Greetings fellow travelers( of all speeds): I've enjoyed scanning the above messages. While I now live here in the great desert of Arid-zona, I have hailed and claim roots specifically for Michigan(Detroit) and New York( Albany area and NYC). Also my mother is from Pinchbeck, Lincs and so I also claim an obvious affinity for England. I very much like the concept of slow travel particularly because I'm most partial to train travel and walking/hiking. For example in February 2006 I had my best walking experience in the UK when I did part of the 1066 walk starting in Battle using "The 1066 Country Walk" guide by Brian Smailes as well as the appropriate OS map. It was very wet and I won't bore you with all the details but I got lost and then found my way back to Battle( through Rye) by a combination of rambling/scrambling, buses and trains. Very slow but ultimately satisfying. Along the way I had one of my best culinary experiences when around 1pm( after having walked in the mud for 4 hours), I stumbled into a small village pub with a roaring fire going. The waitress first asked if I'd like anything to drink ( Yes, PLEASE!) and then when I asked what she recommended for lunch, she replied that the chef was very fond of the trout which he caught that morning in the stream behind the pub! And it was fabulous.

Speaking of rambling, I'll end this introduction by mentioning my next trip this coming February: London, Kings Lynn and Rye. I've already got my BritRail pass and new waterproof boots so I'm ready for more slow-ish travel.

Ed

Welcome etmanning,

It sounds like you have had some great travels. We have several hikers on board. If you haven't found them yet, check out our pages on UK on the main Slow Travel website. Pauline has notes on hiking on several of the areas. Also check out Kaydee's blog on her time in England. Her family did lots of hiking including the coast to coast trail.

I love the Arizona desert. If the weather has been right, we usually will try to make a trip in the Spring to see wildflowers and hike. We're partial to the Tucson area. We haven't been for a couple of years but I'm hoping to make the trip this year if the rains come.

Welcome again and see you in the forums.