Book description
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. When Paula
Constant and her husband, Gary, attempt to break away from the
conventional 9-to-5 routine, a few weeks lazing in a resort or packed in
a tour bus is not what they have in mind. What starts out as an idle
daydream to embark on 'a travel to end all travels' turns into something
far greater: an epic year-long 5000-kilometre walk from Trafalgar Square
in London to Morocco and the threshold of the Sahara Desert. Quite an
ambition for an unfit woman who favours sharing cigarettes and a few
bottles of wine with friends over logging time on the treadmill. But if
the sheer arduousness of walking over 25 kilometres a day through the
landscapes and cultural labyrinths of France, Spain, Portugal and
Morocco - without a support vehicle - is overlooked in her excitement,
then so too is the unexpected journey of self discovery and awakening
that lies beyond every bend. Both the companions she meets on the road
and the road itself provide what no university can offer: a chance to
experience life's simple truths face to face. Paula's transformation
from an urban primary school teacher into a successful expeditioner is a
true tale of an ordinary woman achieving something extraordinary. It is
a journey that begins with one footstep. Paula Constant began walking
from Trafalgar Square in 2004. Since then, she has walked over 12000km
through eight countries: England, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco,
Mauritania, Mali and Niger. From 2005-2007, Paula walked over 7000km
through the Sahara, until she was halted by civil war in Niger. Her
first book, Slow Journey South, was released by Random House in 2008.
Her second, Sahara, was released in October 2009. Paula is currently
planning another walk, and lives in rural Victoria.
