In Episode 19, Greg Stamer advised me to gain more experience and skills in small boats before joining the Everglades Challenge with my own boat. As I have said to many people: my skills as a hiker are advanced, but my skills in small boats-- especially when it came to cruising or voyaging-- were better characterized as intermediate. Having moved back to the U.S. in 2023, I set out to take Greg’s advice. This episode is about my efforts to acquire more skills and experience, and I hope it can provide good food for thought for those who are interested in long distance trails-- whether on water or on the land-- and are setting out to increase their own skills and experience. #trailsaroundtheworld #skyking #evergladeschallenge #watertribe #dinghy #cruising #sailing #dinghycruising

The GR5 (Grand Randonnee Cinq) is a 1400 mile/2300km trail in Europe from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, crossing The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and France. It is a part of the longer E2 European E-Route, and its most famous section is the Grandes Traversee des Alpes, which runs 400-500 miles/ 650-800km along French-Italian border on the spine of the Alps from Lake Geneva to the Med. It is one of the world’s greatest trails, combining dramatic scenery, wilderness, and history and culture, yet you can complete it without camping a single night and using reasonable accommodation. Thank you to the Zero To Travel podcast and Kathy Elkind for permitting this rebroadcast. The Trails Around the World podcast is available on most podcast platforms or at www.trailsaroundtheworld.com.

#trailsaroundtheworld #skyking #gr5 #e2 #grandetraversee #kathyelkind #zerototravel #towalkitistoseeit #europe #france #hiking #thruhiking

The Michinoku Coastal Trail (MCT) is a newly-created long distance trail on Honshu’s northeast coast in Japan. It has immediately become one of Christine’s favorites among all of the trails she has ever hiked, and gave her many new experiences. The MCT’s 1000+ KM can be thru-hiked, but frequent access to train lines and towns also make logistics extremely easy, it is ideal for section-hiking. The coastline is spectacularly beautiful, but this trail’s cultural value is also very deep. Traveling through the region that was devastated by Japan’s 2011 tsunami, the MCT is simultaneously a memorial and an economic revival project. The lack of international tourism in the region amplifies the opportunities for true personal and cultural connections and experiences. At the beginning of this episode, Christine and I spend a good deal of time discussing the realities of hiking in Japan before we focus on the MCT.

#michinokucoastaltrail #christinethuermer #christinethurmer #trailsaroundtheworld #skyking #japan #michinokutrail #michinoku #tohoku #hiking #thruhiking #tsunami #fukushima