August 10th, 2009
Backpacking Cotswolds
I took my backpack to Cotswolds, England to see if, in my late 40’s, if I could still make the cut. My wife wasn’t thrilled, but she decided to join me, after all it’s England, you know, that place across the pond? Actually, I signed up for what’s called Luxury Backpacking; meaning we will be travelling in a pack and instead of a tent, we will be walking from Cotswolds Hotels to Cotswolds Hotels. This is another reason my wife decided to join me.
We will be enjoying the outdoors during the day and in the evenings being served a nice hot dinner and sleep in a luxury bed, instead of hauling around sleeping bags, clothes, pots and pans. We will be able to take a nice hot bath to relax any muscle we stressed earlier during or hike. I thought this would be a perfect blend of the beautiful freedom of the outdoors and my much needed creature comforts.
Cotswolds is a perfect place for backpacking. The area is breathtaking and a paradise for walkers. There are more than 1,600 miles of pathways of lanes, paths and small roads that traverse all of Cotswolds. I planned my backpacking walk with restaurants in mind. I read all the reviews off the Internet. It was easy for me to find hotels with restaurants that were only 13 to 16 miles apart, or sometimes less. The paths were, in the beginning, created by animals, which in turn were used by early travellers and then turned into actually foot paths for tourists and locals alike. Most of the paths are easy tracks that go down slopes and across small streams.
Thousands of travellers come to Cotswolds every year to experience the original paths take by stone-age people who followed the animal tracks to pastures and to water. I’m not a good walker, but I will try to visit three Cotswold villages in a day and I fit in rest time were my wife and I can get a good lunch at a village pub which will let us get to know the local people and hopefully get a good laugh or a nice story before we continue on to the next village. All in All, even if I’m not a good backpacker, it will be nice just to spend time with my wife and nature.
Related posts: