When he began his epic walk around the UK coastline back in August 2017, Christian Lewis had no idea quite how much of an adventure it would become. Over five and a half years later, nearing the end of the roughly 20,000-mile (32,187km) journey, he’s visited uninhabited islands, battled unthinkable weather conditions, learned to forage and even met the love of his life along the way. But what exactly prompted this incredible challenge and what has he learned? We caught up with the inspirational explorer to find out more…

After leaving school, Christian signed up to the British Army, where he served in the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment. He says the experience "made me realise what my limits are". While he believes there are few similarities between serving in the army and his current challenge, "the one thing it gave me was just the fact I know if I put my head down, I don’t mind suffering a bit of cold here and there," he explains.

By 2017, the ex-paratrooper, then aged 37, had fallen on hard times. "I really wasn’t happy, to cut a long story short. I was a single parent, I’d done it all on my own and I’d felt trapped for a long time," says Christian. "It got to the point where I wasn't socialising anymore – I was on a downward spiral." When his daughter left home to go to college, he was at a crossroads and thought: "If I’m going to change something, it needs to be now."

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"I’ve always had a connection with the outdoors," Christian tells us. "It’s my safe place. Even as a child, I used to get up at five in the morning, do my paper round and then just go outside. I just wanted to be outside!"

You could be forgiven for thinking the journey took a lot of planning, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It was after going surfing – which he describes as his "only outlet" at the time – that he realised he just didn’t want to go back home. "I looked down the coast and I thought, what if I just started walking?" recalls Christian. "I made the decision, there and then, that I was going to do it."

Nor did Christian have much in the way of equipment. After that day, he "went back home and spent a couple of days borrowing some kit from friends – a bag and a tent and a few other bits. And that was it." He set off with just £10 ($13.54) in his pocket and two days’ worth of food. When asked why he chose to walk the UK coastline, instead of somewhere sunnier, he explains: "I would have been too skint to have done anything else!"

As well as wanting to reconnect with the outdoors, Christian undertook the challenge to fundraise for veterans charity SSAFA along the way. The cause was close to his heart, as he wrote on his JustGiving page: "I have experienced first-hand what they do and I honestly don't know where I would be without their help and support."

Christian started his walk on 1 August 2017, from a village near Swansea on Wales’ Gower Peninsula. He then continued up the west coast of Wales before heading along the west coast of England and over to Northern Ireland. "The first year and a half was hard, because nobody knew what I was doing, I was really alone. The focus was just moving forward."

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It was only when he arrived in Scotland and began visiting "really wild places that were just in the middle of nowhere" that he began to feel like himself again. "It was just about the outdoor world and moving from A to B," he says. "My only concerns were having water, food, a safe place to pitch a tent – it made me strip back to the simple things I actually needed, without the clutter."

After making do with food gifts from strangers for the first few months, during which time he lost a lot of weight, Christian learned to forage. He agrees there are still misconceptions about the practice. "People think you’re going to be eating badgers you’ve found on the side of the road or something," he says. But Christian has made the most of the bounty of seafood on his route to cook nutritious meals. "I make stews all the time. I’ll find things like mushrooms, limpets, whelks, mussels, even lobster and crab. If you know what you're doing, it’s not all that difficult."

Beginning in late February 2018, just over seven months after Christian set out, the UK was hit by a brutal storm: the Beast from the East. It was around this time he met his dog Jet. "I was passing through Irvine, a village on the west coast of Scotland and she belonged to a family that couldn’t look after her anymore," he explains. Christian decided to adopt her. "I was at the perfect place at the perfect time." 

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The conditions have been unbearable at points. On the Shetland Islands and the Outer Hebrides, "the winds were just absolutely brutal and I was in the middle of nowhere," he says. Has he ever been scared? "Many times," he confesses. "When the winds are that ferocious, nature doesn't give you a second chance, so you’ve got to have your wits about you."

When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, many were forced into isolation. But being on the road, far from home, Christian was removed from the outside world in a way few of us have ever experienced. "A fisherman took me to an uninhabited island, called Hildasay, off the west coast of Scotland," Christian tells us. "There was literally not another human soul. But I've been isolated all the way around this, so I'd been building up to it for a while." Christian had to limit using his phone to contact others as he was relying on portable chargers and had a restricted supply of electricity too.  

After Britain’s stay-at-home measures ended in June, Christian was able to complete his walk around Shetland, before returning to mainland Scotland. It was here that he made another unexpected encounter: he met his girlfriend, Kate Barron. "She was wild camping, doing the North Coast 500," he says. The pair hit it off instantly and although Kate had to leave shortly after, they stayed in touch. Two months later, Kate quit her job and went to join him for the rest of the route. 

Unfortunately, the pair’s journey was halted once again in January 2021, when Scotland – where they were travelling at the time – went into lockdown. They pitched their tent in a woodland area just outside of Gourdon, near Aberdeen, creating a shelter with logs and foraging for food.

When stay-at-home orders ended in April 2021, after more than four months at their makeshift camp, Christian and Kate were able to get walking again. The pair completed their travels around Scotland’s east coast before heading down into England. They entered Suffolk, where Kate is from, in October that year and were met with joy from residents there.

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Posting about his travels online has "helped a lot", he says. "I’m really proud of the fact my pages are happy, positive places – none of this negativity. I've got a wonderful set of followers." He believes that "remaining positive, even in adverse conditions" as well as "sharing the challenging sides of it" have helped him to create a warm, friendly online community.

The connections he’s forged online have often materialised in real life too. "The kindness of people around the UK has just been phenomenal," he says. From strangers who have given him gifts and food to those who have met up with him and offered him places to stay, it’s been one of the nicest parts of the journey. "Before I went I'd lost my faith in humanity," he confesses. "But now, it’s been totally restored."

When asked how he keeps tabs on his progress, Christian is resolute about remaining low-tech. "I’ve never tracked it," he admits. "The main reason being I couldn't afford it. And I just wasn't a technical guru." But he believes this is also a strength. "Everything is so planned in this day and age. Anyone who tries to walk the coastline of the UK thinking 'right, I’m going to walk this many miles and I’m going to get here by this time,' ends up stopping within the first few months."

It’s hard to pinpoint just one highlight of his immense journey. But Christian says the west coast of Scotland and its island have been some of his favourite parts. "The beaches, especially on the islands, are just spectacular," he says. "You could be in the Bahamas."

"There was this beautiful little uninhabited island which I rowed over to and stayed on for one Christmas – that was a really special moment," Christian says. "I've got lots of little places dotted around that I'll definitely be going back to revisit." Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s not keen to give away any of these hidden gems: "they’re beautiful because nobody goes there."

 

For much of the route, Christian has slept in his tent, which he carries along with him, but he’s grateful when people offer to host him. It’s meant staying the night in some pretty wacky places. "Treehouses, Wendy houses, sheds, stables, lighthouses, you name it – it's all part of the adventure," he tells us.  

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No two days are the same, but his typical schedule looks something like this: "I get up in the morning, get out of the tent and make two coffees" – one for him and one for Kate – "then I have a look at the map and gauge roughly where I think I'm going that day," he says. "Then we just start packing away, have breakfast, get the bags and head off. Regardless of the weather, we plough through."

When Christian started out, he set the ambitious target of raising £100,000 ($123,656) for SSAFA. Yet thanks to his positive online presence, media coverage and word of mouth, he’s smashed his goal. His JustGiving page currently has received more than £320,000 ($395,700k) and it keeps increasing.

Although Christian is nearing the end of his epic journey, in some ways his adventure has only just begun. In October 2021, he and Kate announced on social media they were having a baby and in May 2022, their baby son, Magnus, was born. Magnus and Kate have joined Christian and Jet on a number of legs of the walk, including around the coastlines of the Channel Islands. They hope to cross the finish line in Swansea as a family.

The last leg of the trip has certainly been dramatic and eventful. In October 2022, Christian announced that his beloved dog, Jet, had undergone surgery for cancer. The complicated procedure was performed by Dr Scott Miller from the TV show, Bondi Vet. Christian had met Dr Miller during an appearance on the UK breakfast programme, This Morning. Fans gave a huge sigh of relief to hear that the surgery was a success.

In December 2022, Christian became a Sunday Times bestselling author when his book about his journey, Finding Hildasay, was published. It was written as he walked, in A4 notepads, and now he does book signings in the towns he walks through. Christian’s profile was raised even further when he and his family featured in an episode of Ben Fogle’s popular TV programme, New Lives in The Wild. Ben Fogle joined Christian, Kate, Magnus and Jet on the Devon section of the walk, giving a huge boast to Christian’s fundraising efforts.

What advice would Christian give to others looking to undertake a similar challenge? "Just go for it," he says. Of course, you’ll need to plan a little, but once you’ve got a rough idea in your head and sourced the maps you need, "just take it one day at a time, one step at a time." It seems the magic for Christian is in the spontaneity. "Some days something will suddenly happen that I never expected, in the middle of nowhere. And I just think: wow, I'm so glad I didn't do the same as everybody else," he concludes.

Stay up to date with Christian's travels by following him on Facebook. You can also help him raise funds for SSAFA by donating to his JustGiving page.

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