Ahoy hoy dearest followers,
Just a quick message to say that I safely made it back to Istanbul on Wednesday 9/05/18, which was 472 days, and 6500 km, after setting off in late January 2017.
Thank you all very much to everyone who followed along whilst I was on the trail. I apologise for not keeping the blog as up to date as I would have liked… It turns out that writing long form blog posts takes up a lot of time, as does long distance walking, and I was not able to fit them both in.
However, if you enjoyed my previous posts, I do mean to finish off the blog with the second half of the trip, and will update as I do. So stay tuned, you haven’t quite heard the last of me yet! 🙂
Thanks again to everyone who sponsored me with donations large and small whilst I was on the walk, if you are reading about my trek for the first time, I was doing it to raise money for Medecins Sans Frontiers, to help the many thousands of refugees forced from their homes to make much more desperate journeys than mine, and also those worldwide forced to live in intolerable conditions without access to healthcare other than what MSF can provide.
We are very close to my fundraising target, I would appreciate any support you can give to this worthy cause:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wanderingpaddy
It is bittersweet finishing such a long hike, I was ready to stop, but I have no doubt that after a few months of normal life I will be wistfully remembering the total freedom, the random encounters, the quiet solitude, and the invigorating physical, mental, and emotional challenges of the trail. ☺☹☺☹🙃😢
Thanks again for following along with me.
(Wandering) Paddy