Journey of the Hosteller

  The view looking back from the climb out of Borrowdale. This is part 2 of a 4-part series. You can find part 1 here:   Part 1/4: Windermere -> Borrowdale . I awoke early in Borrowdale and prepared food for the day ahead with one eye on the weather. After the rainy ending to my hike the day before, I was determined to bide my time for my friend the Sun (and let my clothes use the drying room to their fullest advantage). A sidebar on good hiking food: you are probably already aware of the importance of lightweight, high-energy foods for long hikes ( this hiking guide has more comprehensive information, and even a nice recipe idea). Personally, I am a big fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. However, I often enjoy having something more substantial. I find that preparing an actual meal (or using leftovers of a previous repast) really brightens lunchtime. For me, this is almost always a tomato and tuna dish on a base of pasta, preferably with broccoli. Bring your own f...

  A little OS map overview of my Lake District journey. When April brought its famous showers this year, hiking seemed a dismal prospect. But while the rain outside was pouring, I was inside poring over a map of the Lake District. It is an area I visited often with my family as a child, particularly Derwentwater, whose independent (and formerly YHA) hostel sadly closed its doors permanently in March 2024. This grim memento mori aside, we are spoilt for choice with YHA hostels in the Lakes, and I had a hankering to see them again. Now in my twenties, I had long decided that the best way to see the beauty of the region was to follow in the footsteps of Wainwright and Wordsworth and take to the road, or rather to the path. I whittled down the list of hostels and mapped out a route that I hoped would do justice to the great men. And so, having packed up my waterproof trousers, my raincoat, my boots, my OS maps, and an astounding number of snacks, I was ready. Neither snow nor rain wo...

I have deliberated for a long time on when to write this blog, what to write in it, and indeed whether to write it at all. Someone call Fleet Street, I found a sixth Journalism W . But now that I have taken the plunge, one further question remains: how should I write it? Convention and chronology dictate that I begin at the beginning, with those hostels I first visited with family when I was knee high to a grasshopper. However, this approach leaves me with little to talk about beyond the fact that I recall having been there. Rather than present an incredibly dry list of hostels about which I remember very little, surely it would be more appropriate to start with some sort of showstopper: a journey that I not only remember, but recall fondly? And so I shall, because this is my blog and no-one is around to stop me. In the next post, I will start things off with a bang and talk about the sometimes harrowing, sometimes wholesome adventure I had in April 2024 walking from hostel to hostel i...

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy a good ramble. If, like me, you own a thesaurus, you might also voice your penchant for peregrination, or your predilection for pererration (a word last used around 1860 ). Perhaps you were born with itchy feet. Or perhaps, like me, you have a wanderlust that rears its head and demands to be fed every few months like an ornery beast of yore. Whether a restless soul or an occasional wanderer, travel does the mind and body a world of good. What happy coincidence then, that a certain type of travel can do the world some good in return. A little background The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) is a registered charity that has for over 90 years aimed to offer affordable accommodation to all, with a particular focus on helping “young people of limited means”. They variously offer dorm rooms, private rooms, camping, or their glamping alternatives of Land Pods and Bell Tents. Some even hire the whole place out. Although I have a fondness for the organisatio...