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Engage is a leading publication for creative nonfiction, showcasing personal essays, memoirs, and authentic human stories inspired by real-life and meaningful life lessons by makers, adventurers, and everyone with a memorable life story to share.

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I Hiked The Entire Coast of Britain: Where Was My Favourite Place?

11 min readJan 10, 2025

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A cairn stands before a view of a sea loch and green mountains
Across the sea loch to Torridon, northwest Scotland. (Credit: Author)

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On my walk around the coast of Great Britain, I was asked the same questions everywhere I went.

“Are you camping?” was usually followed by “how do you charge your phone?”

“Are you doing it for charity? How much have you raised?”

Or if I was staying with someone, they would ask with these exact words every time, “You’re not vegetarian, are you?”

They were all easy enough to answer, but the one I always dreaded was, “What’s been your favourite place?”

The more I thought about it and the further I walked, the more difficult it became to answer.

A map of Great Britain with a red line around its perimeter indicates a route.
The redline of my route around the island of Great Britain, from Strava. (Credit: Author)

Having walked 6,600 miles around the island of Great Britain over a year, I experienced ecstatic beauty beyond anything I could have imagined. But the most beautiful place didn’t necessarily make it my favourite place.

The coastline, its flora and fauna, the towns and villages, and the people that live there are so…

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Engage

Published in Engage

Engage is a leading publication for creative nonfiction, showcasing personal essays, memoirs, and authentic human stories inspired by real-life and meaningful life lessons by makers, adventurers, and everyone with a memorable life story to share.

James Lloyd
James Lloyd

Written by James Lloyd

Writer, Artist, Photographer, Hiker Writing a book about my transformative year long hike around the coast of Great Britain.

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