief, resilience, kindness and what happens when you decide to do something wildly ambitious before you feel fully ready. Get out on your own adventure - find out more at bigtrailadventures.com.