Meet the student who made a 3,000km Journey for Wildness
We speak with Ewein Howes, a medical student who cycled almost 3,000km in support of the Trust.
Ewein, a student at Cardiff University, spent a month cycling across the UK raising funds for the John Muir Trust. Starting his journey in early June, he challenged himself to visit all 15 National Parks and reach the highest peak in each.
“I’ve always been into hillwalking and climbing and recently got into cycling at university by doing triathlons,” Ewein told us.
“The idea of doing this challenge started as a kind of joke in the pub, but when I looked up the National Parks I saw that you could cycle between them, and so a plan started to come about.”
This mammoth journey was undertaken in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the UK’s National Parks, and he felt the John Muir Trust's work to protect and enhance wild places made us the perfect beneficiary for his trip. Ewein raised a fantastic £1262 in total, smashing his target of £1000.
“As a healthcare student, I feel a connection with the outdoors is important for people’s physical and mental health, and the John Muir Trust do lots of work for conservation in these wild places.”
Ewein's challenge started off in the East of England at the UK's flattest national park, the Norfolk Broads. He then cycled down towards London to the South Downs and travelled through the South of England before crossing over to Wales and the North, finishing up in Scotland at the Cairngorms National Park.
He even managed to squeeze in a visit to our Wild Space Visitor Centre in Pitlochry!
In total Ewein travelled 2,865km across the UK, visiting each National Park and climbing 39,187m.
“While trains and cars are a great way to visit and explore far away wild places, you don’t get the connection with the land that you do with human powered adventures.
“When you’re cycling or walking you’re fully in tune with the environment, and you really have a chance to immerse yourself and appreciate that wild place.”
Although he completed his challenge in less time than planned - with a total time of 24 days, 22 hours and 39 minutes - Ewein’s journey wasn’t without the occasional road bump. His phone became water damaged in the first few days after he headed out, making navigating tricky. Despite this, Ewein said the trip was an overwhelmingly positive experience.
“One of the things that was really lovely was that all the people I ended up interacting with were amazing, and so supportive of what I was doing,” Ewein said.
Everyone wanted to lend a hand in some way, and I think that shows how important wild places are for a lot of people, especially in more rural areas.
As for any advice he might have to anyone else planning their own Journey for Wildness, Ewein told us:
“I would say just go out and enjoy your local nature, and then decide what you want to do, big or small. You don’t have to do what I did to appreciate the benefits of wild places, you just have to be outside.”
- Want to start your own Journey for Wildness? Find out more here