The Great Outdoors

WORLD WALKS

AFTER THE ROUGH RIDE OF 2020, clearly it would take a brave (or foolish) person to predict the year ahead with any certainty – who knows what fresh surprises 2021 is preparing to pull from its backpack? But with talk of effective vaccines in the pipeline as we write, it feels like a light at the end of the tunnel might have appeared; so we thought it was just about safe to look ahead to the next year with a degree of optimism.

The following ten trails range across the world, from the Pennines to the Australian outback, and they include a mix of unusual propositions and stone-cold classics. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s to hedge your bets when it comes to looking ahead; and, after all, you don’t need to jet to the other side of the world to have a long-distance walking journey that will take you well out of the ordinary.

These ideas are intended partly as long-form ideas for the upcoming 12 months, and partly as propositions for even further ahead, should the pandemic continue to disrupt business as usual across the world. But let’s allow ourselves a little positivity; and few things are more likely to kindle optimism – not to mention give somewhere to channel all that pent-up wanderlust – than looking ahead to an extraordinary hiking adventure. Imagine how good it will feel to finally hit that trail.

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