Life on the road
New sections of the Wales Coast Path and a new path on Snowdon opened last month.
With even more options for Welsh walkers now available, Gareth explained the practicalities of living out of a backpack.
FOOD
“I ate everything I could get my hands on,” Gareth laughs, “because I was burning 7000 calories a day. You just have to eat all the time. Porridge for breakfast. Grazing in the day: nuts, chocolate, flapjack. No lunch. If you have a big lunch it’s hard to get going again.
“In the evening, as much as possible. Sometimes a couple of Guinesses with food. You wouldn’t read that in textbooks, but you just take on whatever calories you can.
“I bought most food as and when,” he explains. “You could ration dehydrated food weeks ahead, but it’s expensive and doesn’t taste very nice.”
FINANCES
In regards to money, Gareth explains, “I worked full-time previous to it, so I had a buffer in my bank balance. I did meet people while I was doing it who were doing it literally on a shoestring. I saved some money when hostels or campsites were good enough to put me up for free.
“But I also wanted to enjoy it. There’d be absolutely no point doing it if I hated every day. Part of that was knowing if I had to jump into a bed and breakfast because of the weather then that was OK.”
BLOGGING
While on the road, Gareth kept a daily blog. Writing every night, often in the tent, he uploaded text and pictures with his smartphone. He admits, “I’d never blogged before. At the beginning it was just posting on Facebook for my ten followers, but it really gained traction.
“It was also a great icebreaker,” he says. “When you’re sat in the pub writing, people get curious and ask what you’re doing.”
It even motivated Gareth to push past some tough moments. “There were days when I misjudged the tides,” he says, “so instead of walking across a few stepping stones I had to come inland an hour and then back. It was really helpful to think, ‘This will give me something to write about.’”
Gareth walked 1,164 miles around Wales in 2015 in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre who had previously treated his grandfather
Gareth Axenderrie, 26, stands outside the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. The Welsh Assembly building marked the start and end of Gareth’s circuit of Wales on foot. He followed the Wales Coast Path to Wales’ northernmost beaches before returning via the Offa’s Dyke Path. He also climbed Wales’ three peaks – Cadair Idris, Snowdon and Pen-y-Fan – covering 1,164 miles between 8 June and 29
August 2015.
“I was hospitalised. That set me back six months while I built up my strength again.”
The idea came on a rainy afternoon at the office. “There were no customers,” says Gareth, “I’d stacked the same shelves three times. It was boring. We received a delivery of Welsh Coastline leaflets. I picked one up and looked at the Welsh border, thinking, ‘I wonder how long that’d take to walk.’” He smiles. “A quick Google search later I’d decided.”
Getting off the ground
People told Gareth he was mad. “The one person who responded positively was my grandad. He said, ‘I’d have loved to do it if I was your age.’ That was the only affirmation I needed,” Gareth says.
There were setbacks. On one training expedition Gareth contracted food poisoning, returning home early. “It turned into something quite bad,” he says. “I was hospitalised. That set me back six months while I built up my strength again.”
“I’d like to go overseas as part of a team. It was incredibly valuable to learn how to be alone, but being part of a team, that’s what I’d love to do next.”
Gareth discussed the most memorable moments. “When other people got involved. I was on my own for 90% of it. I’d speak to cows, sheep, myself,” he laughs. “But when a local in the pub chats to you, and all of a sudden everyone in the place is your friend, that’s amazing.”
Climbing Pen-y-Fan with friends and family was another standout moment. “People make places. A pub could look sketchy – if the people there are nice there’s nowhere you’d rather be.”
Present day
Gareth, a journalism student in Cardiff now, grins when asked about any future plans. He says, “I try to get into the Beacons between deadlines and essays.
“I’d like to go overseas as part of a team. It was incredibly valuable to learn how to be alone, but being part of a team, that’s what I’d love to do next.”
Velindre Cancer Centre was Gareth’s chosen charity. He wanted to repay them for treating his grandparents. The final sum raised was near £7000.
“Finishing at the Bay was undoubtedly the most emotional moment,” says Gareth. “I hadn’t seen my grandad. I hadn’t heard him on the phone – he’d lost his voice because of throat cancer while I was away. At that point I just wanted to get home.
“At the finish he was the first person to greet me. A massive smile on his face. Everything was worth it in that moment.”
His grandfather passed away at 91, a month after Gareth’s return. “My grandma says, for those last months, the thing which got him through every day was reading my blog,” says Gareth. “I didn’t know the prognosis at that point. They had kept it from me. It’s amazing to know now that I was doing something of huge value for someone I cared so much about.”
Life on the road
New sections of the Wales Coast Path and a new path on Snowdon opened last month.
With even more options for Welsh walkers now available, Gareth explained the practicalities of living out of a backpack.
FOOD
“I ate everything I could get my hands on,” Gareth laughs, “because I was burning 7000 calories a day. You just have to eat all the time. Porridge for breakfast. Grazing in the day: nuts, chocolate, flapjack. No lunch. If you have a big lunch it’s hard to get going again.
“In the evening, as much as possible. Sometimes a couple of Guinesses with food. You wouldn’t read that in textbooks, but you just take on whatever calories you can.
“I bought most food as and when,” he explains. “You could ration dehydrated food weeks ahead, but it’s expensive and doesn’t taste very nice.”
FINANCES
In regards to money, Gareth explains, “I worked full-time previous to it, so I had a buffer in my bank balance. I did meet people while I was doing it who were doing it literally on a shoestring. I saved some money when hostels or campsites were good enough to put me up for free.
“But I also wanted to enjoy it. There’d be absolutely no point doing it if I hated every day. Part of that was knowing if I had to jump into a bed and breakfast because of the weather then that was OK.”
BLOGGING
While on the road, Gareth kept a daily blog. Writing every night, often in the tent, he uploaded text and pictures with his smartphone. He admits, “I’d never blogged before. At the beginning it was just posting on Facebook for my ten followers, but it really gained traction.
“It was also a great icebreaker,” he says. “When you’re sat in the pub writing, people get curious and ask what you’re doing.”
It even motivated Gareth to push past some tough moments. “There were days when I misjudged the tides,” he says, “so instead of walking across a few stepping stones I had to come inland an hour and then back. It was really helpful to think, ‘This will give me something to write about.’”