Footpaths

Recently, I finished one of the most beautiful, interesting and fascinating, but at the same time challenging, books I have ever read: “The Old Ways: a Journey on Foot” by Robert Macfarlane.

Despite reading the German translation (my native tongue) and the book containing a glossary, I had to look up a lot of words.

Macfarlane interweaves scientific, historic, traditional and his own very personal stories in an engaging way. He covers old trodden paths in England and Scotland as well as historic sea ways in the Hebrides and beyond. While the focus is clearly on the Great Britain island, he includes a section with chapters on his travels in Palestine, Spain and Western China.

This mix of topics may easily lead you down rabbit holes on geology or trying to trace paths and track locations on maps.

However, this inspiration to learn new things fits extremely well with the overall theme of the book, to learn about the world, your surroundings and yourself through walking. At one point, Macfarlane explores the etymology of the word learn, and as it turns out, the origin means as much as *to follow a track.