Going Coastal is to be a blog about my journey around the whole coastline of mainland Britain (and some of its islands) that I will be undertaking May and June of 2016.

Baggy Point, Croyde

For the past 17 years I have been living in West Vancouver, in Beautiful British Columbia.  However my origins are the United Kingdom and we continue to travel there a lot to see friends and family.  I know the UK pretty well, but there are still parts of it that I have never visited.  Like British Columbia it is also very beautiful, but in a different way.  Whereas BC is "spectacular" the UK is generally more soft and gentle, although parts of it, such as Scotland and Cornwall can also be rugged and untamed. Overall, the UK, even though it would fit 5 times into BC, has much more varied scenery than BC.

Last year I decided that I wanted to see those parts that I had never been to, much of which was around the coast.  Thus my idea of a round Britain coastal drive.  By driving the full coastline I can feel somehow that I have "captured" most of the country.  I was born in the Cotswolds, my wife is from the West Country and we have lived in the NW and in the Thames Valley, with occasional visits to Scotland to see relatives.  I have also travelled extensively around the UK on business, but yet I have this need to circle it as a way of connecting with the land of my birth.

My plan is to leave from Exmouth in Devon on or around May 23rd and travel in an anti-clockwise direction - this means that I keep the ocean on my right (the driver's side of the car). My plan says that I will arrive back in Exmouth on June 24th, so 33 days in total.  Mileage is estimated at 4600, but does not include ferry distances that I will cover traveling to certain islands (mainly in Scotland).  However, if I get to somewhere that is particularly nice, but the weather is not good, I may just stay another day to see it in the sunshine!  So there is some flexibility.  Accommodation is going to be booked no more than 24 hours ahead.  Yes I know that there is a Public Holiday weekend in May, but if I am really stuck, then I may sleep in the car.  I plan to eat in pubs, but hope for the occasional gourmet meal if such places are on my route.

I will be filming as much as possible, along with taking lots of photos and so will be uploading plenty onto the blog.  My only limitation will be battery life, memory capacity and upload speeds.  I am taking back-up devices to try and ensure I don't lose anything.

On some sections I have good friends who will be sharing parts of the journey with me, but quite a bit of the time I will be on my own.  It's always nice to be able to share experiences and the beauty with someone, but also being on ones own does ensure complete flexibility.  I still have openings on my route for companions.