Hi I'm Alex!
If you’re reading this, you’ve likely stumbled across this site from my Instagram (or by some miracle, the search engine gods brought you here from Google). Either way, welcome!
A bit about myself
I’m from a very scenic part of the English countryside called the Peak District. In a previous life, I was a software engineer who spent most of my waking hours glued to a screen, waiting for the weekend to roll around so that I could escape into the hills on a hike or head out car camping, exploring somewhere I’d never been before.
Eventually, between the stress of the job and a number of other contributing factors, I found myself in a state of burnout with mental health struggles, and was forced to step back and reevaluate the path I was on in life.
A quieter path came about pretty naturally
What followed after exiting the software industry was what I’d describe as a sort of “recovery” phase, or perhaps it might be better labelled as a “self-rediscovery” phase, leaving me with a lot of questions and unknowns.
I did, however, know one thing for sure: I needed the outdoors again.
I don’t know the science behind it, but there’s definitely some sort of healing energy that comes with being out and about, exploring in nature.
So that’s exactly what I did. I went on walks and hikes again, I got more into photography and videography, I visited National Trust and Forestry England sites, basically anything that wasn’t looking at a screen I was game for.
Then one day, it occurred to me that I could create some kind of online resource, documenting all of this. Over the years, I have created numerous walks and routes on the walking app known as Komoot, and taken god knows how many pictures. I figured that, with a bit of effort, I could compile all of this into a more structured, online collection that could potentially be valuable for others (it would also be another reason to get me out exploring further afield, although I really didn’t need much convincing).
So that’s how we got here – whether you can relate to any of what I’ve described above, or if you’re just looking to get some info on a new place you’re yet to explore, I hope you can find something useful here.
Or at the very least a few good walks.
Cheers for stopping by!
