I found this in the recycling shelf at Tampere City Library; I think it was some months before my trip to Scotland and my own walk, 400 miles shorter than Mortimer's odyssey. This book was an obvious pick when I selected something to take with me to read during the flights and train trips. I didn't get very far in the book, however, because I always had something better to do or was just too tired to read. So I've been reading through it all summer, on and off. Now that I've finished it, it's fitting to release this traveling book to seek new adventures.

This very copy of the book traveled with me on the West Highland Way, and it's showing some wear and tear - I originally found it in mint condition. But hey - it's just fitting for a book like this!

So the book is about walking 500 miles across Britain without any money at all. What's great about it is that it wasn't really organised in any way - no research or crew of helpers, just this guy and his dog setting off to the unknown, prepared as well as he could. So you have no idea what's coming, which is interesting, but not in a "dramatic tension" way, it's more like curiosity. Well, there are many interesting encounters on the way, and a lot of thoughts about the society, transportation, the British way of life, and of course walking. All in all, it was good reading but nothing to rock my world.

I liked how, at the end of the journey, he arrives where I ended my own journey, and even stops to rest in a spot near Craigmillar Castle, where I spent part of an afternoon. It's too bad I couldn't finish this book in Edinburgh, it would have been fun to sort of "arrive together" to that place (even though I came to Edinburgh by train). There was a lot in the book that reminded me of my experiences during that week on the West Highland Way, and that created an emotional connection that made this book more interesting than it would otherwise have been.

I hope this book finds its way to even greater adventures!