Jen and Sim Benson, who happen to be fellow GetOutside Champions and as such I consider to be friends of mine, are prolific authors. They pile their energy into writing books designed to inspire and motivate you to spend more time outdoors, having adventures, exploring, and generally making the most of your days in the countryside.
The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain, by Jen and Sim Benson.
Their newest offering is The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain, subtitled “150 incredible experiences on land and water”, and it is a gem. As someone who loves a challenge and adventure here in the UK (home is where it’s at!), I sat and read the book through in one afternoon, adding a whole host of ridgelines, rivers, coves and ascents to my bucket list (which is here, but needs a serious update so it’s more representative of the list in my head).
Updating my bucket list.
There are 150 adventures featured in the book, each arranged by geographical region, so it is easy to find something either near you or near your chosen holiday destination. The suggested escapades have all been chosen as being exhilarating, achievable by any reasonably fit and active person, and as safe as possible. Britain is literally bursting at the seams with places to see and things to do, and here Jen and Sim recommend just some of the highlights. These are ideas to either get you started on the road to adventure, or indeed, notes to inspire your next big challenge.
The Long Mynd is a great choice! Loved it!
I know you’re supposed to keep books nicely, but this popular genre of “how to” and “where to” adventure titles are designed more as guide books and so the fact that I took to my copy with a highlighter pen is probably okay… at least it demonstrates it genuinely is a book designed to encourage adventure planning!
The problem with books like The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain, is that I only wish I could drop everything and head off on an adventure right now. If I could, I would probably choose something close to home such as packing my bag and hiking the Cotswold Way (adventure 13 in the South East section), a few days spent simply hiking and camping appeals greatly at the moment. Or, I would head up to Scotland for something I’ve never done before – a multi-day canoe trip along the Great Glen Canoe Trail (adventure 6 in the Northern Scotland section). This takes you from Fort William (so I’d probably have to climb Ben Nevis before I left…) over to Inverness; I love the water and paddling and this would surely be an amazing and different adventure to go on.
My next adventure?!
The Adventurer’s Guide to Britain is published tomorrow (17 May) and would make a great buy for anyone wanting a little bit of inspiration for adventures large and small this summer. Find it here on Amazon.