booksandemma
- Dec 2, 2019
- 3 min read

The Unlikeliest Backpacker - Karthryn Barnes

Blog tour stop for the riveting and inspiring adventure

#BlogTour #@HornetBooks #KathrynBarnes @LoveBooksGroup

"From office desk to wilderness: A hike along America's pacific trail "

Synopsis

You reach a certain age. You have a lifestyle many would envy.

Still, something doesn't feel right. Life has become routine. You sense there is more out there to experience and explore with an urge gnawing away inside to do something different. But what?

Before you know it, plans have snowballed - you've quit your city job and flown to America to begin life living in the wilderness, walking hundreds of miles with no income. 'The Unlikeliest Backpacker' chronicles a British couple's absurd journey as aspiring long-distance hikers.

With Canada hundreds of miles away, they must learn to backpack and survive on the famous Pacific Crest Trail. How hard can it be?

Kathryn Barnes' entertaining memoir proves you don't have to be special, or an experienced adventure junkie to put your life on hold, disconnecting from the modern world.

Pushing personal boundaries beyond the predictability of daily routine can have surprising consequences.

My Review

I love travelling and my husband and I do our best to show our children what the world has to offer and we have visited some amazing places.

I have always wanted to be a type of spontaneous traveller, just to up and do it, the closest I got was a random trip to France one Friday afternoon and a 2am ferry! good times!.

but for the big things I have never made it, so a book like this was riveting to me.

The Unlikeliest Backpacker is a memoir of an amazing journey undertaken by Kathryn Barnes and her husband, Conrad Nicholas.

how decide to up and leave their little flat in London and plan to hike the 935 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail From California to the Canadian border along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Kathryn and Conrad are not experienced hikers, but they are doing it we join them as they learn quickly and tackle this gruelling journey covering anywhere up to 20 odd miles a day!

In this real they share there ups and downs the hardships they faced, the hiking issues they had from sleeping in the great outdoors, to going to the loo in the wild, how they washed, how they dealt with equipment and how they tackled the strains this trip put on there relationship and the worries around food and water.

The Unlikeliest Backpacker is an absolutely inspiring and encouraging story showing what you can achieve if you put your heart to it, it shows that fall all the issues the pair had this adventure was probably the best thing they have ever done and as the last few chapters showing how they settled (with difficulty!) back in to "normal" life in London show, this adventure wont be their last!

This is a must read for any travellers either experienced or just at heart, for anyone who just wants to give it a go but thinks it will be too much, read this book to inspire you, but even if you never want to leave your home town, read this book to enjoy the journey! it really is beautiful.

Author Bio

Aspiring writer, entrepreneur… adult.

The one vocation Kathryn has successfully nailed so far is Daydreamer.

Her varied ambitions and overall life trajectory has taken a bit of a turn of late. A born-and-bred Londoner, Kathryn is discovering there is more to life than the corporate rat race. It began with a six-month trip through South America whetting her travelling wanderlust, which led to the decision to quit her job as a management consultant.

More recently she upped the adventure ante, swapping city life for the wilderness, on an ambitious walk hundreds of miles along America’s Pacific Crest Trail. The plan raised eyebrows from all who knew her - an uncharacteristic leap for a girl who refuses to sleep on the floor. The results were both brutal and awe-inspiring.

Kathryn has never been an ‘outdoorsy’ person. But the simple, reflective, time spent in the natural environment left a deep imprint. She still (reluctantly) resides in London, but the mountains are calling. She may even camp again. Someday.