Walking Post

This week we’re covering the effect of backpacks or rucksacks, or knapsacks, on the body. Dr. Bayan Aghdasi is an orthopaedic surgeon based in California specializing in spine surgery. He completed his medical training at Loyola University Chicago, followed by residency at the University of Virginia. Dr. Aghdasi further honed his expertise with a spine surgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins Universit...

Fewer than 130,000 travellers make it to Antarctica each year. A new company, Terra Nova Expeditions , is taking a slightly different approach to taking travellers to the continent. With a boat limited to fewer than 100 passengers, its goal is to get closer to the continent, and include activities like snowshoeing, hiking, kayaking, camping, and yoga and more as a part of the price. The company of...

Julia Hartley is the founder of Guided Outdoor Adventures. The company is organising the first Cheshire Walking Festival on Saturday, 3 April 2027, based at The De Trafford Arms in Alderley Edge. The day will feature 10 plus guided walks of different lengths and difficulties (all abilities welcome), led by qualified outdoor leaders. The event will raise funds for Christie's Cancer Charity and Ches...

This week on the podcast we have a conversation with author and traveller Walter G Meyer, who we caught up with while on a trip in Colombia. Meyer worked for two summers in Grand Teton National Park and for one summer in Denali, Alaska, where he taught about the park and led hikes into the park. He has visited 43 of the country’s 63 national parks, plus over 100 of the other sites administered by...

This week on the podcast we have a conversation with Jo McGowan business improvement district Manager for Dorking, in Surrey, which hosts a walking festival from 19 to 27 September. This year’s event, the second, features more than 25 walks and events that highlight the scenic routes in and around the town. The walks all connect to Dorking town centre, encouraging people to explore what the town h...

This week on the podcast we have a conversation with Geraldine McFaul, from Glasgow, who spent six months walking from her home to Rome, a journey of around 2,000 miles. There were two rules – no backpack, and no Alps. Did that work out? Well, no. The trek also raised money for two good causes with links to her late parents; Mary's Meals and Dementia UK. She averaged 12 miles a day pulling her tra...

This week, we are talking about The Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and the walking festival there with Laura Fildes, Telford & Wrekin Council's World Heritage Site co-ordinator and Lynn Turner, chair of the Ironbridge Gorge Walking Festival. The Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site has joined a new national initiative celebrating the UK’s globally significant industrial heritage, as part...

Of course it had to happen. With heatwaves across parts of Europe, we thought a podcast episode on dealing with heat while hiking would be a good idea. Then it started raining. However, it’s still an important subject. The numbers of people ending up in the hospital with sunstroke is on the rise. So, this week, we’re talking about hiking while hot – what to do, what not to do, the signs and sympto...

Francesca Pezza, who will soon be a recent college graduate from Santa Clara, was a hiking counsellor in Colorado last summer, a bucket list item for her. She attended Camp Cheley in Rocky Mountain National Park for 30 days every summer, beginning in 6th grade. Hiking became her love, and every summer she would get her "hiking patch," and other nature designations. Her dream was to someday, of cou...

Most people would know the definition of a life coach, but what is a travel coach? An ICF-accredited travel coach is someone who applies International Coaching Federation standards to help clients use travel for personal or professional growth, rather than just booking trips. In practice, they work with people to clarify goals, intentions, and desired outcomes before a journey, then use coaching s...

Three guests and one story this week. We talk to Paul O'Neill, secretary of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland – Newry Portadown Branch; Jonny Keer, heritage officer, Moneypenny's Forge; and Shirley Hayes, service manager of REACT Armagh, about the new North South Way Peace Camino that runs from Newry, in Northern Ireland, to Carlingford, in the Republic of Ireland. The North South Way Pe...

Expeditions Alaska is a wilderness adventure guiding company based in Anchorage, Alaska. Our guest this week, owner and lead guide Carl Donohue, has been guiding in Alaska since 1998 and founded the company in 2002. Expeditions Alaska runs small-group backpacking, hiking, camping, packrafting, sea kayaking, and photography tours in Alaska’s national parks and wilderness areas, in Wrangell-St. Elia...

The Ice Age Trail is one of 11 National Scenic Trails in the US. It runs for roughly 1,200 miles across Wisconsin, following the terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age. It passes through 30 counties from Interstate State Park on the Minnesota border to Potawatomi State Park on the Door Peninsula. The trail is open year‑round and is designed primarily for hiking and backpacking, with some winter...

This week, we’re looking at one of the latest online walking trends – Tai Chi walking. We find out what it is and whether or not it’s something worth pursuing. Our guest is Ashley Katzenback, a doctor of physical therapy and owner of Cape Concierge Physical Therapy, with offices in Sandwich and the Pinehills. Katzenback has more than 20 years of experience and is an expert in the musculoskeletal f...

The Mole Valley Spring Walking Festival runs from Wednesday, 29 April to Wednesday, 6 May 2026. Organised by the Mole Valley Ramblers, the event features a programme of free guided walks across the Surrey Hills and surrounding areas, including Box Hill, Leith Hill, and the River Mole. The schedule includes various distances and difficulty levels, ranging from short three-mile circuits to day-long...

Walking for All is a community led-walking programme in Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland, led by Outscape. Rooted in early intervention, prevention, and community capacity building, Walking for All responds directly to strong evidence showing that led Walking for All is intended to help people of all ages and abilities enjoy short, regular walks in local spaces,...

South Kesteven in Lincolnshire is preparing to launch a walking festival this spring, the first since the original event was cancelled due to the covid crisis. There are more than 40 walks now confirmed across the district. Organised by South Kesteven District Council, the two-week event runs from April 11th and covers everything from urban strolls and canal walks to woodland trails and historic a...

Based in Erstfeld in the Swiss canton of Uri, Exped Tribe is a mountain guide company and tour operator founded by Davide Guzzardi. The company offers a blend of guided adventures in the Swiss Alps — from climbing and ski touring to wild camping and highline walking — alongside international expeditions to some of the world's most remote destinations, including the Himalayas, Central Asia and Sout...

Ekaterina Preobrazhenskaya, who lives in London, is the chief training architect of the marathon app Hiiro . Kate is an ultramarathon runner and a UESCA-certified running coach with more than seven years of experience. She is a winner and top-three finisher of several ultramarathons in the UK and abroad. She is also the CEO and head coach of international running school Marathonica. Kate writes ar...

Graham Hoyland is a British author, mountaineer, sailor and adventure‑film producer who was the 15th Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1993. He has worked around the world making programmes for the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, the Travel Channel and NBC, from Antarctica to the Himalayas. He wrote the Amazon mountaineering best‑seller Last Hours on Everest, his investigation into what ha...

Tiffany Jones is a US-based walker, writer, and former teacher from Maine, who now lives in Florida. After losing her parents to cancer, and then being diagnosed with the disease herself, Jones raised the funds to take on an epic Kilimanjaro climb. The adventure took a turn close to the top – and you’ll have to listen to the podcast to discover what unfolded. The trip inspired the creation of a no...

Ken Posner is an American ultrarunner and author based in New York. He set a fastest known time on the Long Path, a 350‑mile route from New York City to Albany. He is the author of Running the Long Path, which documents the trail, its history, and his record attempt. Posner has also written Chasing the Grid, a book about climbing the Catskill Mountains in each month, requiring more than 400 ascent...

This week, we have a conversation with Jason Lennox, who did a marathon hike in the US of more than 500 miles to raise funds for his One Arrow Foundation, and awareness about mental health, substance use and suicide. This year, he will undertake a 1,776-mile hike around the perimeter of Minnesota. One Arrow Foundation Jason Lennox chairs the One Arrow Foundation, a charity that supports recovery f...

This week, we have a conversation with Jon Bunning, co-founder of Treekly, about the app that tracks steps and turns them into trees. Treekly Operating as a social enterprise, Treekly is a digital platform that converts physical movement into reforestation efforts. The app encourages users to maintain a "Treekly streak" by walking at least 5,000 steps a day; once a streak is established, the compa...

This week, we’re headed to the Czech Republic to chat with Jan Kerner, one of the organisers of EURORANDO 2026. EURORANDO is Europe’s largest hiking festival, organised every five years by the European Ramblers Association. Since its first edition in 2001, it has become a tradition that brings together thousands of walkers from across the continent. The 2026 edition will be unique in that it is ho...