07/05/2026
*Coasters Update*
We had two “rest days” in Ramsgate that involved very little actual resting. Between uploading video clips on slow WiFi, replying to emails, sorting media contacts, DSAA and charity contacts, checking routes and trying to keep on top of admin, I knew the behind-the-scenes side of One Coast Any Age had caught up with us. Me anyway.
We also had a Teams call with a PR company who want to work with us on a video and Q&A campaign in May. Strange sitting in a hotel room in Ramsgate talking about ageing actively while our feet ache from walking hundreds of miles! It's exciting though, and we'll share more soon.
One of the loveliest parts of these couple of days was meeting more people with stories of their own. Joe Furey, a freelance writer with one hell of a life behind him, spent an evening chatting with us downstairs in the bar. He told us we were “sparkly” and said Mike especially had charm. Mike’s beard certainly got plenty of attention from the locals too.
Then we met “Dave and Dave” at the bar. One wearing a t-shirt “Old Tw*t”, despite only being 68, the other 77. After much banter about Father Christmas, beards and why on earth we’re walking around mainland Britain, Old Tw*t Dave handed me £20 for Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. We ended up laughing our heads off while someone else in the pub took a photo of us all together.
We did a bus trip to Westwood Cross for phone bits and supplies, past the railway station. My new screen protector wasn't right, but I forced myself to go back to the shop and asked them to redo it. They were brilliant about it in the end.
There was a deflated moment too when we got excited about the possibility of staying one more night at the hotel, only to find out they were fully booked. Despite feeling flat, I picked myself up. “It's all about resilience, isn't it?” Mike said, and I know he's right.
While our walk is often gorgeous landscape, we're also living the tiredness, the admin, uploading files at midnight and trying not to cry over a hotel room you can’t keep for another night. Getting up and carrying on means we don't linger over disappointment.
❤️
