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Karl Bushby made a barroom bet that he could walk from the southern tip of South America all the way home to England.
https://archive.ph/7V9ne
Oh no! That’s terrible.
Now, as a coronation gift to the new king, the whole coast of England is open to hikers: 2,689 miles of continuous trails, inaugurated by Charles III himself in March as the King Charles III England Coast Path.
The article by Paul Theroux who traveled some in 2026 following his 1983 book, THE KINGDOM BY THE SEA, which described the first time he traveled much of that route. This original 80s NYT book review is an amusing take
Paul Theroux...that's a name from my past travel reading days. 
That 1983 review of Theroux's book is more entertaining than the book itself. Good find, aficionado ! Mr Waugh was scathing though generous to the clueless author, and I enjoyed his observations.
As a student, I lived for a short while in Oxford and was very surprised at how positively pre-WWII many institutions, customs, towns were, in the mid-70's. The UK it has since certainly caught up with the USA, which had the decided advantage of not having had the living daylights bombed out of it. But I agree with Mr Waugh that in those days, coastal towns tended to be dismal, drab, run down. Until I read his review, I never had made the connection between that fact and the (then) travel habits of the British. I'm happy to have those dots connected.
That 1983 review of Theroux's book is more entertaining than the book itself. Good find, aficionado ! Mr Waugh was scathing though generous to the clueless author, and I enjoyed his observations.
As a student, I lived for a short while in Oxford and was very surprised at how positively pre-WWII many institutions, customs, towns were, in the mid-70's. The UK it has since certainly caught up with the USA, which had the decided advantage of not having had the living daylights bombed out of it. But I agree with Mr Waugh that in those days, coastal towns tended to be dismal, drab, run down. Until I read his review, I never had made the connection between that fact and the (then) travel habits of the British. I'm happy to have those dots connected.
Reminds me of Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island which had me in stiches on the first read and subsequent ones too!
Reminds me of Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island which had me in stiches on the first read and subsequent ones too!
Yes! I recall Bryson's long trek on the Appalachian trail published in A Walk in the Woods. I was unable to contain my laughter when reading that along my subway commutes at the time.
Bryson never disappoints.
