How I got myself ready for walking five hundred miles — Walking the Camino de Santiago earlier this year was one of the best experiences of my life. It was an amazing way to step out from the world and spend time with myself as I walked the length of Spain… but I’ve already written about all that. 38 Memories And 38 Photos From The Camino De Santiago One journey seen through daily glancesnick-barlow.medium.com

It’s the 1980s, but not as we knew them in this ITV series about England veering into fascism — Britain is in crisis. Underperforming economically with inflation causing rising prices while strikers threaten to paralyse the country, a succession of political leaders from all parties seem to have no answer to the problems facing the country. The country itself is falling apart, with nationalist separatists tearing the union apart…

How I’ve dealt with my first year since being diagnosed with depression — A man walks into a doctor’s office and says “doctor, doctor, I think I have depression.” That was me, a year ago today. I didn’t get a punchline, but I did get a prescription. It helped. Amazing how easy it is to break the last year down into a few…

Did I find myself, or was I already there? — When I set off on the Camino de Santiago, it was because I was trying to find my new way. It’s now over two months since I got back — longer than I was walking for — so what did I find when I was there? Finding My New Way Why I’ll be setting out on the Camino de Santiagonick-barlow.medium.com I didn’t head out…

Temperatures rise in this 60s British sci-fi classic — It’s been a little hot the last couple of days, so as a bit of preparation for the coming heatwave I watched The Day The Earth Caught Fire on Sunday evening. The side-effects of post-WW2 nuclear testing inspired a lot of media in the 50s and 60s. Godzilla was awoken…

One journey seen through daily glances — I walked over a million steps between Saint-Jean-Pied-Du-Port and Cabo Fisterra. I could have written an account that chronicled them all, but there are already enough books, articles and websites out there about the Camino that writing about it in that sort of detail only serves to obscure the reality…

Planning’s over, it’s time to head for the Camino — I’ve been counting down to these moments since last September, when I made the decision that I was going to walk the Camino de Santiago. In February I finally booked my transport and committed to a start date I then had an actual date to focus on, and now it’s…

Seeking a masculinity centered on listening — In three weeks’ time I’m going to start a 500-mile walk In three weeks’ time I’m going to start a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. Those are two ways of describing the same thing, right? And yet, as I get closer to my departure, I begin to see they’re…

Why I’ll be setting out on the Camino de Santiago — Ever since I got back from walking John O’Groats to Land’s End back in 2006, April and May have been all about elections. Sometimes I was a candidate in them, sometimes an agent, sometimes a campaign manager, but all of them featured me delivering lots of leaflets and knocking on…