Found it. Today, after a bit of breakfast, I went out into the city to see if I could find what I was looking for. It took a little bit of walking, but shortly into my wandering I noticed cliffs visible.

Maybe I built it up a bit too much in my mind. Maybe I’m too old or too young. Maybe I’m being too hard on the new industry, or maybe it’s always been this way.

The red/dark matt covering the slopes of many nearby hills is dead ferns. I found this out yesterday and didn’t note it – there was a very surprisingly large number of ferns in my adventures. I’ll keep an eye out to see if these were just in the Lake District.

A day of indecision, stuttering starts and uncertainty until this afternoon. I could not decide whether to stay in Coniston (where I am now) or just to move on to Edinburgh. It was a mix of the rain, the heavy pack, the uncertainty of a place to stay (and concern about the hostels out here) [...]

I don’t know that I’ve ever scheduled this much solo travelling time before. Four whole days, really, from early Monday afternoon to late Friday. It’s liberating, and also a bit lonely. People aren’t expected to be travelling alone, it seems, most often they go in pairs, if not more.
I think that this is [...]

Got in to Windermere and got to the Visitor Information Centre very easily. Nearby hostels were a Backpackers Hostel not 2 minutes away, one further away. I was at the Backpackers almost immediately, and decided not to stay there in half the time. They were taking the “Discount housing” concept where the Squamish Hostel went [...]

I’m on a train now, headed to Preston, where I transfer to get to Oxenholme and then Windermere. One half an hour into a 2 hour ride, if everything goes well.

A mad weekend is almost over – I’ve had an overwhelming about of fun, hospitality and play time, spent with Kath and Vin and their kids on Friday (as well as a visit to Vins parents, the beach and a pine forest with squirrels, so as I would feel at home), went to Manchester for [...]

And I figured out what the “m” was. Miles.

It’s the things that I learn along the way that I don’t know anyone else knows or notices or even cares about. I spent a bit of time back in something square, just off Piccadilly, listing to a bird that was staring me down as I ate. It went through many different calls – sometimes [...]