Backpacking tips with Gareth Axenderrie

New sections of the Wales Coast Path and a new path on Snowdon opened late last year.

With even more options for Welsh walkers now available, Gareth Axenderrie, who walked more than 1,100 miles around Wales, 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.’”

You can read my original interview with Gareth here.