One of the main goals of our trip to Europe included hiking around the Isle of Man. This goal often prompts the question of where? Or why? Where is an island in the Irish Sea between Ireland, Scotland, and England. And honestly, the night before we started the hike, I found myself revisiting the question of why.
I came up with the idea for this hike a year ago. Back before we did the Camino de Santiago, I was reading a book that focused on women writers who walked. Most of the writers were from the UK and the writer of that book was also from the UK. But it did include writers like Cheryl Strayed. But it introduced me to the idea of walking in the UK as a very popular activity. Not exactly like hiking in the US, with thru-hikes and tents and things; but the history of walking and walking paths as a popular pastime. Writers who walked in the Lake District and other well-known areas of England. And in my internet search for the next hike, I came across the Isle of Man, specifically the Raad Ny Foillan. It’s a coastal path around the isle that is about 100 miles. It seemed like a great trip to plan. Not as hard as the Camino, but still a good adventure.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if we could hike and camp on the Isle of Man (you can), but it seemed to be quite a hassle to fly with all of that gear. Plus if we were going to Europe for a week, we ought to plan some other adventures too. So we opted instead to go with a tour company for convenience. The tour company would plan our accommodations and our route, let us know where we could eat lunch, and make sure our bags were moved. All we had to do was walk. But as I said, the night before we set out, I found myself wondering why I had planned this. Sometimes I plan adventures for Will and me, and I get very focused on the details of making it happen. Then when the time comes I worry if I’ve been over-ambitious. So the night before we set out from our bed and breakfast managed by a retired engineer and his wife, I wondered if this in fact had been a crazy idea.
The hike isn’t well-known or well-established as a destination. Not like the Camino. There were towns along the way, but we were glad to have the info from the tour company because water, food, and bathrooms (or lack thereof) were something to think about. Day 2 of our walk would have the least resources and we ran out of water at midday and the cafe nearest to us was temporarily closed. Luckily for us, we stumbled upon a community event at a church.
But despite the challenges the path gave us, the views along the coast were stunning. We walked through countless sheep pastures, along rocky beaches, where rail tracks had once been, and through small towns. We had tea and scones on day 1 at a fantastic cafe overlooking the small island called the Calf of Man and it was a big highlight. One of the things I can say the UK does extremely well is the scones. With jam and clotted cream and tea, it was peak snack life.
I started the video series of our time hiking the island here: