About me

Thanks for visiting the blog

I’m Dan, from Ledbury in Herefordshire, the land of cider and cows. I grew up here and thought it was properly boring as a teenager. Now I’m in my 40s I think it’s quite possibly the greatest place in the world. I live with my wife Stace, our beautiful daughter Molly, and two completely unhinged terriers, Dottie and Wilf. 

This blog is basically my rambling diary of walks and wild camps. It’s for people like me who might not have the time to go hiking the Appalachian Trail, or wander off for weeks on the South West Coast Path, but still feel that itch to get outside and explore a bit.

I once read that keeping a diary makes you want to do more interesting things. It worked for me in the form writing this blog and the more time I spent outside, the more I craved that feeling of peace and freedom. 

Pre-Covid, we did the odd hike on Snowdon, Pen-y-Fan and the local Malverns Hills. Nothing too adventurous. Then lockdown hit and suddenly my social life was just staring at an OS map and getting excited about footpaths. Now I’m sneaking off into the woods with a tent and a camping stove like some sort of pound shop Bear Grylls.

I’ve visited the highest points in pretty much every corner of Britain, and have wild camped in dark woodland, in fields on farms, and on windy hilltops. Best of all, I once found an unmapped waterfall, named it after my daughter, and got it listed on Google Maps, Bing Maps, Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.

The blog also covers some more personal stuff, like our very long and winding road through fertility struggles and IVF before Molly came into our lives. She became my inspiration to be more healthy and to make the most of life. I want to give her a very happy childhood, and I hope she grows up to be a kind person with a proper appreciation for the countryside and the planet. 

Outside of all that, I work as sales operations manager for a rope manufacturer, I'm a long suffering season ticket holder at Bristol Rovers and I've been a Direct Action Crew member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for over 10 years. I was also once in a punk band called The Shingles and we played one gig to 250 pensioners at a Christmas variety show in Ross-on-Wye. A more terrifying experience than sleeping in the woods on my own. 

If anything in this blog inspires you to get outside, even just for a walk round the block, then I'd be delighted.