adventure

Mexico – 10th December 2025

Travel

Despite the bedtime mescals I slept well, and was up and out for a run first thing, then swung by the hotel to pick up Arnaud for a walk along the quiet beaches to the west of us.

He kindly demonstrated why my white shoes are a bad idea, taking one for the team!

Quick shower then breakfast. I’ve packed my kit in the hope that the wind keeps building. Forever optimistic…

We get to our new morning spot about 5 minutes before I pass out from hunger. Wow what a feast, best breakfast yet. I have chilaquiles, Arnaud enmoladas, both with red mole sauce (the chocolate, nuts and chilli one, not the powdered tunnel dweller type).

That should set us up nicely for a few hours…they just messaged, we are a go for 2pm!

Grabbing a iced takeaway coffees from a very nice looking cafe, we set off to see Jonny & Cathy, just as well these bikes don’t have brakes or gears, and that there are no cars here.

“It’s borderline, but we’re going to take all the kit down to kite beach for 2pm, tomorrow looks much better, but we’re going to give it a go”. That’s all we need to hear.

We’re all smiles until we find that our favourite spot in the nice beach bar has a view of Tommy and his gang of walnuts. Oh well. Midday arrives, bringing diet cokes for a change, we’re taking this all very seriously.

Arnaud can’t sit still, even more fidgety than usual, pacing up and down to the beach. I see him rubbing his hands and smiling, “someone is out!”, this bodes well.

I’ve got a nice looking board and foil, and a 6 meter wing, the 7 meter that I really need for this light wind has been reserved for a lesson. It’s all good, I’m desperate to get out on the water. Arnaud is looking doubtfully at someone pumping up a 17 meter kite, it doesn’t even fit on the tiny sliver of beach. There hasn’t been wind for days and everyone is just crazy keen to do something, there is a real sense of excitement, everyone is smiling and chatting.

I head out and to be totally honest, there is a lot of bobbing around waiting for a stronger gust, but I’m happy, the sea is warm, I can see huge kites swooping around me, finally properly out on the water!

At the end of one long run, where I’m almost uncomfortably far from the shore, I see what looks like a head appear from the water ahead of me. My first thought is that someone swimming is in trouble, there is a really strong current here, swirling around the sandbanks. It pops up again, but I can’t get a proper look to decide whether to get help or not. 

I’m contemplating the situation when a large scaly head appears about 10 meters ahead and fixes one Inquisitive eye on me, then slowly sinks into the blue green sea. It’s a turtle! Cathy told me to keep an eye out for them but I didn’t believe her. Wow!

We stay out about as long as we possibly can, it gets dark at 6, and nobody wants to pack up in the dark.

Fist bumps all round, we’re all windswept, slightly pink and grinning our faces off. Happy Happy.

We make it to the closest place that sells beer just as the sun goes behind some clouds, that’s ok, the view is amazing and we have that delicious tired and achy feeling. Though there is a more pressing ache.

“Big fish?” I say, still looking at the view. “Big fish” I hear next to me. Done. It’s about a 2 mile cycle, and we weave around potholes and muddy puddles on our way back into town.

“Hola chicos!”

“Hola! Dos Pina colada por favor!”

Also, guacamole, tuna tostados, shrimp ceviche in a red chilli sauce, fried fish (I forget what kind, but disconcertingly it has teeth), with salad, rice and warm tortillas. It’s a proper feast. We need more pina coladas half way through.

“Wow, I needed that”, “Mate, I am done!”, sleepy smiles.

The hotel seems a long way away, I hope Arnaud doesn’t fall in another puddle.

“We meet at 10 tomorrow if you’d like to join us?” The perfect message to get once we’re back, the weather models are still aligned and it looks like the wind Mel has been praying for is going to arrive. Either that, or the high pressure system that’s been hovering below North America is finally shunting the stubborn low out of our way, but I like to think it was Mel.

Mexico – 8th December 2025

Travel

Despite the melatonin tablets I was awake early, and (after dunking myself in suncream and mosquito spray) headed out for a run, didn’t have a route in mind, just thought I’d try and keep near the beach and see where I ended up.

Even at 8am it was crazy hot and humid, but a little breeze off the calm blue sea helped a bit. I nearly stepped on what I thought was a stingray, turns out it was a horseshoe crab. Apparently these scary looking creatures have been around for over 450 million years, that makes them older than the dinosaurs!

Keeping a close eye on where I was putting my feet I cracked on along the shoreline, ducking in through the mangrove forests when my way was blocked, studiously ignoring the naked bloke standing in the sea (thankfully quite far out). Two iguanas gave me a little heart attack when I disturbed their sunbathing around a corner, noisily scampering for safety. Lots of roads and paths were flooded, not sure if from rain or the super high tides (it’s a full moon), the whole island is pretty much at sea level, everything is built on stilts.

A pink flamingo just looked at me, completely not bothered by the sweaty white person jogging slowly past.

I was cooling down nicely in my air conditioned hotel room afterwards until there was a power cut, oh well, time for breakfast anywhere. Arnaud had a local spot in mind, obviously.

“What’s a homlet?”, for some reason I assume he knows everything because he can speak Spanish, I really have turned my brain off. “A very masculine egg dish”, fair enough.

I was tempted by the special cake, divorced eggs, and a side helping of champion eggs, but decided that I was just being silly, and went for huevos rancheros, a big cold jug of passion fruit juice and a black coffee. Delicious.

No bloody wind again, so we decamped to the Las Nubes hotel beach club, good internet, sun loungers, cold beers and a bit of shade. Could be worse.

It was 200 MXN for the sun loungers, and we had to spend at least 1,000 (about £40), confident that we’d easily get through that with some beers and snacks we settled down to get through some admin. As well as checking the wind forecast approximately every 5 seconds.

We were on our fourth beer when a cheeky looking racoon appeared in front of us, and set about helping himself to our neighbours lunch. No shame whatsoever, just sat up on his hind legs and started picking bits off the table. They gently shooed him away, so he went around the back and started to rummage through their bag. Proper beach entertainment!

Arnaud reminded me of a conversation we had with someone trying to sell us a kayak excursion yesterday.

“Three island tour? Mangrove kayak? Punta mosquito lunch trip?”

“No thanks, we’re here for kitesurfing, got any wind?”

“Kitesurfing? So expensive, you could have three of my tours for the price of one hour of that!”

“Naa, we’re ok, just need to wait for some wind”

“Waiting for wind, waiting for wind, you could spend your whole life waiting for wind, and then what? Where is your life? Nothing, just lying around waiting! You should go on a tour with me”

We’ve got the waiting process pretty well nailed I reckon, but we did start to think about booking something if the weather doesn’t sort itself out. In the meantime we went to find a different hire place, and see if they had any more local wind intel.

Johnny from the Holbox Kitesurfing school had windy.com and windguru.cz up on his monitor, the same pages we’d been glued to all afternoon, and we all went through everything together in great detail. “Thursday looks good at the moment, maybe tomorrow, possibly Wednesday too”, that’s the sort of upbeat information we wanted. He’s got plenty of kit as well, feeling bouyed by the good news it was time for an early supper, breakfast was a very long time ago.

Fish, ceviche and a grilled fillet, salad with rice, warm tortillas, squid with garlic, eye watering habanero sauce, couple of margaritas. Sitting at a counter watching people go by, this felt like a pretty dammed good way to round off the afternoon. Both feeling decidedly dozy now, so back to the hotel for a late siesta, maybe a nightcap on the rooftop bar later, although the huge black cloud slowly enveloping the island might call that off. Hope it brings some wind.

Mexico – 7th December 2025

Travel

I forgot about the mosquito situation until I realised I was scratching my ankles at breakfast, thankfully a liberal spray of repellant seemed to ease the annoyance.

No wind! Sad, but, fine, it’s Sunday and both quite happy for a gentle mooch around, chatting to the locals and figuring out what other things we might do. A kayak tour through a mangrove forest sounds the most appealing, as long as the alligators keep well away!

It’s hot, easily 30 degrees, and once we’d had coffee, fruit and a pile of spicy tomato and pork, we settled on a sofa under a little tent thing on the beach. We lay there for hours, reading, chatting, checking (and rechecking) the wind forecast, and generally just having a very chilled morning.

Once the afternoon kicked in it seemed rude to not have a couple of cold beers, and some gazpacho (for some nutrients).

Suddenly it was 2pm and definitely time for lunch! Of course Arnaud had a place in mind, and I’m quite happy to let him order and see what turns up.

A huge plate of octopus and tomato salad arrived, then a tall glass of prawns in a tomato sauce/soup, shrimps fried in coconut, and a little pile of fresh tortillas, oh and a bowl of crunchy tortilla chips.

A glass of passion fruit mescalita appeared to be the required accompaniment, I wasn’t going to argue!

Tangy and fresh, perfect balance of crunchy salad to juicy prawns, bitter and sweet drink, could easily have eaten the whole lot again, but need to make sure I’ve got space for supper.

Didn’t quite have enough cash to pay, they seemed happy enough to wait until later, so we hired some bikes and headed back to the hotel to replenish money, bit of a wobbly ride in the warm rain.

There might be wind tomorrow, we’ve been messaging a local hire company and agreed to meet at 5 to discuss options. Eventually we found the right place to meet him, though they don’t have much in the way of wing foil kit, Arnaud spotted a shack next door that looks promising. If it picks up in the afternoon we’ve got some options, fingers crossed.

“We need a good spot for the sunset”, Arnaud says firmly, weaving around trees and pedestrians on his bike. I set after him, still not quite used to peddling backwards to stop, at least there are no messy things like actual brakes to worry about, or gears.

We find the right place but there is no bar, just a group of locals on deckchairs and a very leathery chap grilling fish on a barbecue, he says something loud to me in Spanish, I smile and shrug. “He says that you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever seen and he’s in love with you” someone calls out and they all fall about laughing. I’m totally bemused by the whole thing, but they seem happy enough and we wander down a back street in search of something cold to drink.

Our lunch place appears and they’re happy to do us frozen margaritas to take away, result.

Back to the beach, Arnaud is chatting away to the locals, I didn’t know he’s fluent, it’s very handy. That was a year in Columbia well spent.

The sunset is glorious, it looks like the whole island is out to admire it. Pelicans are dive bombing the water catching fish, music in the background. We haven’t exactly had a hard day but it feels like we deserve this.

It’s too early for supper, “I could happily sit somewhere nice, have a couple of beers and read my book” I suggest. We cycle around a bit, on the dusty scruffy streets, then see an Italian food place that has some very comfortable looking seats just inside. It’s so weird, you almost step into a different world, tidy, clean and nicely decorated, such a contrast from outside. It’s perfect, and the beer is very local, so local I’m a bit hesitant when I see the can, but it’s delicious.

After about an hour we reluctantly leave and head to a tiny quesadilla restaurant not far away, nothing is far away now we have our bikes.

“Guacamole to start, with grasshoppers?” Arnaud raises an eyebrow at me. “Are they mushy or crunchy?” I counter, “Crunchy, 100%”, “Ok, let’s do it”.

They are crunchy, and honestly delicious, especially with a squeeze of lime, and a cold mug of fresh hibiscus juice to wash them down.

The food is amazing, no surprise, I can’t decide if the pork belly or the corn one is the tastiest.

Despite having no lights, no helmets, and only a rudimentary grasp of the braking system, we make it back to the hotel without any incidents. Time for bed!

Japan – 21st October 2025

Travel

Somehow we ended up going to bed at 11pm last night, not quite sure how that happened, probably because it was only 3pm at home and so we felt really awake. Thankfully the melatonin kicked in instantly and we both had a proper long sleep.

I managed to drag myself up and out for a run at 7:30 this morning, feeling very stiff and sore, rest doesn’t seem to help weirdly. Then both downstairs for our first buffet breakfast of the trip, which was… not nearly as good as Busan, but not too bad. We were quite late so I ended up having green curry and rice, which actually went down very well, Trix managed to find some pancakes and bacon, of course (we had yoghurt too!).

The rest of the day was, surprisingly, shopping! Very successful outing, but lots of walking. We started with a wander through the Kuromon Market which is just near our hotel, similar to that street market we saw in Kyoto, food everywhere, the smells were insanely good. King crab, raw sea urchin, wagyu beef, prawns, so much. Both sad we didn’t have any room for anything.

Decided that we really didn’t need lunch, but at 1pm needed a sit down and a snack, luckily Osaka really is the kitchen of Japan, you’re never more than a few steps away from something delicious. We sat at a counter and had freshly cooked Tako-yaki (yep, more octopus balls!).

Counter to earlier promises, we split up, it feels so safe here and our sore feet insisted we minimise walking for a bit. Got the tube to skip some of the distance, Trix took our bags back to the hotel and I went off to get myself a nice Japanese cooking knife. We met outside Animate and, properly hungry now, found the closest Ichiran for some perfectly spiced, just the right richness of broth, noodles just-so, ramen. Booths, as we both needed a bit of quiet time!

Very pleased to get back to the hotel early, Trix is in PJs with a hot water bottle, I’m on the sofa wondering where to stick all my new stickers. Early bed promised, Nara and the famously tame deer tomorrow (oh and a temple that was first opened in 752, which has a giant Buddha in it!).

Japan – 18th October 2025

Travel

Flight was fine, just long. We didn’t sleep much, not really surprising I suppose, just a nap really. It landed early which was nice, not too long through immigration and then into the taxi that Trix had been dreading for hours…

I explained through the magic of hand gestures that she can get car sick, and he drove very smoothly and nicely. Phew! Lovely route (once out of the industrial part of Tokyo) along the sea and then a long winding road up through thick green forests to a small town near the top of a mountain.

Found the hotel, dropped our bags and freshened up then headed up the funicular railway to the top of the mountain (via a coffee shop for caffeine and eggs). Slow walk down the mountain through some super pretty mossy green gardens and a museum of pottery.  Stopped for a late lunch of (much larger than expected) rice and tempura, then thankfully our room was ready, early!

I got straight into our private onsen, super hot, deep, wide, with an amazing view over tree tops and mountains. You can hear water gushing below the hotel, which is sort of hanging off the side of a mountain. It’s really peaceful.

Early dinner at 5, lots of sashimi and wagyu, then Trix went off to her NYC call and I finished off supper only own.

Sadly the internet is a bit…crap, and she had to bail out of the call. Such a shame after all the preparations and organising, but sometimes life throws a spanner in the works and you just have to roll with it.

We chilled in the bar for a bit, then went for a leg stretch (without Billy, very odd!), had an ice cream, then chilled for a bit before both collapsing into deliciously comfortable beds, the first time we’d laid down since we got out of bed in London, which felt like a week ago.  Both asleep almost instantly.

Japan – 24th October 2025

Travel
Steps: 7, 017
Miles kayaked: 3.86
Hours on trains: 2.5

Decided I was allowed a day off running today and had a lovely lie in until 6:30, ok maybe 7. Packing was easy at least, we’ve only been getting out what we need for each hotel, although we do seem to have accumulated enough extra stuff to warrant buying another suitcase before we head home.

Healthy breakfast, of course (you can ignore the fried chicken part, it was completely offset by a huge mound of salad and vegetables!), then we just needed to drag ourselves and our cases through rush hour Osaka to the mainline station in time for the 10:01 Shinkansen to Hiroshima.

This time we remembered to stock up on onigiri and water before we got on the train, it was only a 90 minute journey but gotta keep those energy levels up!

Actually the real reason was that we didn’t have much time after arriving to drop our bags and get ourselves down to near Miyajima island for the main activity of the day. Trix was grumbling about getting a taxi and thankfully we found the hotel really quickly and were back on a train platform with loads of time in our pockets.

Leaving the station at Maezora the exit gate flashed red and made a slightly unhappy sound when I scanned my IC card. I figured that it can’t be anything important or it wouldn’t have let me through, but of course as everyone and everything here is so polite it was telling me that I didn’t have enough money to complete my trip.

Ooops.  A young schoolboy caught Trixs attention, and with his courtesy (and google translate) he helped us charge up our cards at the machine, and re-scan them (to happy green bleeps).

“Is this a group activity?” Trix asks as we walk the short distance to Paddle Park, she wasn’t keen on the idea of sea kayaking at all, I’m not sure what answer will make her feel better.  “Um, yeah, I think so”, I actually had no idea.

It was just us and the guide, a super friendly and kind guy who owns the place. He got us all kitted up, we carried two canoes down to the sea and we were off, none of that health and safety nonsense.

The weather couldn’t have been better, bright blue cloudless sky, slight breeze, calm water. Trix was at the front of our two person canoe and set a strong rhythm, “Wow you’re fast” the guide calls over, I’ve got sweat in my eyes but just keep paddling, this can be my exercise for the day.

The O-Torii is huge, over 16 meters of wooden shrine rising up from where it sits on the seabed (it’s so heavy it’s not even buried in the seabed, can’t have been easy to balance 60 tons just right). No surprise that it’s a UNESCO world heritage site, and is as beautiful as it is impressive. 

We can see throngs of tourists on the shore, but it’s just us bobbing around out here, taking a few moments to rest our arms and admire the view.

“Do you want to go to the busy tourist beach with all the souvenir shops?” Kuboto-san calls, we wobble our heads and shrug, international sign language for “not really”.

“There is a local beach over there, it’s quiet and we can get a drink and some food”, that sounds much more like it. We beach the vessels and only slightly damp settle ourselves around a table set in a shady wood with views over the bay, small local deer wander around, thankfully they don’t seem to be the biting kind.

“Oh look Trix, I can get a beer and they do fried chicken, I think we earned a little snack?”, she grins at me and, well, we didn’t really have lunch, and supper is a long way off. Maybe it’ll come with a bit of green garnish.

The paddle back is easy, “downhill, we’ve got the tide with us”, sea bass jump nearby, sprats flicker through the surface as we weave through an oyster farm, the platforms made of bamboo.

“Oyster season started on the 21st, Trix do you like oysters?”, I can hear a noncommittal sort of noise in front of me and we all laugh, “Have them as a topping on okonomiyaki later!”. I’m looking forward to trying the local speciality (savoury pancakes) but not today, Friday is katsu curry day!

Kuboto-san opened his business in 1996, so he’s been doing this for nearly 30 years. Annoyingly he looked younger than me despite being 56! In the off season he surfs over on the other side, in the Japan Sea, or heads to Hokkaido to ski. He’s calm, gentle and seems genuinely content. Hiroshima has a large international community… just saying….

We just catch a local train back to town and finally actually check into our hotel. Our room is lovely, on a corner of the 16th floor, calm and quiet. We’re only here for 2 nights so there isn’t much point in unpacking much, so we have a brief chill and head downstairs to the hotel bar.

It’s definitely time for another beer, and Trix needs to catch up on some sketching, everyone’s happy.

Not hard to find a good spot for supper, it even comes with salad (sort of, just cabbage really, but it is green!).

Little wander around after eating and back to the room to wind down before bed (with ice cream, and beer, it’s only 7:30pm…).

An ultra distance London trail adventure?

Long run

It’s 4am and I’m scaling yet another 6 foot fence somewhere in South East London.  I land gently on the pavement and look up into the wide eyed stare of two lads sitting in a parked car.  We all silently contemplate the unlikely situation, before I turn, run over the road,  climb the padlocked gate into the next park and run into a dark forest.  Laughing.

∞

This is the longest training run I’ve ever embarked on.  It wasn’t planned to be a solo effort but I wasn’t going to squander the opportunity.

taking a break in highgate woods

The full Capital Ring is around 77 miles.  A (mostly) signposted route that links together various trails and paths, encompassing inner and central London.  It was first discussed in 1990 by the London Walking Forum, and was completed in 2005 (wikipedia).

I first noticed bits of the route on an easy run along the Greenchain Walk one weekend.  I kept seeing the distinctive signs alongside the Greenchain ones, and after a bit of research found the idea both daunting and strangely compelling.

The usual way to complete the full route is over two days or more.  TFL (Transport for London) have an excellent guide with printable maps and directions to and from local trains and tubes.

someone has a sense of humour

Taking a map is a good idea, some boroughs take signage more importantly than others, Harrow and Richmond being very thorough, while Newham was distinctly lacking.

∞

My training plan had called for a 12 hour run, but I couldn’t find a weekend free in the family calendar, so I took the completely logical step of getting up at 1am on a Saturday morning.  An hour to wake up and fill myself with food and coffee, 12 hours of running, with a 2 hour buffer for food and faffage.

I had to be home before 5pm to have enough time to de-grime myself, put the child to bed and help prepare for supper guests arriving at 8.

Apparently that isn’t normal person behaviour, but I’m so far into this long distance running malarkey, that my reality filter is completely twisted.

Actually you don’t need to look too hard or far to find similar examples of how people fit lots of running into an already full life.

I’m not comparing myself to Ricky Lightfoot, but he’s a great example of juggling a full time job, family and huge amounts of training.

Debbie Martin-Consani is another person to aspire to, there was a great quote in a recent trail running magazine:

…to improve your running stamina, you need to run.  As they say you can’t plant potatoes and harvest carrots!

∞

From a practical perspective, doing the whole route in one go is feasible, as long as you don’t mind jumping over lots of fences (or finding the long way round) in the dark.  Having said that I did this in early December when it’s dark nearly all the time.  A more reasonable early start in the summer would probably get you round before parks start being locked.

capital-ring06082015

I reckon that 70% of the route is on trail, which is pretty amazing for inner London!  There are a few opportunities to buy food and water, but not that many.  I spotted a 24 hour shop on Prince Regent Lane (the greenway crosses this on the way to Stratford) where I filled up my water bottles, but this was the first one I’d seen since starting 25 miles ago.

There are other shops, probably just enough to get you round.  The highlight was a little coffee van just outside East Finchley station.  The coffee man even had a few croissants warmed up, what a treat.

DIY aid station

Do take a map though, or at least a readily accessible GPS unit to keep you on track.  There are sections with hardly any signs, some have fallen over, others twisted 90 degrees sending you in completely the wrong direction.

I’d relied on having the route on my watch, but had forgotten how much that drains the battery.  In the end I managed to get google maps working on my phone and just ran with it in my hand.  Annoying, but not as annoying as constantly backtracking.

I got as far as the A3 by Richmond Park before running out of time and getting a cab.  70 miles with 12 hours of moving time wasn’t too bad, but shows how much faffing around I’d done.

∞

Ok, so I’m not so bonkers to suggest that everyone should lace up their shoes up and set off on a 75 mile run around London, but the fact that you don’t need to plan a whole weekend away, or even to travel at all, to see a different side to something otherwise familiar is something worth thinking about.

Maybe you don’t live near the Capital Ring, but I bet there are some local trails or walks that can be joined up and made into a loop, or maybe hop on a train after work and run home along a canal?

If you look hard enough, there is adventure just round the corner.

∞

Oh and the dinner party went well, I even managed to stay awake until after pudding.

∞

Of course it’s on strava