Walking the M62

John Davies has a new blog which will document the two month walk he is planning for his sabbatical in 2007. He will be walking along the approximate route of the M62, the motorway linking Hull with Leeds, Halifax, Manchester, and Liverpool.

But why walk the M62? Many people given the chance for three or four months away go somewhere exotic, you know like the Far East. But I’ve become increasingly convinced (helped by philosophers of travel like Alain de Botton) that the exotic is not a physical place but a state of mind. It’s not where you go so much as your mental attitude which determines your perception of a place.

A week or two ago I listened to a CD John sent me of his Greenbelt talk ‘Reading the Everyday’. I’ve not always been good at being content in uninteresting surroundings, but I’ve found John’s approach, that of finding value in the mundane and the ordinary, quite inspiring. You can get the talk as a CD or MP3 from the Greenbelt shop.

John’s regular blog is here.