First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everybody, sorry it’s a week or so late 🙂 2025 starts with me in a positive frame of mind after a challenging end to 2024 which saw me undergo major surgery on my leg, the removal of a Basal Cell Carcinoma from my face and a very messy bout of Norovirus between Christmas and New Year…..things can only get better! The period of enforced rest that recovering from my surgery made unavoidable gave me a lot of time to think and plan for the year ahead and to evaluate how Come walk with me UK was going after a decade of providing outdoor adventures at home and overseas. It also brought home to me just how valuable our physical and mental health is and how being inactive can have a profoundly negative effect on both. It made me realise how fortunate I am to be in a role where my day to day work can be positively inspiring and that I get to share these moments with our clients. So, with all that as the backstory, what does 2025 hold in store?
Professionally it’s already looking like a good, busy, stimulating year. Even with the loss of a couple of jobs towards the start of the season we have a lot in the diary already. Scotland is going to play a big part in 2025 and we have six weeks of work booked in with our fantastic partners at Thistle Trekking , working on the West and East Highland Ways as well as the Great Glen Way. These are always great fun, taking in stunning scenery, characterful villages and the odd dram of local malt. We are also heading to Scotland to take a group to the most remote pub in the UK, The Old Forge in Knoydart, a challenge with a very welcoming goal at the end of it. We are proud to be working with Global Action again this Summer and to be taking a team to Nepal, one of my favourite countries in the world with unmatched hospitality and a fascinating culture alongside great food and a truly breathtaking landscape. After a couple of GA trips with the focus on conservation and education, it’s exciting to fit a trek into this trip as well. We have plenty of Duke of Edinburgh work ahead with some trusted partners both locally in the Peak District and further afield down in Wales. From Day one of a Bronze training where you might be showing a group a map or tent for the first time in their lives to the middle of a Gold assessment where you get to watch confident, resilient young people pushing their limits it’s work that is always rewarding and often challenging in it’s own unique way!
On a personal note I’m keen to get back to some long distance walks of my own. A lot of time flicking through books, surfing the web and watching content on Youtube during my recuperation has whetted the appetite for just what there is out there. Plans are loose at the moment but may well include a few days on the Fisherman’s Path in Portugal, a week or two in Scotland and, fingers crossed, an end of year trip to Costa Rica. Nearer to home the GM Ringway route is a recently completed 200 mile circular route around the whole of Greater Manchester which I can start from my own front door, as a city dweller there can’t be many more local options, so I am looking to complete that over the course of the year!
So, a busy year ahead for us here, but, of course, there’s always room to squeeze in more adventures. So, if you’re New Year sees you wanting to get fitter, to explore more of the British countryside (or even the world), to raise money for a meaningful charity or to have a work/friends/team day out, then why not drop us a line and we’d be happy to go through the options with you!
