Ian Middleton: Travel Writer A Real Backpacker (Walking from Wexford to Donegal for charity)

Event: Walking around 300 miles with a large backpack from the southeast of Ireland to the Northwest in aid of Asthma research. When: May/June 2003. Raising money for the Charities: Up until the end of the walk I will be donating 1 from the sale of each of my two current books. I will also be writing a new book about the walk and donating all my UK and Ireland royalties from this book. For this I will be looking for a major publisher to produce the book.

About me: I am a travel writer and the author of two books describing my travels around South America and Ireland: To the End of the World and Back, and Hot Footing Around the Emerald Isle. I am 32 years old and have been travelling since 1996 through Australia, Mexico, South and North America, Spain and Ireland. I am an asthmatic and have been since I was two years old. More details about me and my books can be found on my website:

www.ian-middleton.co.uk
or you can telephone me on the following numbers:
01264 394136. Mobile: 0794 1951884.

Reason: Ever been misquoted? Well, when I was on a publicity tour around Ireland to promote my new book Hot Footing Around the Emerald Isle I often wondered, as I sat relating details of my book to journalists, just how much of it they were taking in as they scribbled on a piece of paper whilst trying to listen to me at the same time. Most seemed to get it right, except one: The Irish Examiner.
   During my original journey around Ireland it occurred to me that I had never really walked any significant distance with my backpack. Yet the backpack is specifically designed for this purpose. As I thought back over my years of backpacking I realised that this was true of most backpackers I had met. We take a bus or a train to our destination, then either a local bus or taxi to the hostel or hotel, if it is more than a few minutes walk. I remembered meeting an American in Mexico who walked everywhere, through the mountains, with his backpack. He made his living by rock carving, and his pack was full of stones. So I decided that if I was attain the status of Real Backpacker for a Day, I must walk from one town to another with the full weight of my backpack, and not take any form of transport.
   This challenge was met on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, where I walked from Glengarriff to Adrigole, Hostel to Hostel. However, what should have been a relatively easy five hour hike along the Beara Way turned into an eleven hour nightmare after being misled by the Beara Way signposts.
   I related this and another story to the journalist at the Examiner, who scribbled it down on a piece of paper. Naturally I was excited about making it into a national newspaper for the first time. However, when the piece came out I was shocked to discover what he had written. He believed that I had walked the entire two month journey around Ireland this way, from Cork to Donegal.
   Obviously I was gutted about this. An email came in from a researcher at Ireland AM, wanting me to appear on the show to talk about the book. Naturally I had to explain the mix up, but that I was still willing to come on the show. She said that she would talk to the producers, but never got back to me.
   After a while I began to see the funny side of it, and started thinking seriously about actually doing it for a follow up book; after all, I had succeeded, albeit somewhat painfully, in being a real backpacker for a day so why not try it for a whole journey. I had often wanted to do something like this for charity, as many of my friends had, but had never found the time because I am always travelling or writing. This could be a good way to combine the two.
   As I have been living on and off for the past three years in Wexford, in a great hostel called Kirwan House, this seemed a logical place to start. During my first trip I had fallen in love with County Donegal and during my promotional tour had also spent much time there. I had met up with Andy again, the owner of a fantastic B&B in Bunbeg and also a famous character from my book and Tony Hawks' book Round Ireland With a Fridge. My book had gone down a storm in Donegal, selling out the first weekend in the bookshop in Letterkenny. Thus I decided I would walk from Kirwan House to Bunbeg House.
   
The Charity: I wanted to choose a charity that is close to my heart, and as my lungs are quite close to my heart and I'm an asthmatic, this seemed the perfect cause. Besides, after walking 300 miles I might well be in need of advances in asthma treatment. So I did some research and discovered the National Asthma Campaign in London, who fund much needed research for asthma treatment across the UK and Northern Ireland, and the Asthma Society of Ireland, whose aim it is to inform and advise all people with asthma in Ireland. There is a huge need to develop their services further so as to meet the growing demands of children, parents and adults affected by asthma, who contact the society in search of information. It's my intention to divide the money raised between these two charities.

The Route: There will be no firm plan. Travelling for me is not about planning, it's about finding your way as you go. Obviously I will research potential routes and leave home with these details as a rough guide, but will just go with the flow and decide each day.

Time: I anticipate the walk to take at least a month, if not more.

Funding the Walk: I have always funded my travels myself, and see no reason for this to be any different. So I will save the money needed from the profits of my current book sales.

Donations: There are two ways I will be raising money, through donating 1 of each book sale, this way the donater gets something out of it too. My plan is to start promoting the book across the UK, and do book signings across the country, where I can also talk to people about my travels over the past six years, about what I am doing now, and give slide shows and advice. I will be actively looking for anyone who wishes to host one of these signings. I will also be looking for sponsorship for the walk, so if you are interested then please send me an email: middleian@yahoo.com