Walking around the parks of London, we get to see trees in all seasons. Trees I might have walked by without thinking, suddenly grasp my interest. It might be that the winter sunshine catches the red of the berries, even more spectacular when the leaves are all gone. Sometimes the particularly white and softly haired leaves catch my eye in early spring. Making me wonder what that tree is that…Keep Reading

To all of you who will Nordic Walk the Big Half for Silverfit on 4 March 2018: My hat is well and truly off for you. So many of you have been training tirelessly over the past months. In rain or shine, you have been building up your distances, strength, technique, and endurance. I have been watching you with admiration. How you overcame aches and pains, and have learned to…Keep Reading

Deciding to sign up and Nordic Walk the Big Half (marathon) can be an amazing thing to do for yourself. You will raise money for an exciting charity, led by older people for older people, whilst giving you a great reason to get off that couch and stay active this winter. Some things to think about before you decide to sign up for the Big Half Ask yourself the following:…Keep Reading

On Sunday 4 March 2018 the Big Half will take place in London. The Big Half Marathon that is, starting at Tower Bridge and finishing in Greenwich, passing through the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Greenwich. Silverfit, well known to many of our Nordic Walkers, has a limited number of places available. The Big Half aims to be truly global and uniquely local in a celebration of the…Keep Reading

This year was Fit and Happy Outdoors 4th Halloween, and the suspense was killing me. The wonderful location we had used in the past years had been closed down this summer. Apparently we were not the only ones who loved the circular barbecue area in Burgess Park. This summer, parties had been a daily occurence in Burgess Park, and not all of them had been so quiet as ours. Many…Keep Reading

Of the things I have feared most in my life; the fear of failure is probably my biggest fear of all. It has played a major role in the way I have lived my life so far, but my expedition this summer has been a great learning school. Time to re-evaluate my fears. In school, my fear of failure meant that I didn’t pursue the subjects I didn’t think I…Keep Reading

Choosing Nordic Walking poles can be daunting, there are so many diffent brands and models. To help you, I have written a guide explaining the most common options. Nordic Walking poles are different from trekking or ski poles, mainly because they connect differently to your hands. Ski or trekking poles usually have a simple loop, which means that you loose your hand position on the pole if you let go…Keep Reading

Are you one of those people who think that change can only happen if it is done in a big and bold way? Are you convinced you need a complete life style makeover to lose weight? Is it even possible to achieve anything in life if you don’t set some big bold goals? Go big or go broke? This is the question I asked myself before I set off on…Keep Reading

These days, it seems like I spend as much time drying gear as I spend paddling. I am starting to understand that what makes a long trip in the UK hard is not do much the paddling itself, but the work it takes to keep your gear comfortable and in working order. The salt of the sea covers your clothes and prevents them from drying. Out on day trips, we…Keep Reading

Waking up at the crack of dawn, I find out that my phone has refused to charge off the full battery pack. So, no tide information, no pictures, and no alarm! I am lucky that the light woke me up at 5.30 anyway. Breaking up quickly, I manage to set off at exactly 7 am. Still feeling very sleepy, I paddle as fast as I can. But it still isn’t…Keep Reading

Before I set off on this trip I had planned very little. Just as well: I am learning now that whenever I do plan something, my plans will be thwarted anyway. It started on day 3 with my plan of going to Whitstable for lunch, when a shivering sandbank got in my way. Then on Tuesday I had thought of going to Folkestone, when the wind was much stronger than…Keep Reading

An appointment to the hairdressers had seemed ridiculous before I set off, but now, after less than a week on the water, my fringe is hanging in my eyes and my ponytail is completely tangled and matted together. I decide to use my day off to find a launderette to wash some clothes and a cheap hairdresser to untangle and cut my hair. By three pm I have done all…Keep Reading

Getting up early is now becoming a routine, and packing up the kayak is taking less and less time. As bothersome as a steep pebble beach as helpful it proves to be if you want your kayak back into the sea; she just slid herself down. I set off in good time and said goodbye to my beautiful beach. I hadn’t even paddled five minutes when a seal popped its…Keep Reading

I wake up around 7 with the sun burning on my tent. I feel lucky that commodore Alastair had given me a key fob to the Herne bay sailing club, I really need to pee. I slip on my shoes and scramble out of the tent, only to find out that the key fob doesn’t work! One of the things I really like about Britain is that there are public…Keep Reading

The boat was packed early, but camping by a pub, I couldn’t resist the chance of celebrating Sunday with a full English breakfast. The kitchen didn’t open until 9, but I was allowed to wait in the pub. Enjoying their wifi I used my time well by writing and posting my stories of the past day for you. The downside of lazing about in the morning and eating huge brekkies,…Keep Reading

Waiting for my brekkie to cook I have a few moments to write about yesterday. I left Gravesend just after 8 in the morning to catch the best of the tide. The water was flat and silver, shimmering like a mirror. Michal Madera, who did a full circumnavigation of the UK with his wife Natalie in 2013, had warned me about the shallows on this stretch. It was high tide…Keep Reading

When I announced my plans for the summer, I wrote that it was about time to exchange my conversations with the squirrels for conversations with the seals. For the life of me, I didn’t expect that to happen within the first hours of the trip, but that is exactly what happened. I woke up excited and a bit nervous. The past couple of days Steve had been a great help…Keep Reading

How to make the impossible possible? How to go on an expedition when you have very limited cash? How can I make sure I still have work in September and make sure you can still walk this summer? Going away for 2 and a half months means not earning any money during that time, so I have to take some drastic measures. I have decided to give up my appartment…Keep Reading

What a fabulous weekend this turned out to be! On Friday afternoon I flew to the Netherlands to pick up my new kayak, and I hoped to be able to see some friends before I set off on my expedition. I know the Netherlands is a very small country, but not in a million years did I expect to see so many of them! On Friday afternoon my friend Linda…Keep Reading

Fit and Happy Outdoors founder Ailien is mega busy preparing for her 10 year anniversary of living in the UK: “I decided it is about time I got back in a kayak and exchange my conversations with the squirrels for conversations with the seals. It is also time to see all those bits of the UK coastline I never had time or money for to see. So I am going…Keep Reading