Rise To Your Everest

Paul Harris – Walking Two Laps of the UK & Learning Not to Quit

• Adam Clayton • Season 1 • Episode 10

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In Episode 10 of Rise To Your Everest, Adam sits down with adventurer, author, and former Marine Paul Harris, also known as The Warrior Walker.

Paul’s story is one of relentless curiosity, mental resilience, and a refusal to quit. Best known for walking two full laps of the UK, Paul has spent years testing his physical and mental limits, not just in pursuit of adventure, but as a way of understanding himself and finding peace.

In this raw and honest conversation, Paul opens up about the deeper battle behind the miles: mental health, the challenge of simply sticking around, and the role that purpose, discomfort, and the outdoors have played in keeping him moving forward.

From lessons in resilience and teamwork during his early years, to what walking thousands of miles has taught him about the human mind, Paul shares why he believes we are all capable of far more than we think.

This episode is a powerful reminder that resilience isn’t always loud, sometimes it’s simply choosing not to quit.

🧭 Topics Covered

• Walking two laps of the UK
• Mental health and staying in the fight
• Adventure as therapy
• Building resilience through discomfort
• The “one more” mindset
• Identity, courage and stepping into the arena
• Finding peace through challenge

🌐 Connect with Paul

Instagram: @thewarriorwalker

Book: The Warrior Walker

🎙 About Rise To Your Everest

Rise To Your Everest explores resilience, mindset, and personal growth through honest conversations with people who push beyond comfort and keep climbing through life’s toughest challenges.

📬 Get in Touch:

https://www.instagram.com/adamclayton.apex/

https://www.instagram.com/apex.officialuk/

 🔥 Podcast powered by: https://apexchallenges.com/

SPEAKER_00

In this episode of Rise to Your Everest, Adam sits down with Paul Harris, also known as the Warrior Walker, an adventurer driven by a relentless refusal to quit and a deep desire to explore the limits of what he's capable of. Paul's journey isn't defined by one single moment, but by a constant pursuit of something more. From walking two full laps of the UK to navigating the realities of mental health, his story is one of endurance, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. He speaks openly about the battle of simply staying in the fight, the role adventure plays in its mental well-being, and why pushing beyond comfort has become a way of life. In this conversation, we explore resilience, identity, purpose, and what it truly means to step into the arena when quitting would be easier. If you've ever questioned your limits or needed a reminder that humans are capable of far more than they believe, this episode will challenge and inspire you. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02

Paul, welcome to Rise to Your Everest. You describe yourself as someone who fails to quit, someone squeezing every ounce of juice out of life, relentlessly outdoors, relentlessly exploring. Let's start simple. Who is Paul Harris right now?

SPEAKER_01

Hey, that's a that's an intro. Um who is Paul Harris right now? I'd I'd agree with the things I said that I think I am.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But but I I mean you could talk about these sort of things all the time, right? I I really think that you kind of need to know who you are. So, from my point of view, I would say that I love being outdoors. I'm an explorer, I love to be on adventures, I love to, you know, and when I say go on adventures, I don't mean like walk the UK twice. I mean just step outside your door and just go on a little adventure for an hour or two, go for a coffee, just get that fresh air, get the body moving, so that kind of thing. Um but I don't know where it's happened in my life, but I really believe that it's up to other people to kind of tell you what they think you are, and you almost have to just okay, thanks, that's great, thank you so much. If it's positive or negative, but just kind of flow each day because I feel like we've got different versions of ourselves every day, no.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but I and not letting not letting other people define that though, define who you are.

SPEAKER_01

No, like I think I mentioned it, I think, in the in the questions you asked me previously as a warm-up for this, but peace of mind, man. Like it's I feel like we're in such a crazy chaotic space as human beings right now, with so many things like a podcast and uh Instagram and social media and the news and what's happening in the world that you have to try and be as centered as you can be with who you are, and I think that's the constant thing that's forever gonna evolve in your life.

SPEAKER_02

So true, and like you said, a really hard thing to do in the world we live in, and the the digital world we live in is how we can actually stay connected.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and there's pros and cons to anything, and the pros of social media. Man, when we talk about the walk, you know, I've it's it's brought me a lot of great things. Um, this brought me a lot of negative things as well, and I think that's life, and it's basically how much you absorb, you know. I've been going to bed recently thinking, oh my god, are we gonna go to war for a third time? Like, well, what you know, because it's just we're constantly absorbed by this stuff, and you can go on your phone and you're in America, you're looking at Donald Trump, you're on a mountain with someone, and you it's kind of we're we're kind of desensitized to that. Someone will hear about my walk 20,000 kilometres, they'll hear about Mitch, my friend who walked and did the longest triathlon to Everest, right? They'll absorb that and look at it and think, oh yeah, that was cool. But you just don't get to to feel that, you know, it's great to show people it and it's how they buy into what you do and it's how you can get sponsorship and all the things, but it I feel like we live in such a disconnected world where back in the day you had to climb a mountain and you might have written an article in a newspaper and you might have gone and spoken about it, but people always had this like, oh, I wonder what that's like. Whereas now we can just flip our phone around and be like, this is what it's like.

SPEAKER_02

So true, isn't it? You know, yeah. You say you fail to quit, you obviously have this winning mentality. Uh and where did that where did that come from? Is that from a young age? Was that has it was has that taught you? Have you have you learned that or were you born with that?

SPEAKER_01

I think speaking from experience, um the only version I've got is me, right? But I think it's always been there. Um I had a tough childhood like a lot of people, and uh at 18 decided to join the Marines, you know? Straight off the bat you're gonna find out if you're a winner or a loser or a quitter. And don't get it twisted. I wanted to probably quit most days, but it's I don't know. I did two laps of the UK, right, which we'll get on to, but I don't know what it is, mate. I I I've I've wondered this qu this for a long time. People always ask me, you know, why don't you quit? I can't actually tell you why I don't. It's this this discovery, this determination to see if I can reach the optimum of my life. How far can I push myself mentally, physically, spiritually, how far can I go? And the other side of that is you know, fear is I often find that the other side of fear and the other side of somewhere I don't know, I often thrive in that environment. When I stay in an environment that I know quite well, the nine to five, the day to day, I kind of do the opposite and I struggle. So it's quite a conundrum, but a good one that I think I'm happy that I have. Um, and I honestly don't know why I don't quit.

unknown

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

It's just not in there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it must have been a you you were born with that. Uh uh, you know, quitting is just not in your DNA.

SPEAKER_01

I just can't, I can't, you know, I can't quit, but I I've I had this on the walk, and there's things that we should quit. There's like, you know, if you eat too much rubbish, if you surround yourself with someone in a relationship that's not good for you, if you're in a job that you hate, if you're in something that's making you stagnate, if you decide that you want to go to uni and think you want to go for that course to be that person, and two years deep, you're like, this is really not for me. That's a good time to quit. But the other side of that, there's things that are good for you not to quit, like a walk, like an adventure, but where you've got to find out in the struggle what you're made of, who you are, you can get help, you can call your mates in, say, come help me out. I'm struggling, man, but I don't want to quit. That's a good way to find out about quitting. But also with that, the flip side of quitting something, I feel like we as humans struggle because unfortunately, there's a tosket, a toxic um side of social media and the human psyche, I feel, in the last five, six, seven years, whereby it's deemed that you're not good enough if you do quit. So people just are proud to do the uh 12-hour days, 15-hour days, four or five hours sleep, absolutely knackered, absolutely struggling, but but they're really cool because they make loads of money. And I feel like that side of social media and our human psyche should be uh somewhere where you quit.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so true, isn't it? And I can relate to that. Was um it's a bit like hustle culture, is it? Or that hustle culture people talk about now. Um I used to be that I used to be that guy train twice a day, work 18 hours a day or something, and you know, I thought that was I thought that was cool. I thought it was my identity, but really like it was bullshit.

SPEAKER_01

Just burning out.

SPEAKER_02

It was exactly, yeah. And it was all for these, you know, exterior motives, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I and it and I I mean that's a conversation again, right? It's just like you know, when you uh if you believe in something and you're passionate about something, and I think that's the the essence of life is to find that sweet spot where you can train, you can sleep, sleep so important, um, you know, and work on your relationships that you have. Um, it's hard to keep more than three or four relationships going, be it with your partner but also your close friends. Um, other than that, and outside of that, which is why I think social media is good, uh, because you can just check in, you can do a story, and it gets seen by more people that you can physically talk to. But I think we've hit a kind of crux, which is well spoken of and great in the sense of mental health and the hustle culture, because those two things really are married together. And I mean it it's it all comes down to what is your enough, right? And I learned that on the on the walk, you know, everyone has a different enough, so you have a figure in mind about how much money you need per month, per year to have enough. How big do you want your house to be, your flat to be, where do you want to live, who do you want to be with, who do you want to be, what do you want to do? Every single person's enough is different. You've just got to find yours and just zone out of everyone else's.

SPEAKER_02

It's interesting that, and I've got a feeling this episode's gonna have so many little golden nuggets like this when talking to you. Do you think having enough is very similar to success? Everyone has their own version of success. Is that the same kind of road?

SPEAKER_01

I think it's the same road, it's just different turnings, and everyone gets off at a different point or takes a left, takes a right, stays where they are or keeps going. But it is so it honestly, I think it's just a daily practice. We're so overwhelmed, be it newspapers. I someone asked me the other day, I don't do you read the newspapers, do you watch the news? And I said, Well, I don't actually, but I kind of do because as soon as I pick my phone up, it's just there. And I think that's the new kind of news and the new way we watch things, but it's such a I honestly it's a very complicated way to live. Now we live in such a complicated society where we're just absorbed and thrown at, things are thrown at us constantly. That kind of comparison is the thief of joy. I'll talk like this to you, and then I go on my phone or I'll look at someone's car when they drive past me. Oh, that'd be nice, you know, and then you're like, how can I get that? You know, social media, I nearly lost a book deal over it because I didn't have enough followers, and you know, I was very adamant on the on the stance of you can't define me by a number. And also, what is what it what kind of example are you setting to someone who has less than 19,000 followers, someone who has 300, a thousand, a young teenager looking at that thinking, oh my god, I'm literally defined by a number, and that is a dangerous playing field that we put that we live in now, and I feel like it's very forthright, but also you know, you've just seen two lads die on Snowden, you know, two young lads, 1920, going for a walk in the snow, they shouldn't have gone up there. But for some reason, there might have been something about them going, but imagine that when we get to the top. Imagine the views being posted, imagine all the likes we'll get. This is amazing. You know, we set we've set a very dangerous precedent for success, and I think it needs to look at uh be looked at again um and kind of spoken about in a in a in a calmer and kinder way, because I think we're going the wrong way.

SPEAKER_02

It's interesting, isn't it? You know, talking about those two young lads who very sadly lost their lives, you know. Would they have done it if it if social media wasn't around and they were were they potentially chasing that? Who knows?

SPEAKER_01

But you you know, you never know. It's a bad thing, man. It's such a it's such a waste, uh, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Um how do you find balance now then? Because you're obviously very astute to this, you're very you sound very well educated in all of this, and you you sound like you're trying to stay on top of it and this balance. Is there any mindset tips or tools that you use daily to help navigate this world we live in?

SPEAKER_01

So when I walked, and um at one point I was going around the country, I was walking, doing my thing, and it was amazing, it was incredible, no one wanna no one else was doing it. I was putting in serious kilometers, days, months, years. And at some stage on the walk, I'd look at someone else, and they've got half a million followers, and all they were doing was walking up one hill, posting about it, and getting more traction, more things given to them, more success. And that affected me for a long while. And I just thought, how is that that you just you just do that one walk up a hill, and I'm months in, thousands of kilometres in, and you're getting more success than me. That really started to play on me mentally, and and we've just mentioned it. Obviously, people now start to think like what can I wear, what can't I wear, what what can I do? We call it content, you know, that'll be great content. There's a whole thing about maybe it's in it's on the on the verge of maybe going full circle now, where I've seen there's been nightclubs where people have to put their phones in the blockers, you know, you put your phones away because you've got the argument of how present are you? Because you've got your phone out, so you're actually looking at this and you're not looking at that, and you're only thinking if I take this picture, it'll be amazing, I'll post it. But there came a moment where it did get me down. I was fatigued from it, I was starting to struggle mentally, and I came to the realization that let's say, for instance, I put up a story, and sometimes I'll get six, seven thousand views, and sometimes I'll get three hundred. And I used to feel like, oh man, that's really struggling. How is that? That made me feel shit. Then I reframed it by thinking, well, actually, imagine 300 people in a room that are watching you talk about whatever you're talking about. That's a lot of people, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Huge.

SPEAKER_01

So you should, you know, so you should re- I started to reframe it like that, and therefore, if it's 10 people, 10 I've just done a talk to uh a cruise, and there was probably about a hundred people in there, it's terrifying. Like they just sat there, you know, and it's just oh thousands of people. God, that would be nerve-wracking. But you can really affect ten people, yeah. And that's why I say ripples into waves. So you have to kind of zone out. Yes, you're doing it for content, yes, you're hoping that it will go viral, yes, you're hoping that people will see it, yes, you'll get the dopamine from the likes and the this and the that and the messages. But what you have to try and do is just imagine that maybe no one's gonna see it. And if you're then happy to post it because no one's gonna see it, then just put that out anyway. And if it does go crazy and successful, great. If it doesn't, doesn't matter because you didn't do it for that anyway.

SPEAKER_02

So true, isn't it? And I guess that's a way of accepting, isn't it? If it doesn't quite go the way you want it to go, you've already accepted that, so it's not really gonna have a negative effect on you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it's it's it's just absolute positive. It's absolutely positive, and it you know, 10 people watch a story, 10 likes. It should be should hit as well as a thousand. If a thousand people saw it and ten people saw it, and if a thousand people liked it, or ten people liked it, it should have the same feeling within you, you know, because you can change one person's life, ten people's lives. That's really powerful. Uh and there's ten people that like what you're doing. That's enough.

SPEAKER_02

Uh so powerful, isn't it? So you've I want to get into the walk now because that's yeah, you know, you've tested that mindset in some serious ways, uh your resilience, you know, and what you've done. Most people know you for walking two laps of the UK, and you didn't just do it once, you did it twice, uh, which is you know, physically, mentally, that's huge. So just take us back to why? Why would you start walking the length of the UK? What was the reason, you know, and then we'll start there, and then I then I want to find out why you did it twice.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, mate, yeah. Um, in a nutshell, I was in a in a really low spot, a dark place. Um, to give you a a kind of brief synopsis of my life, and and within that, and the people that listen to this and watch it, um, within two minutes, I was born obviously. Uh I'm 42 now, so I've lived quite a long life. Uh, and I'm still figuring out like what do I want to do in my life? What do I want to do in my life? But in this moment of my life, so 18, I joined the Marines, uh, did four and a half years in the Marines, never thought I could do it, kept on going at it, didn't quit, wanted to quit, cried all the time. Didn't the lads just didn't see that because at the time it was, you know, not it was kind of a toxic masculinity. You can't obviously show your emotions. It was a dog eat dog kind of thing, and then finished that. Um, went obviously straight onto a reality TV show, um, lived on a beach for six months, um, and that was on channel four. It was called Shipwrecked, if anyone's ever heard of that or watched it. Then I became like a Zedless celebrity. I was boozing too much, sleeping with too many women, and it was a great time. Um, but after a year of doing that, I was really kind of bored of that lifestyle and realized that this is kind of empty. So took a call from my brother, ended up on a flight to Thailand and working in Afghanistan. So I was a private security operative, a bodyguard basically. And I was looking after uh working for the American government, looking after journalists, NGOs, people that were working with them, lawyers, and doing that. Did that six to eight weeks in Kabul, very dangerous, but became normal after two years, um, which was also dangerous. And after doing that for two years, I loved Thailand. I'd been there for two years at this point, wanted to stay, didn't know how much longer I'd live and survive if I carried on the way I was in Afghanistan because I came very became very comfortable in a dangerous environment because I kept doing it all the time. Um, I then became a kindergarten teacher in Bangkok, did that for a number of years, and then we get to kind of the origin of the ARC story of the warrior walker. I went to renew my visa in Thailand. Uh I had a week's notice because they refused to renew it. I was in a relationship at the time. Um, I had a week's notice, packed my bags, lost the business because I was running my own private English teaching kind of gig out there. Um, left the relationship and was on a one-way flight back to London to go to Bournemouth and live with my dad. My dad hadn't really been in my life since I was about six, and probably a number of years later, for maybe a number of years, we lost touch again, and then he got a phone call from me because I just didn't know where to go, what to do, didn't know anyone. I'd been away for seven years, um, just gave him a call, like, Dad, I need to come home. Didn't really want to go back home, didn't love it at all. Um, was sleeping in the loft on an airbed. Uh it was yeah, it was a shit time and uh a very dark time. And the person I was back then would not dream of talking to you so openly or anyone. Um so I lived inside my head um and I didn't tell anyone what was going on. That was September 2019. Um, up got to Christmas 2019, and I had a panic attack. Um, didn't know what that was, didn't talk to anyone for months, was very, very uh suicidal, just didn't want to be here anymore. Uh the way I spoke about myself to myself was just horrendous. Uh I couldn't even look myself in the mirror, couldn't even keep eye contact with myself, I hated myself. Uh, the only thing I did do was make my bed because that was drilled into me from the Marines. Um, rarely wanted to get out of bed, and COVID came, so I definitely couldn't go back to Thailand. Became even more lost, confused, um, sad, and just started to walk because in March 2020 in Dorset, I don't know if people remember that far back, even though it seems like yesterday, but March became summer. Like it was just so hot, the skies were so blue. I was living in Bournemouth, it was six miles of beach, then the Jurassic Coast is just over there, and I started to just walk every day, and I'd get up reluctantly, get out of bed, um, and I'd love coffee, and I just remember thinking, right, well, if I get up, make my bed, get showered, and just go for a walk to that coffee shop, because you couldn't stay in the coffee shops, they just do takeaways. There was one like two kilometres away, five kilometres away, ten kilometers away, so I just get there. But quickly, from the sun, being outside, seeing various people walking around, as soon as I got two, three kilometers in, I'd just start to feel good. And I just, you know, the endorphins are pumping now. I'm outside, I'm getting fresh air, sunshine, and I'm thinking, oh, I feel all right. So I'd get the coffee, drink the coffee, and then every day I started to think, oh, yeah, let's go get a coffee. And I became like more and more excited with it. Weekends came when I wasn't working, I was working in insurance. Call centre, which sucked my soul out of me. Um, but in England, as you know, in the UK, we need money, yeah. So I was doing that, but weekends I didn't work, and I thought to myself, well, I'm gonna see more sheep, more cows than I am humans, and I started walking marathons on a Saturday, and I'd go from Korf all the way to Weymouth on the Jurassic Coast, which is beautiful, relentless, and a really good kind of test of everything I talk about. And one day, a friend who wasn't really a friend, just a kind of person that we you know, you've got friends on social media that you don't really talk to, but you talk to a little bit, and they love what you do, and vice versa. He Rory literally slid into my DMs and he changed my life. And he said, bro, you need to walk around the UK and write a book about it.

SPEAKER_02

And wow, that was that was his message after he'd seen you walking.

SPEAKER_01

That was it. Wow. Just and I don't know, man. Like I I talk about it often, obviously, it's it's got me to where I am now. Um, but I remember that day, it's why I smile, man. Like yeah, I just I just remember feeling like metaphorically, like a a fire had just like started burning inside me. I was like, I've got to do this, I need to do this. I I don't know how I'm gonna do this, I don't know how the fuck I'm gonna afford it, but I need to do it. Hour later, nah, I can't do it. Three hours later, nah, do it. It was this for three weeks, yeah. And then I thought, well, I don't know, I had this vision of myself in if I reach 70, 80 years old, hopefully do in my head I could kind of almost see myself, and I'd be this angry, bitter man if I just didn't try. And it's that whole quitting thing again. I thought, well, let's just give it a go. So three weeks later, from that message, bag on my back, set up an Instagram, the Warrior Walker, and decided to give it a go with £300 in my back pocket.

SPEAKER_03

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

I didn't know that I didn't know the Southwest Coastal Path was a thing. I didn't know the Welsh coast was a thing, I didn't know the MC 500 existed, I didn't know you could possibly walk the UK, and I just remember one night watching a weather forecast, and it's obviously to scale, and even with my military knowledge and everything I've done, I watched this guy read the weather of fuss, it's not that big, you know, and decided that I was gonna kind of have a Hail Mary, fuck it, let's go. Because I all I can say with it, and to end on this before you ask me anything else about it, but I I spoke about this recently, and I don't think I would be here anymore if I didn't do that. I was in such a low state, I was in such a dark place that it literally saved my life.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, there is so much to unpack there before I want to move on to this to you starting to walk. Firstly, you know, amazing, fair play to you. You've obviously you started doing the small steps that people talk about and sometimes don't do by just walking 2k to the coffee shop, walking 5k. And that sounds like that was the start of of you just healing, getting out there and and helping with your mental health. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that is absolutely bang on. And at that stage, I didn't talk to anyone, I still didn't tell people what I was doing, I still didn't tell people how low and dark my thoughts were. It was kind of almost like it was just me and nature, and we were having conversations, even though I wasn't really talking to nature, I was just doing and being in nature. The talking about how I felt obviously came day one of walking because I had to do that.

SPEAKER_02

Did you know at the time that you were making you were you were starting to make the right decisions and taking the first steps to become uh you know, to become better?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I was still terrified. I sense that. You you you mentioned it um just a minute ago, but you know, that whole thing of you did most than most people would do, or more than what most people would do because you had a thought and you turned it into an action. That is honestly why I left from the message to three weeks later, because as a human, and I'm sure you've had it in your life, and I have to. There's been moments in your life, like almost like a slide indoor moment, whereby if you didn't go then, you're never gonna go. Because we love to think we're gonna do something, we love to think about an adventure, or asking that girl out, or asking that guy out, or going for that job, or going for that course, or doing that thing. We've all got that, and there's been many a moment in my life, just like yours, probably, and people that listen to this, where they think, Oh my god, yeah, there was that one girl that time, I should have said something to her, or the flip side of it end up on a walk, end up marrying that person, end up getting that job. We've all got those stories, and for me, it was that it was that I've got to go now and strike while the iron's hot because if I don't, I just won't go. Because it's scary, it's terrifying, it's overwhelming. Like, how the fuck are you meant to walk like the whole of the UK? It just I just didn't I didn't think I could do it, I didn't think I would be able to do it. I just knew I had to give it a go. I was terrified. A good friend said to me, mate, set up an Instagram because people will love this. And I was like, What really? I didn't think I'd see anyone because we were in lockdown. I didn't think I didn't know the reaction from people, uh, I didn't know how I was gonna do it, where I was gonna go. I just thought I've got to give it a go, and I'm probably gonna see cows and sheep the whole way, you know, and it was the opposite.

SPEAKER_02

When you when you first received that message with your friend telling you going walk the UK, write a book about it. What was your deep feelings right then? Like what there and there and then right then, you've read that message. What were you feeling right then?

SPEAKER_01

I gotta go, I gotta do this. This is fucking incredible, like this is so exciting. Like I how have I not thought about this before? It was just instant, instantly changed. It was like I was going this way, and it instantly I went that way, you know, and I then became became like absolutely consumed by it. It's all I could think about, and it was all it got to the stage in my head, then I started to tell people about it, their reactions, but it was just in my head, and I'd go to sleep, I'd wake up in the night, I'd be like, Oh my god, can I fucking do this? But everything else was just wasn't as exciting. This this thing that I knew nothing about was so exciting to me. I was like, Oh my, this is a bit of me, this, and I knew I needed it. I I knew I needed to give it a go, but I knew I needed it, and if if anything, I needed the path more than it needed me.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, that's strong. Was it the physical element or the mental side of it you needed more?

SPEAKER_01

Uh physical, mental, spiritual. I you know, as we'll get on to, you know, every single person in my life now has come from that walk.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, yeah. It's amazing, and and you know, you've I was speaking to someone the other day about taking action because if because if you don't take action it causes anxiety, and this is a clear example of that. Oh man, yeah, you've got this idea, you've you've then decided within three weeks that you're gonna do it. I love it.

SPEAKER_01

I just upped and leave, you know. I had not I I had nothing to lose because I had nothing to lose. I love that. Just myself, my physical being. Financially, I had nothing. I didn't have a house, I didn't have anywhere to stay, I didn't have any bills to pay at a house or a mortgage, I didn't have children, I didn't this is zero. So I thought, well, I've got to get I just gotta give this a go. And uh it became my my new normal man.

SPEAKER_02

So so three weeks later, how how did you have to leave the job? Like pull back the layers a little bit. How did you get there?

SPEAKER_01

I quit the job, quit the job. Yeah, uh, had 300 quid in my bank because it was a weekly wage. It was COVID, so we pretty much just got that anyway. It was it was pretty tough, pretty shit. Um, and I had some kit because I was in the next marine, I've been all over the place. Uh so I had enough kit. I filled up a massive pack, an osprey pack. They they gave me a pack. My friend worked for them. He told them about it that we've got to give you a pack.

unknown

Nice.

SPEAKER_01

I packed everything, mate. In my head, I thought it's gonna take a year. Let's give this a year. It's June, July. I set off on July the 19th, 2020, or June the 19th, 2020. So summer. But at the same time, I'm packing three shower gels, three toothpaste, two toothbrushes, a book, winter clothes, sleeping bag, because I'm like, I'm not gonna see anyone. So I got a pack for a year. My bag on my back was back breaking. Like it was about 30 kilograms on my back. You know, I was strong at walking, but that's different than a kettle of fish. Straight into the coastal path, straight into the up and downs. Absolutely terrified. I was at a coffee shop, obviously, uh in Lilliput in Sandbanks, um, called Coast Cafe. I had like a leaving party. It was like my dad, his wife, my brother, his wife, uh Tommy, my mate, who said I should set up the Instagram, and probably three or four more people, no more than 10 people. Um, I'm shitting myself thinking, oh my god, it's real now, man. I've got I've I've I've spoken a big game here. I've told everyone, I've held myself accountable, yeah, I've put it out in the universe. Shit, I've got to do it now. And it's where the quitting started because I didn't want to quit, I couldn't possibly quit to save face, but also to myself. And um, yeah, I I I set off and I was at the coffee shop, and Tommy's like almost crying. I'm I'm nearly crying, thinking, oh, this is massive. I'm about to just go out into the world on my own. Um, and I just remember all of a sudden hit Tommy disappeared for a little bit, and I heard the um 500 miles song, the the Scottish, you know, I well 500 miles that came on, and I was like, Oh man, Tommy had spoken to the girl, put it on, and I thought, right, here we go, I've got a girl. I literally just but I just I've spoken about it before in that moment, right there and then I had this like it was almost like a wave that went through me, or something spirit, I don't know, man, something spiritual, I don't know, but I just had this feeling that it's gonna be okay, and where you are right now is where you're meant to be right now. Just step. And I just stepped off. And as soon as I stepped off, a man in the coffee shop he'd heard what I was doing, obviously because everyone was chatting. He just came and shook my hand and gave me 20 quid. I was like, What is that, mate? This is for you, man. It's amazing, it's incredible. This is to get yourself a coffee or cake, whatever, you know, and it just that was how it started, and it snowballed the whole way around.

SPEAKER_02

Really? Is it was it did you feel like a spiritual side to this, like a calling?

SPEAKER_01

I think I you know, uh again, I mentioned like the book. Obviously, I've got a book coming out next month, right? Or this month when you listen to this, or it's already out already if you're already late to the party. But I I was constantly walking the path, you know, just in that sense, it's quite spiritual when you you speak about walking the path. Yeah, I'm very um adamant that I wasn't, okay. That I know, not possibly I'm not religious. I didn't, I didn't am I religious? I don't know, like but ironically, um it's a Sam Smith song when he says at the end in the chorus that everybody prays in the end. So when you're on a flight, when you're going through some trouble in your life, when you we'll look to the sky or speak to God, the the gods, pagans, whatever, but we there is definitely an element of us as humans, and it's quite closely interline and interlinked with the spiritual side of things, and whatever spiritual side you're into, whatever one you have, faith, whatever faith you have. And I realized that yeah, I was absolutely on a pilgrimage, and I was absolutely pushing the boundaries of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually, and the faith never left me, and it might have been internally, but often more times than most, it was other people that that gave me the faith and gave me the spiritual aspect of it and the and the will to keep going because quite quickly, as you'll hear, people started to buy into me, buy into the the walk, and I started to grow a uh following of people. I wasn't just doing it for me. I I had people that had wives and husbands and lost people and deaths and relationships that went wrong, and people that struggle with their mental health, and people that struggle with relationships with their mum and their dad and their grandparents and their kids or themselves, and they look to me to keep on going because I was keeping them going. And when you've when you know that, man, like for me, that's the money. That's the like wow, I'm really affecting people's lives in a good way here. Like, that's where the faith came in for me.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, 100%. Did you did you know where you were going in terms of did you know the route?

SPEAKER_01

Not really, no. Um I quick I quickly figured like it was as long as the sea's on my left, I'm going the right way.

SPEAKER_02

And that's all you kind of kept to, and you just did a yeah, wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Like I had a map and I had my phone, and yeah, it was like you know, we mentioned pilgrimages, but it was kind of the old way. Like I'd get to a place that I'd never been before and I'd speak to the locals, and that's what we did in the Marines, and that's what I did in Afghanistan. Like, local knowledge is the one, you know. I could look and research about a trail that day, but the people that live in the area they know it better than anyone else. So I would speak to someone and be like, right, this is my plan today, this is where I want to go to. I'm gonna go this way. Is there a better way or is this the right way? And then they tell me.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

You know, in a car, mate, you can drive from Bournemouth to Edinburgh in a day. You cannot walk that. You know, if you're if you're putting in 30 kilometers plus days, you you feel like you're walking a hundred miles, but in actual fact, you've just done about that much of a map. Yeah, you haven't actually gone that far.

SPEAKER_02

Were there some low points on the walk?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, every day.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Honestly, yeah, every day, you know, the further I'd get, the more alien it would be. You know, we get so familiar of where we're from and what we're about and who we are. The unknown is amazing, it's exciting, but it's also equally terrifying, you know, and uh the further I got, the the more I kind of got nervous until I didn't. Um always worried about money, always worried about where am I gonna stay, always worried about the weather. But the more you do something, the better you get at it and with it. So I just became good at it and started to enjoy the challenge, the the weather, the rain, the snow, the people, turned it into almost like a game in my head. And the people that I met along the way, and the people that came to see me and gave me a coffee came to walk on me for a little bit, sent me a nice message. That started to be my like endorphins, and that started to kind of almost charge me up. And the fear left me, and I just became excited by all these amazing places. Man, like I quickly realized that I'm gonna die one day, you're gonna die one day. We all die one day, and it's like the elephant in the room. If you go to Asia, it's it's not the elephant in the room. You go to a temple and you talk about this, you know. But we have this thing with death, and COVID showed that where where five people died, and we have to lock the country down. Five people die every hour, man. You know, so I channeled the kind of excitement of life, the unknown, and thought, well, I'm gonna die one day, man. So nothing's worse than that. So let's just try and see what I can do, let's see how I can thrive, let's see how far I can push myself. And every day I did that, and every time I got further, and every person I met, things started to happen, man.

SPEAKER_02

What's the biggest thing you learn about yourself on that walk?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, the whole walk, both laps.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I think the what the the one that springs to mind is that there's two things. The first lap that springs to mind is I always thought I was a black a black sheep. I always thought that if I looked at someone's life, if I saw their house, if I saw their car, if I saw that they had money, if I saw that they were really good with life, right? And they were smashing it. I used to think, oh man, why am I why why haven't I not got that? What is wrong with me? But I started to walk, started to talk, started to ask people, hey, how are you? And I started to get offered rooms for a night. And the way I paid that transaction, because I didn't have any cash, was we'd have dinner most of the time. And in order for me to stay for a night, or two or three or four, they would simply say to me, Tell us about your life. Why are you doing the walk? So it almost became like a therapy. And after doing a whole lap of the UK and staying in a barn with cows, staying in a kid's bed because the parents are like, You've got to have this bed, my feet are hanging out the end, they're in the mum and dad's bedroom, I'm in this Batman duvet, you know, like what the hell? But I'm back. Any bed's better than no bed. Outside is pretty hard. I was putting myself through it physically and sleep, good sleep is is really important. But I just started to talk to people. I was staying with people that I would never meet in real life if I hadn't done this walk. I was staying with really successful people, I was staying with gay people, straight people, all colours, all creeds, all cultures. But what I started to think was, oh man, by the time I got round the whole lap of the UK, I thought to myself, oh my god, I'm not a black sheep. We're all black sheeps. We just don't talk about it. So there was a really big comfort for me in that, and alongside that, metaphorically, we carry too much on our shoulders. So when I set off for the second lap, I went from a big bag to a rucksack, and that is a metaphorical um statement, anyway, because as people and humans, we carry too much on our shoulders, and I lighten the load. And by talking, you lighten the load. So that's probably the first lap. And the second lap, simply put, humans can do hard things, man.

unknown

Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we can do hard things, we're very robust. Um, but I've learned that humans can do hard things, you can't go far, or you can go far, actually, but you can go further if you invite other people to help you out. You know, there's that whole thing you can go far alone, but you can go further with someone else. That is so true. People I learned are good, are kind. Not on your phones, not on the news, but out there in real life. They're kind and people want you to win. And if they buy into you, if they buy into your challenge, they'll help you to succeed. And that's what I learned that humans are kind and humans can do hard things. And the last thing I'll say on this matter is I kind of slowed down at the end, towards the end of the first of the second lap. I only did it in a year because I was like, I'm gonna do this in a year, and I did it in a year, but I started to get nervous because I was thinking the pressure got to me from an external point of view, which we spoke about at the start of this, because people were coming to me with these questions that I just possibly couldn't answer. And what do you think the meaning of life is? What do you think? And I'm just like, whoa, bro, I don't I don't even know. And then look at they were kind of looking to me as this person that had all these answers, and then one day I thought to myself, that's not actually true, and I don't actually believe that you're ever, as a human, you, me, or anyone, is going to be healed. Right? I just think that from when we're born to when we die, and all in between, we're healing, and we're healing along the way, and what we do and how we speak, and who we speak to, and what we do about ourselves internally and externally, we become healed. And then something else pops up. And all those lessons that you've learned in this space that you've completed, you then have to apply that to this new mo this new moment in time. And then guess what? You'll finish that and complete that. And then all of a sudden, a few weeks later, a few years later, something else will pop up. And I think that's the meaning of life. We're always on a healing journey, man.

SPEAKER_02

So good. I love that. It's it is a journey, isn't it? Certainly journey. And everyone's on their own journey.

SPEAKER_01

It's the best journey. The first lap I did it, I got to the end, and I was just like, was that it?

SPEAKER_02

You know, like obviously. Did you finish and then start again straight away? Was there a bit of time in between?

SPEAKER_01

I finished at a six-week break, because logistically I was like, how am I gonna do this? But I finished the first lap and I thought I've had such a good time. I don't want to be normal. Sorry, I don't want to be normal. How can I possibly repay the kindness I've seen? So I thought this is actually quite a cool life. I'm starting to get interest about podcasts and doing some talks, and you know, it's a nice feeling. And I thought to myself, well, I'm not the only one to walk the UK once. There's been a small amount of people that have done it, but no one's done it twice. And in line with the first lap, and three weeks later setting off, I thought, well, I haven't got much time here. So finished the first lap six weeks later. I went to London, I set up a just giving. I thought I'm gonna do this all for charity this year. I'm gonna do it in a year, and I'm gonna go the other way. And I set off six weeks later.

SPEAKER_02

Did you know when you finished the first lap, did you know immediately that there was more, that you needed to do something else?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think I I I I I spoke to a few close friends, just a small amount of people that I was gonna go again. I had this feeling I had to stop because COVID part two. I had nine months off the path. I worked a job in Cornwall, uh a restaurant for a summer season. Um, because I just couldn't go anywhere because we were in lockdown part two, everything was closed again. I was now in Wales at this point, they had different rules and regulations, as did Scotland and Ireland and England, and I was like, Oh god, if I get into trouble there. It was actually a marine friend of mine who said, mate, like props for you doing this. But firstly, if you get injured, you've got to call out the emergency services, and secondly, it's not about you anymore. Like, there's young kids watching you. Like, what example are you setting if you just say, Oh, fuck the government, fuck the rules, I'm gonna go. And that was a really kind of humble, bitter pill to swallow because I realized that I'm not the main character here, so I took a job, that was six-month, seven-month job, and I was off the path from uh I stopped in a place called Linetli near Swansea. Nine months later, I went back there to go and finish the first lap. It's a long time, and it always pissed me off. Always pissed me off, bro. You know, you've played sport, right? People that play sport, they go for a run, it pissed me off. I was like, oh my god, I've just got this. Because every time, and it's worked out well, but every time I have to tell that story. I took a break, I did this, then I went back, and then and I was like, no, no, I just want to do the whole thing. So I said I started here, finished here, did it in this time. So I started to talk about it with really close friends. They thought I was batshit crazy. I knew I was, but I just thought, well, if not me, someone else will do it. And why not me? Yeah, like why not? I've got all the skills for it. So the first lap, now I look back on it, that was a warm-up, man. That was like, this is what it is, this is where it is, this is what's happening, this is how you need to feel, this is where you need to be. And the second lap for me was like game time, it's go time, man. You've pre-seasoned it, you've done it, this is the time. And I admit, I flew. So you approached it completely differently. Yeah, I was going a different way. I went from London because I thought, well, if I do this in a year, London's like a very good city, it's everything's happening there, the journalism side of things, it's just all in London. Plus, it's a prominent place. When I tell you or someone else, I started in Bournemouth or Paul, some people just don't know where that is. But I started in London, everyone knows what that is. And I thought, what a place to finish. Yeah, you know. So yeah, I decided I'd do it in a year. I decided I'd raise money for charity, so I set up a just giving. Um, and I decided to just give it a go again. It was I knew I'd done it once, and why not twice? There's so many cliches, so many things I could, you know, continually say about it, but I knew I'd done it once, and I really want I wanted to prove it to myself, and it was me against me because no one else has done it twice. So I had no blueprint, I had no kind of okay where they did that, but it was just me and my knowledge, and just giving it a go, man. And I I I'm gonna swear, and I don't really swear as much anymore, but I fucking flew, bro. Like I had that bag on my back, I had a rucksack on it, it was June, it was hot. I'd just finished, I was like conditioned now, yeah, and I backed straight away 44 kilometres first day. Did you second day 44 kilometers, third day 40 kilometres? I was pushing it, and I had this kind of thing that I wanted to be in Scotland for August the first, and six weeks later, I was in Scotland.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, it's a different mentality. You were just drawing.

SPEAKER_01

I was just ferocious with it, man. Yeah, and the confidence was there. I had na so the first lap, I I stayed outside sometimes. I stayed all over the place. The second lap, just to give you a clue or an insight already, the whole way around for a whole year, I didn't stay outside, mate.

SPEAKER_02

Did you know?

SPEAKER_01

No, because I've met so many people, I had to turn down rooms every day. People were so I was on Sky News, the radio, Instagram. I just bear in mind, just finished coming down the east coast. I told people my plans, they were like, You are fucking crazy. But there's a room for you again. I now knew places that I could stay. That made me feel good about myself because honestly, I spoke about this the other day, but we are so used in this in the Western world, in the Western society, you are we are so used to having a bed and a room and a shower and food. We just take that for granted. It's not even a thing. We don't even think, oh, that what what what will I do if I don't have that? And there's a lot of places in the world where people don't have that, and the only way I can tell people as to how anxiety kind of ridden I was, there's no better feeling when I set off on a day, and I know that that night I've got a room, especially in the winter. So the feeling I had was like I said to the gods, I was like, You can throw anything at me, man. Throw it all at me in the kitchen sink, like rain, snow, sleet, whatever, I don't care. Because I've got a room, and that pushed me on, and then I started to line up rooms a few nights, and that is the best feeling, and take it for granted so much.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so true.

SPEAKER_01

Best feeling to know that you have a bed for a night, and people would say, Why aren't you camping out? and it really pissed me off. Like it was like, Why aren't you camping out? I'm like, Have you walked for three years, Barry? Like, you don't want Stanesbury's caron, and you're coming at me about how to do my adventure, and I sleep in a bed for a night. God forbid that I'm tired. Yeah, like you know, it's not you're not deemed as being like adventurous. Like, I can do two, three weeks on the path and sleep in a tent and sleep on the floor. Fine, do it for four years and see how your body lasts when you've done 40, 50, 60k days. It's not lasting.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing. You meant I like it, I like it. It's um it's amazing. Yes, it sounds like your mentality was completely different going into that second lap. And you mentioned to close, tie the the bow on this slightly, you mentioned something deeper than the walk that sticking around has been the hardest challenge. Yes. Now, when you say sticking around has been the real battle, there's a couple of questions. What do you mean by that? And by the time that you're on the second walk, had your mindset completely changed by then?

SPEAKER_01

I think it goes back to that whole healed and healing thing again. Um, I'm I'm a massive advocate of just being real, and I've made mistakes and I'll probably continue to do that. Um, but I've learned to just talk. When I first set off, I wouldn't speak to anyone, but I quickly had this thing in my head. Even if I had headphones in, I'd take them out, and I don't care where I was. If I walk past someone, I still do it to this day, I'd just say, Hey, how are you? Nice. That would come with, I'm good, thanks. You? Yeah, great, amazing. Have a great day. Bang. Or it'd be like, What the fuck are you doing? Why have you got that massive thing on your back? Where are you walking? And I'm on the south coast, but at this point, imagine I'm in Scotland in the middle of nowhere, and I meet someone who's Scottish, they don't even understand what I'm saying, I don't understand what I'm saying, but we just communicate and conversate. And the biggest thing that changed my life on this walk was rather than saying, Hey, how are you? And what I used to say before I started walking right at the start, yeah, I'm fine, thanks you, but I'm dying inside, man. I'm hating my life, I'm hating who I am. I can't. I just said, you know what? I'm struggling today. Why? I just don't feel good enough. I'm just tired. I just feel like I've messed life up. Why? And you just start conversating about that. Then the person would say to me, you know what, I had this feeling once, or I'm really good. How are you? I'm okay. Are you sure you're okay? Actually, I'm struggling today. And I'll say, Why are you struggling today? Oh, because this, this, and this. And I just started to communicate. I think the walk forced me to say, Hey, how are you? Because I knew that I was on my own. I knew that I needed people to help me. And in order for that to happen, you have to communicate. Your partner, your wife, your husband, your boyfriend, your friend, your sister, your brother, your job, they're not gonna know how you're really doing unless you tell them. And some people can't handle what you say, but there's a lot of people that can. And it's that whole black sheep mentality, man. Like a lot of us are complex. We live in a complex world. We have to offload. And what I found was talking to strangers is far easier than talking to people I know. Because all you're gonna see is what's in front of you right now. You can only judge me on what you are, who you are, right there and then. And I walked so much of the path, I never met a dick on the path. It's always someone in Sainsbury's or someone on their phone. You do not meet dickheads on the path because they like walking, they like being outdoors, and they like just getting after it. So it saved my life. I was forced to talk about how I really feel because I couldn't hide. I couldn't, I'm sat in someone's house. I can't just say, Yeah, I'm good. They they they they can see, I've stayed with doctors, lawyers, psychologists, they can see that I'm not alright, or you know, I just started to unburden myself and unburden my life, but in lieu of what you asked me, when I say about sticking around, I don't think I'd be here physically. I I think I would have ended my life at some point. I was so low, man. And walking, talking has absolutely saved my life. I've got a completely new perspective and new outlook on life. But alongside that, and most importantly, it's always going to be there. It's always gonna be in my head. Sometimes, since I finished this walk, it has been far harder than the walk itself. The come down, I call it, has been far harder. Real life sucks for me, bro. I'm like a square peg and a round hole, man. I just, you know, but in these environments that I do all these crazy things and it's exciting for me. I really struggle with the day-to-day. If I didn't talk about that, if I didn't tell my partner, if I didn't tell you, I would be that person again. So even when I don't feel good, I just open up and be honest, man. So I don't think I'll be it if I didn't do the walk. And I don't I can just recognise the feelings and the thoughts in my head now where I'm like, I need to speak to my girlfriend, or I should speak to someone, or I should go for a walk, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you for being so honest and and vulnerable there. Yeah, I really appreciate it. And you know, it's it takes uh it takes a lot, you know, it takes a lot to communicate, especially guys. And oh man, and and you know, I spoke to my wife about it when we first got together eight years ago. She was always say to me, you know, how are you? I'm okay. She would be like, How are you really? Because she knew I wouldn't talk about it.

SPEAKER_01

Honestly, man, like, and you know, props and shout out to women because they just get it right, man. Yes, they're so maternal, they're so like feminine and kind, yeah. And as men, it's like a generational thing, man. Like, we I feel like you know, how old are you?

SPEAKER_02

38.

SPEAKER_01

Right? I'm 42. Like our generation, and it's just a I feel like on the cusp, yeah. I'd hope that the generation now is like uh okay with talking, but then I feel like they also spend too much time gaming on their phones, so they kind of miss that as well. But all I'll say is as men, we just don't talk enough, we don't hug enough, like we don't talk to each other enough, and we're just scared to say, like, actually, mate, I'm fucking struggling, bro. Yeah, like I'm man, like I don't like my life right now. It's like almost like this thing where we can't admit that we don't love our jobs, we don't love our careers, we don't love ourselves, we don't love our partners or what we're doing, but we just brush it off because we're men and we're meant to deal with this sort of thing. We're we're not.

SPEAKER_02

Getting benefit is still a long way to go. You're you're completely right.

SPEAKER_01

It's mate, still massive, and mental health is a it's a it's a crisis for everyone. Doesn't it doesn't discriminate, you know?

SPEAKER_02

If someone it's so true, mate, so true. And if someone listening feels like quitting, feels like quitting life, not just a challenge, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01

That it's gonna get better one day. You know, it will it will get better. Um and they're gonna listen to that and say, you're full of shit, and they won't possibly believe me. But all I'd say is that it actually will, but it's gonna take some bravery um and honesty from you, from the person that is struggling, and all I can say is where I was and where I am, that can be you two, and you've got to just do two things have faith and believe in yourself, open up and be honest, and talk, but just start with going for a little walk, man. Go and find your coffee shop and uh talk to yourself and try and be kind to yourself.

SPEAKER_02

Love that.

SPEAKER_01

And the right people will hear you and they'll see you.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing. And do you think do you think humans, or if we be if I'd be more specific with my question, do you think men need something bigger than themselves to keep going? Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely yes.

SPEAKER_02

Is it purpose?

SPEAKER_01

We're uh we're complex beings, but you need a you need a passion, um a purpose and those two things will equate to a why. And the why has got to be far bigger than you. So in essence, it's not about in here, it's about out there. And it often comes along the lines of serving people, and that could be literally serving someone a coffee, or it could be serving someone with your time, it could be listening, it could be just communicating with someone. But yeah, a passion, a p a passion, something to like that lights you up, a purpose to get you out of bed every day, and keep getting you out of bed every day, and a why that's bigger than you. If you find those things, you're doing good.

SPEAKER_02

So true, isn't it? Um, I could I could honestly talk to you for hours. I'm I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_01

We'll have to get another one in Brooklyn.

SPEAKER_02

Well, yeah, part two is already is already on the cards. Um, I want to now transition to something very important now. Um, and I know it's very important to you. You've taken everything you've lived and put it into your book. So let's talk about the Warrior Walker and what does that represent?

SPEAKER_01

Uh as you did mention, anyway, it's this is my book. Yes, yeah, it's out on March 26th in every major bookstore. Um, what is the Warrior Walker? Is that what you want to know?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. You've done the Lap of the UK twice. The next big project's been the book. So I want to know from what does it represent? You know, tell us about it. What can our readers look for, what can our listeners look forward to if they're gonna buy it?

SPEAKER_01

Oh it's it's it's been a 22-month journey writing the book. Um I've had to learn the art, learn the art of patience, but I've reflected on everything I've done. I've left no stone unturned. It's just as raw as this is. Like it's all it's all in there, it's so raw and honest that it makes me excited that I've actually got a book. Because I mean, like the whole message of you need to walk around the UK and write a book about it. Like, I never imagined that I'd actually have a book. Yeah, I never imagined that people would ask me to write a book. I never imagined that would be a thing. Coincidentally, I always had a book in my bag because I love reading, I love going in bookshops. Um, so that's really exciting for me. The terrifying side of things is just basically saying to someone, like, this is who I am, judge me. Like, you know, like get excited, inspired, but also just leaving nothing in there, it's all out there for you to read and judge me, so just be nice. Um, but it's a life's work in a in a in about 300 pages, um, up until now, and it will leave you probably inspired, emotional, um, and hopefully, ultimately, it if I could leave an impression on someone, it would be that they have the courage to stop fighting in silence in their mind and to start talking, especially men and boys, uh, and and going for a walk.

SPEAKER_02

Movement, isn't it? Movement and communication, a sense of that coming from you.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, yeah. I I I haven't been moving as much as I want. Oddly, I've been writing a book and promoting the book and doing a lot of interviews and things sat on my ass. And uh it's just the nature of the beast. Yeah, but I I really look forward to I really want to do the Camino. That's that's what I want to do next. Is that the next challenge? Yeah, I think so. Like sometime this year. Um, I hope that obviously the book I'm gonna be doing some press and TV and things like that, and hopefully I pique the interest of a country or or uh a brand, and they like, mate, we got some money to chuck at you. Like, do you want to go and do this walk? I'm like, Yeah, you know, but uh yeah, more walks, absolutely, yes. Wow and I'm hoping get groups of men and people to maybe if I can pop up along around various parts of the country and every weekend, other weekend, something like that, once a month, and just go for a walk, you know, and hear every hear everyone else's stories and hear how they've struggled and listen to them, you know, because it gets exhausting and tiring talking about yourself, you know. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But you're inspiring so many people to keep up the great work.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks, man. I appreciate that from you.

SPEAKER_02

What part of your story are you most proud of?

SPEAKER_01

I think i uh uh it could be the the physicality, and uh it probably there there's no number of answers or an unlimited number of answers I could give you, but I think the thing that I'm most proud of is that I found the courage to start to keep going no matter what was thrown at me. But ultimately, I think the most important thing was that I s decided to speak, decided to tell people how I'm really feeling. It was the hardest thing to do, but I want that to hopefully inspire people to talk. That that yeah, that's my my most inspiring and proud moment is that I just didn't stop talking and walking.

SPEAKER_02

And sometimes it's so it sounds so simple, doesn't it? But it's a hard thing to do.

SPEAKER_01

The hard the the the the the hardest things to do are definitely not the easiest things to do. And the easiest things to do seem so easy. Yeah, but all you've got to do is talk about your feelings. All you've got to do is just go for a walk. All you've got to do is just go outside. All you've got to do is just make your bed and just tell your partner how you feel.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

But what's happened is that we live in a world where I don't think it's ever been deemed okay to do that. We're too proud of a nation or to be a man. You know, um, you've got to suck it up, you've got to be brave. Actually, no, opening up, being raw and honest is very brave, and probably the bravest thing that you could do. It's far braver than not saying anything.

SPEAKER_02

100%. Completely agree. Paul, you've walked the country twice, you've been through some dark mental seasons of your life. And if someone listening wants to build resilience in their own life, what three things should they start doing tomorrow? Can you give me one mindset tool, one daily habit, and one non-negotiable? Start with a mindset tool.

SPEAKER_01

Mindset tool, I think would be to start talking to yourself in a kind and strong purposeful way. The warrior walker. I I called myself that because I saw this poem mantra, dreamt it, I don't know. And it said, Be careful what you say to yourself, because the warrior within you is lessened by it. So how you talk to yourself, it doesn't begin when you the words come out and it makes a sound. Because when you talk to yourself, those words are sounds in your mind, it's just like you are speaking aloud. In essence, spelling, casting spells, magic, how you speak to yourself is absolutely number one. So, from a mindset point of view, be careful what you say to yourself, because your body does this and that does your mind. So start speaking more kindly to yourself. And it can be literally as easy as looking in the mirror. And even if you hate what you see, just look in the mirror, keep doing it, and just keep saying to yourself, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. And walk past one person every day to start with, and just say, Hey, how are you? And listen to their answer.

SPEAKER_02

Something we don't do enough, especially.

SPEAKER_01

No, maybe you're already like you know, you're you're gonna ask me a question, I've answered it, and I'm already like, What are you gonna say next? And you're thinking, What am I gonna ask him next? It's so hard to listen. Yeah, you know, we're always in a rush, but yeah, that that would be the mindset one.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing daily habit.

SPEAKER_01

Go for a walk. Doesn't matter how far, does not matter how far. One kilometer is one kilometer, but just go for a walk, get the body moving, just get out.

SPEAKER_02

Nature, yeah, absolutely, yeah. Great, and you're one non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01

I've just mentioned it, go for a walk. Yeah, absolutely. Get outside, get your body moving, breathe in the air, look around you. We're so we're so we're so what's next? What's next? What's next? But what about now? What about now? Like you can't change yesterday, right? It's done, it's finished, and you can't change tomorrow because it hasn't happened yet. So now, and just appreciate it, suck in the air, listen to the sounds, listen to the birds, look at the rain, hear the rain, read the book, put the phone down, read the book, listen to the music, like just try and be as present as possible because one day I live by a memento mori, which is I've got it tattooed on my on my wrist. Um, it's remember deaf. And that used to be morbid to me. It used to scare me. I've lost a lot of friends um in the military, and and also suicide is rife now, you know, unfortunately, and that's something that needs to change because we need to enable mental health, it shouldn't be a mental health problem. We should have like a almost like it shouldn't get to that stage. We need to have something that comes before that stage, and we just don't have it. We just hear that people have mental health problems and struggles, and I always hate that I hate mental health problem because you're never a problem, you're not a problem, you know. You're talking to the wrong people if you are, but we we need to really like be present with it, really listen, and that where that I don't know, mate, how deep is the ocean? Like the government need to do something about it, they need to pump billions into it because it matters, um, and and then not enough money is pumped into that. Um, but yeah, lemento more re remember death. So just be present, be present with your partner, be present with yourself, be present with whatever's going on in front of you rather than here and then you know, just give people your attention.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing, love it. I asked this question to every guest because it sits at the heart of our podcast right now in this season of your life. What does rising to your Everest mean to you?

SPEAKER_01

That's a good question, that is. Um, it means just trying my best every day. And even when things don't go to plan, just know that I did try my best and not try and reach or strive for perfection because it doesn't exist. And hopefully with that comes peace of mind, and you can put your head on the pillow and have a sound night's sleep, which is very hard for a lot of people these days. Yeah, and also lastly, with that, I know you ask people about your Everest, and it's funny you say that because a lot of people would ask me, Can I come for a walk with you? And I'd say, Yeah, absolutely. They'd say, Yeah, but I can't walk as far as you. And I'd say, Well, actually, your Everest is different to mine, because my 50k will be your 5k, but guess what? My 50k and your 5k will seem exactly the same. You'll be just as exhausted, you'll be just as tired, you'll be just as nervous. So every single person has a different Everest, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing. Really, really loved your openness, your vulnerability, and some absolutely amazing kind of nuggets in there. Um, that I know our listeners will get a lot of value from that, Paul. So really appreciate that. One last shout out. Where can people find you? Any kind of you know, your book is coming out in March, did you say?

SPEAKER_01

Uh yeah, so the Warrior Walker book is coming out March the 26th.

SPEAKER_02

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01

Uh hardback, uh, but also on Audible and all the Spotify things. Um, and if you want to find me, you can mostly find me on um Instagram uh as the Warrior Walker or out on the path.

SPEAKER_02

Amazing. And we'll put all that into the show notes so we can uh and all the links in there to to the link to your book as well and uh and your socials. Humans can do hard things, so whatever your Everest is, don't quit, keep climbing.